Kiddie cadets

[unhappycamper]

Kiddie cadets
By Anna Badkhen
Globe Staff / January 20, 2008

READING - Sporting a Kevlar helmet, gray military fatigues, and some camouflage face paint, Kyle Linatopi, 11, slumped in a plastic chair under a batch of red, white, and blue balloons, swallowed the last piece of pepperoni pizza, and announced, to no one in particular:

"My back hurts."

No surprise there. It's not every Saturday that Linatopi, of Lynn, spends the morning doing push-ups, sit-ups, and lifting a 40-pound backpack, replicating the load that his stepfather, Massachusetts National Guard Staff Sergeant David Hrubes, had to carry when he deployed to Iraq last summer.

But yesterday, Linatopi and about 30 other children whose relatives are serving in Iraq with the 972d Military Police Company gathered in a large gym at the company's base at Camp Curtis Guild to see what their loved ones go through when they enlist in the National Guard.

"It's a hard time for (the children), so anything to keep their minds off of it - but at the same time on it in a good way - is great," said Gina Ventullo of Salem, N.H., who helped organize the event. With at least six months until the end of the company's deployment, soldiers' families are constantly looking for activities to keep the children entertained, said Ventullo, who has five children and whose husband, Robert, is serving in Iraq.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/20/kiddie_cadets/