Flat Stanley Goes to War

The Flat Stanley project is an educational endeavor first created back in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third-grade teacher from Ontario, with the intention of helping develop student’s reading, writing, and social studies skills. The premise of the project is simple; students cut out a “Flat Stanley” figurine, decorate it, and then send it off to visit with a friend, family member, or prominent individual in a different area. During its visit, the person receiving Flat Stanley is asked to take it to various different places and take pictures with it. For instance, if you live in Washington, D.C., you might take Flat Stanley to visit the White House or the Capitol Building. Then once the figurine is returned home, the student crafts up a formal presentation and presents it to their classmates. In turn, teaching their peers all about different people, places, and cultures. 

Jackson Wright was just four years old when 9/11 occurred. He was living just outside of Indianapolis, in the affluent suburb of Carmel, when the planes hit. Outside of seeing some sad commercials and hearing the hushed whispers of his parents, he was largely oblivious to the fallout of one of the nation’s greatest tragedies. For him it was just another normal day. But that all changed when his brother Mike graduated high school and enlisted in the United States Army.

Though Jackson’s parents would never admit it, Mike was their golden child. The first of three, he had always been the family favorite hands down. He had straight As, played varsity sports, dated the sweetest girls, and even served as a eucharistic minister at their family church. By all means he was the perfect red blooded All-American boy. So, when he enlisted right out of high school, nobody was surprised. Because what is more American than fighting to defend your homeland?

With Mike in the Army now, the reality of 9/11 was suddenly brought to Jackson’s front door. His older brother and personal hero was not only leaving him, but he was leaving him to go to war. A war that had already claimed the lives of well over 100 Americans. So, wanting to know more about the war his brother was fighting, Jackson sent his Flat Stanley to visit with the boys of 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 402rd Infantry Regiment, 73rd Airborne Brigade in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.  

Picture 1: 

“Hey buddy, thank you so much for sending me your Flat Stanley! He is the talk of the platoon and everyone is already itching to get a picture with him. But anyways, welcome to Afghanistan! Located in the heart of the Middle East right between Pakistan and Iran, it is an ancient land rich in both culture and tradition. We are here alongside a coalition of other countries in the hopes of defeating terrorism and freeing the good Afghani people. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley and I in front of a massive C-17 cargo plane at Bagram Airfield. We arrived here last week and will be departing for our patrol base tomorrow morning. I love and miss you so much!”

Picture 2: 

“Welcome to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Gabbert! It took us two hours via helicopter and another two via Humvee to get here, but we finally made it and have spent the last few weeks getting cozy. Located high on a mountain top in one of the most eastern portions of Afghanistan, FOB Gabbert is one of the key ingredients to winning this war. We spend our time filling sand bags, cleaning our weapons, patrolling local villages, and fighting off enemy attacks. Here is a picture of my squad leader, Staff Sergeant Colvin, and Flat Stanley getting some sun on top of one of our fortified bunkers. Anyways, tell Mom I will call soon. I love and miss you so much!”

 Picture 3: 

“We just got back from a five-day long field operation and let me tell you, I am exhausted! We patrolled three different villages and set up an Observation Post (OP) at the bottom of the mountain. After a few days rest I will be reassigned to the OP with a few other guys from my platoon. I am a little nervous to be out in the middle of nowhere practically all by myself for the next few weeks, but someone has to do it! Here is a picture of Flat Stanley drinking tea with an Afghani elder in the village of Ak Qala. Seeing how little the people over here have makes me incredibly grateful for all that we are blessed with back home in America. Please keep sending those care packages, the kids over here love them. I love and miss you so much!”

Picture 4: 

“Boy, what a week! I have been in the OP for little over nine days now and let me tell you, I sure miss the comforts of home. We have no running water, no electricity, and nothing but beef taco MREs down here. Between all of this and the weird whispers I keep hearing at night, I feel like I am going crazy! But only three more days and I will be back at the FOB. Thank goodness. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley manning the OP machine gun. I love and miss you so much!”

Picture 5: 

“Sorry I am just now getting back to you. Our FOB was hit hard a few days ago and was almost overrun. They were like ghosts, sneaking in and out of the moonlight, killing 9 and wounding 11. I still don’t know how I managed to survive the night, but here I am. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley at Corporal Lopez’ memorial service. And sorry about the blood stain, I tried to clean it off.”

Picture 6: 

“Mom says you got three Bs, two Cs, and a D on your most recent report card. What the hell is that? Do you think you are going to get into college someday with these kinds of grades? You have been given so much in life, but don’t even have the decency to try. People around here would give anything to have half the opportunities you have, yet all you want to do is piss them away playing Xbox and fucking around. Its honestly embarrassing. I don’t mean to be tough on you, but I just want to see you succeed. No matter what happens though please just promise that you won’t make the same mistake that I did? Anyways, here is a picture of Flat Stanley taking a smoke break somewhere outside the wire.”

Picture 7: 

“I don’t even know why we are fighting anymore. These people don’t want us here and frankly we don’t want to be here either. Its like we are just killing to kill. Last week we dropped 2,000 pounds of cluster munitions on a village full of women and children. And why did we do this you ask? Because some fuckwit intelligence officer back at Bagram had a hunch a few fighters were hauled up in there. We went out and surveyed the damage after the fact and surprise surprise, there wasn’t a single military aged male in the whole God damn village. But we already knew that. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley standing amongst the scorched remains of what had once been Harish Lamak. God help us.” 

Picture 8: 

“I am back down at the OP again and about at my wits end. We have been taking fire damn near everyday now and keep hearing what I swear sounds like Russian coming through our comms. Rumor has it that our OP was built atop the ruins of an old Soviet patrol base that got overrun by the Mujahedeen back in the 80s, but I doubt it. Guys are just fried and looking for any excuse to blame our bad luck on. Oh yeah, I lost another two squad mates in a rocket attack last night. One of them was my good buddy from boot camp, Glenn Gorski. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley desperately trying not to suck start my M4.” 

Picture 9: 

“Don’t tell Mom, but I am back Stateside. I got a week and a half of leave and decided to head up to NYC for the weekend. Don’t ask me how, but I feel like I have lost a part of myself. A key part of myself. Somewhere up in those mountains amongst the piles of shattered bodies and spent brass, the part that connected me to the rest of humanity was lost. Was stolen by someone, or should I say something. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley and I doing a line of Albuquerque’s finest in the bathroom of a basement bar in Bushwick.”

Picture 10: 

“Hey bud, if you are reading this, I am so sorry. I don’t know where to begin so I won’t even try. Something happened to me out at that OP. Something I don’t think I will ever understand, but also something that I don’t think is able to be understood. Whatever it is though is far stronger than I will ever be. So, if you see me on the news, just know it’s not me. Here is a picture of Flat Stanley helping me load my magazines.” 

“At 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday January 9th, 2005, Army Specialist Mike Wright of Carmel, Indiana, walked into a crowded mosque in Bay Ridge, New York, and opened fire. Equipped with an AR-15, two handguns, a sawed-off shotgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, he shot and killed 32 people before turning the gun on himself.”

The last picture Jackson ever saw of Flat Stanley was on the front page of The New York Post. He was pinned to his brother’s backpack as he entered the mosque on the day of the shooting. The media blamed the attack on a combination of PTSD, Islamophobia, and crystal meth use, but despite what all the shrinks, journalists, and Army reps might have said, Jackson knew there was something more to it. Something strange happened to his brother out there at that OP and he had a feeling it had nothing to do with earthly explanations.