Irvine : Schoolchildren Serenade Marines

From El Toro to our fathers,

We all want to say hello.

We are proud of all you’ve done for us,

And we want you all to know

That we love and thank and honor you

And we hope you’ll never roam.

So from all of us to all of you

A great big welcome home. The tune of “The Marines’ Hymn” was familiar to Master Sgt. John Rimondi, but the new welcome-home lyrics sung to it Friday morning by the 600 pupils of El Toro Marine Elementary School, including his own three children, had a special poignancy.

Rimondi, who returned home to El Toro three weeks ago from duty in the Persian Gulf, joined other Marine parents at an early-morning school assembly to honor the role that families played in the war effort.

The group gathered in the schoolyard to listen to Maj. Gen. Royal N. Moore Jr., commander of the El Toro-based 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, warmly thank the elementary school pupils for “all the love, best wishes and mail we got from you.”

Moore, who was introduced as “the boss” of most of the children’s fathers, said he realized that “many of you have been on an emotional roller coaster, first wondering if your parents would go and then, if they went, whether they would return.”

As part of the event at the school, two Marine families took up shovels to plant a mulberry tree as a symbol of renewal.

Principal Dan Graham said the purpose of the gathering was an attempt to bring the war “full circle” in the lives of his pupils, about half of whom had parents serving in the Gulf War.

Many of the students had happy tales of family reunions. Sherri Stewart, an 8-year-old, said her father surprised her when he came home at night two weeks ago.

“I was sleeping and he picked me up,” she said.

But not all of the students’ parents have returned, Graham said. He said that when they do, probably by June, the school will have another celebration and untie all the yellow ribbons on the school fence. The school is near the Marine base in Irvine.