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Sent to cheer U.S. soldiers, teddy bear is lost in fire

Arlington students learn an unintended lesson about the dangers soldiers face in Iraq.

By Scott Pesznecker, Herald Writer

ARLINGTON -- Melissa Molthan's sixth-grade class this year sent a teddy bear across the world so her students could learn about faraway places.

The Haller Middle School students first shipped their fluffy white bear nicknamed Jack Frost to Norway where it was photographed at a campfire on a ski trip.

Then the students sent the stuffed bear to U.S. troops in Iraq.

That's where Jack Frost was destroyed in a "noncombat-related Jeep fire."

"(The soldiers) had adopted our geo bear as their mascot," Molthan said. "They felt really bad."

Other classes at the school took part in the project by mailing what they called "geo bears" to Germany, Finland and Syria. The idea is to spread joy usually to children in other schools and learn about geography and other cultures. The bears are usually returned with a few trinkets from around the world.

Before the fire, the soldiers at Camp Liberty near Baghdad took Jack Frost everywhere they went, placing the bear on the dashboard.

The teddy bear was alone in its Jeep when the vehicle's electrical system reportedly malfunctioned.

In Iraq, the soldiers weren't about to leave the Arlington students empty-handed.

The soldiers, one of whom is the brother of two of Molthan's students, chipped in more than $300 to buy and ship a gigantic stuffed camel to Molthan's classroom. The stuffed camel was so large, the soldiers had to convince a pilot to unpack a helicopter engine so they could use the box for shipping.

The Arlington sixth-graders were floored when they saw their new stuffed camel. It sits near the supply cabinet in the back of the classroom, Molthan said.

"I've never seen a stuffed animal that big," said Abby Gilbert, 12, one of Molthan's students.

On Friday, the students named their camel Tank.

"It was unexpected, how big it was," student Francisco Robles, 12, said.

Although the situation turned out badly, Jack Frost's untimely end was a good lesson about the unpredictable nature of war, Molthan said. Some students noted that the flag outside their classroom window is flown half-mast when a soldier from Snohomish County is killed in the war.

"The kids wanted to know why our flag wasn't lowered for our teddy bear," Molthan said. "I had to explain how that was for people, and not for teddy bears."

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.