Christine CarrilloMarine Sgt. Aaron Wintterle is a...

Christine Carrillo

Marine Sgt. Aaron Wintterle is a man of few words.

Ask him a question, you’ll get a succinct answer. Praise his

heroic deeds in Iraq, you’ll get a humble reply. Give thanks for his

safe return to the United States, you’ll feel his ambivalence about

not being in Iraq with his fellow marines.

Since his homecoming at his grandmother’s house in Costa Mesa on

Easter Sunday, Wintterle, who was sent home after being shot in the

mouth while fighting in Baghdad, has been greeted and welcomed with

open arms.

On Wednesday, his greeting was slightly different. The arms the

6-foot-5 Marine walked into could barely reach his waist. They were

the arms of kindergartners in his aunt’s class at Woodland Elementary

School in Costa Mesa.

“I always talk about my family with my kids. It helps them get to

know me,” said Rebecca Olsen, Wintterle’s aunt. “So they all new

about Aaron and they were really concerned. They really began to feel

like they knew him.”

After writing words of gratitude and drawing pictures to accompany

them, the students presented Wintterle with the book they made before

bombarding him with questions:

“Were there any tigers in Iraq?”

“Did you fight with swords?”

“How did you get food?”

For the 5- and 6-year-olds, the 23-year-old Marine was a superhero

and a man they wanted to relate to.

After one student gained enough courage to stand next to him, so

did another and another, until the whole class surrounded him,

wanting to tell him their stories, ask their questions or show him

their boo boos, which were similar to his in their eyes.

“It’s really neat because they’re seeing somebody now that they’ve

heard about for so long,” said VirJean Olsen, Wintterle’s grandmother

and a frequent visitor to her daughter’s kindergarten class. “It’s so

nice, but I’ve been in perpetual smiles since he came home.”

From the moment Wintterle stepped onto the campus, his presence

garnered attention. To faculty, administrators and students, he

represented all the men and women involved in the War in Iraq.

He’s an American hero -- a title he’s not entirely comfortable

with, but appreciates all the same.

“It’s really nice but ... I just want to get better and get back

to [being a Marine],” he said.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at christine.carrillo@latimes.com.