Sgt. Paul W. Thomason

The second-graders at Jefferson Elementary School always looked forward to the upbeat letters from Paul Thomason, who had four children of his own. "Hello class," he wrote. "I was sure glad to get everyone's letters and colorings... There are no camels this far north... I had my first Whopper in months! It was sure good compared to Army food and field rations." The letter arrived the day after Thomason, 37, of Talbot, Tenn., was killed March 20 when an explosive detonated near his vehicle in Kirkuk, Iraq. The National Guardsman was based in Greeneville, Tenn. The lifelong resident of Sevier County, Tenn., graduated from high school in 1986 and worked in a warehouse at an envelope factory. He died two days after celebrating his fifth anniversary with his wife, Amanda. "He's my hero. He was my best friend. We did everything together," she said. Amanda Thomason said she and the children _ ages 10, 7, 4 and 2 _ spoke to him by telephone the day before he died. "He got to talk to the kids and tell the kids how much he loved them and how much he missed them and that he would see them in seven months," she said.