IRRIGON – It’s not every day that a soldier on his way to another part of the world stops in your class to say hello.

Two soldiers from Irrigon bound for Iraq visited the second-grade class at A.C. Houghton in Irrigon Wednesday. The class has sent several care packages to American soldiers in Iraq over the past few months, so the visit was a treat.

Bart Prouty and Adam Oren are leaving Monday for Iraq, where they’ll serve as medics with the Army.

The second-graders had a few questions of the soldiers, who they plan to adopt for the next year.

“Do you have lots of water over there?”

“Do you drive your own cars?”

“Are you happy to be going?”

The questions flew out as quickly as the kids could raise their hands. When it was all over, the soldiers were impressed.

“This is amazing,” Prouty said. “I had no idea they were so involved in this.”

Oren said he wasn’t expecting some of the questions, which dealt with life and death in the war-torn country. But the soldiers said they quickly realized the students were fully aware of the seriousness of the situation in far-away Iraq.

“It’s nice to know they’re not going blind to what’s going on in the world,” Oren said.

The students touched the medals the two men wore and wished them well.

Second-grader Jordan Day said she thought the two were very “cool.”

Her friend, Ashli Roberts, echoed that sentiment.

“They’re over there helping people,” Roberts said. “I think it’s great.”

The class will send letters and an care package to the two Irrigon soldiers through the rest of the school year.

Both men said they would be very grateful to be remembered while they are serving for a year in Iraq.