Soldier finally meets Libertyville students after earlier video chat

Dressed in military fatigues, U.S. Army Major Jason Hunt was cheered by a classroom full of fourth graders during a visit to Butterfield School in Libertyville on Friday.

It was the same class he spoke with via video conferencing link five months earlier from his base in Iraq.

Hunt's sons Ryan and Jason are students at the school. He returned home to Libertyville last week.

After getting shouts of "welcome home" and "thank you for serving our country," Hunt took questions from the kids and their teacher, Norlene Kemp.

"Besides your family, what did you miss most while you were in Iraq?" Kemp asked.

"My king-size bed," Hunt laughed.

Hunt, 39, said he really got a kick out of video chatting with the students while stationed on the other side of the globe, but it's nothing like seeing them in person.

"It was really exciting to see the kids and especially my boys on video, but it was a little frustrating with the audio delay," Hunt said. "I'm glad to be back."

The call was arranged through the nonprofit Freedom Calls Foundation. The organization has more than 10,000 video conferencing sites across the country that allow loved ones to connect to their family members serving in the military. It was the first time Libertyville Elementary District 70 had linked up with a soldier via video.

Now in his 14th year of military service, Hunt will remain in the Army for at least six more years, he said. He's guaranteed to be home for at least a year before his next deployment. He worked to supervise trucking and transportation units north of Baghdad on his most recent tour.

Hunt gave the class an American flag that was flown over his base and also showed them some of his gear, including his helmet and food packs.

Hunt said the food was decent, but he missed the comforts of home.

"The first stop I made when I got home was to Bill's Pizza," he told them.