Child's card offers unexpected inspiration to troops

As many classes do, a group of students from Louisiana wrote cards to send to American troops serving our country overseas. One boy's card was just four words -- so simple and direct, his teacher nearly didn't send it. But ultimately, those who read it found it to be such a huge morale boost, they became fans of young Gavin!

The members of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan, enjoy cards and letters from folks in the US. Many written by school children are posted around the base. But the one that stood out was just a simple four word message: "Hope you make it. Gavin"

The boy's unintended humor about the deadly danger of their mission spread like wildfire with the airmen at the base. It became so popular, that a Gavin club started, and they wanted to meet the honest little boy. A newspaper article helped bridge the gap from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Gavin's Sunday School teacher Kasie Maineiro recalled, "We have to go through every single card and every single letter. And one that came across was 'Hope you make it.' And I wondered if that was too blunt and if the troops would take it in the right way."

"I'm always getting on to him, and I tell him, you're being a little too blunt," said Gavin's dad Wes Brint. "So it's really neat that these four words have meant so much to y'all, but as my wife said, you guys are the real heroes."