During his first week back in Westchester after serving in Iraq for a year, U.S. Army Specialist Justin Dishart wanted to make sure he thanked those who kept him in their thoughts and prayers while he fought overseas.

Being away from family and friends was made a little easier with the influx of pictures, letters and gifts sent to him from students at Good Counsel Academy Elementary School—who made sure that the 25-year-old always felt special on his birthday, holidays and every day while serving his country.

On Tuesday, Dishart, who grew up in Somers, made sure to visit every classroom in the school to thank the students for their kindness and answer their questions—which ranged from what he ate while on base, what it's like to be away from family and friends, what his favorite cartoon is, and what his funniest and scariest moments were in Iraq were. 

The letter writing campaign was organized by Ardsley resident Alison Bergman—the school’s librarian, who is also co-founder of Operation Cookie Drop, which delivers Girl Scout cookies to troops overseas.

Dishart returned from Iraq to Fort Riley in Kansas at the end of October. On his way home to Westchester Saturday, he stopped in Pittsburgh to see the someone who may have written him a little bit more than the Good Counsel pre-kindergarten to eighth grade students—his grandmother.

Since then, the Somers High School graduate has returned to the family's new home in Cortlandt Manor. The first thing he did when he got home, ate a cheeseburger. Dishart says he is happy to be eating familiar food, and ate so much pizza at his welcome home party that he could of made a commerial for the pizza company.

Now that her son is finally home, Susan Dishart says she can stop worrying—about her son’s safety, whether he’s eating or sleeping—and start making the long list of his favorite foods before he reports back to Fort Riley in early January.