Fourth grade teacher learns of son being wounded in class

Scottsdale woman identifies son among soldiers injured in Afghanistan
AZ Central
Brittany Hargrave, The Republic
August 16, 2014

As the rest of the world was learning about an attack at an Afghanistan training base near Kabul this month, a Scottsdale elementary school teacher was dealing with the event in a personal way.

Allison Vredevoogd said her son, Army Reserve staff Sgt. Lon Giancola, called her the morning of Aug. 5 from a Kabul hospital, where he was recovering from multiple gunshot wounds to his right arm suffered in the attack.

"The first words out of his mouth were, 'I want you to know I can move my fingers and toes,' " Vredevoogd said. "Then I sat down real quick."

That first call lasted just two minutes. Giancola, 25, insisted he was all right. Vredevoogd wasn't reassured.

She received a second call the next day, a video call this time. But this time, she had an audience: 32 fourth-grade students.

For the children, unexpected witnesses to an emotional moment, the experience became a real-life classroom lesson about the world, the war and the reality of wounded soldiers.
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