Lucky coin from student shields soldier in Iraq
Staff Sergeant Sam Brown

Staff Sergeant Sam Brown

When I read that a reporter was looking for stories about students' gifts to teachers, I reached in my pocket and pulled out a beat-up 2000 U.S. dollar coin with a Native American lady and papoose on the front.

The coin was given to me by a ninth-grade student named Chris on my last day of teaching at West Laurens High School in Dublin, Ga. During the brief time I was at the school that semester, Chris had been a challenge, to put it mildly, and had required a lot of attention. After getting quite a bit of my personal attention, I didn't believe Chris had any use for me.

After I said my goodbyes on my last day at the school, he surprised me by handing the coin to me on his way out of the classroom. Chris said that the coin had given him good luck and kept him alive for some time, and maybe it would do the same for me.

You see, I am a U.S. Army reservist. I was mobilized and sent to Fort Bragg, N.C., and then to Kirkuk in northeastern Iraq. I am an English teacher and an airborne combat cameraman with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the unit that parachuted into northern Iraq at the beginning of the war.

Chris' well-timed words and the coin have been with me every day during many parachute jumps and months of combat here in Iraq. They give me hope when things look hopeless and help me believe I will return alive.

When I return, I intend to give that coin back to Chris and tell him how much it has meant to me.

In the meantime, I thank you, Chris. I believe it's working.

-- Staff Sergeant Sam Brown
HHC, 173rd Airborne Brigade IO
APO AE 09347