Lauren Leford and Patrick Nelson have gotten to know each other very well during the past five years.

Now, they are trying to actually meet for the first time.

Lauren Leford, a ninth grader at Tahoma Junior High, has been pen pals with Nelson, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and a Pat Tillman NFL Scholarship recipient, since she was in the fourth grade. Much like the young Americans who enlisted on Dec. 10, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, Neslon joined the Army the day after Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Lauren’s mother, Karen Leford, has kept a stack of emails and letters dating back to Christmas 2007, when the family first sent Nelson a care package and letter while he as deployed in Afghanistan. Through the years, they’ve written about the lighthearted topics such as favorite music and middle school crushes to more somber ones, such as deadly combat situations and the austere condition of war-ravaged regions.

Currently, the two have been trying to find a way to finally meet each other. Nelson, who lives in Minnesota and works for the Minnesota Vikings, almost managed to come west for the game against the Seattle Seahawks Nov. 4, but unfortunately was unable to make it.

Still, both Nelson and the Ledfords are hopeful an opportunity will present itself for the pen pals to meet in some manner.

HANDWRITTEN LETTERS AND SPONGEBOB

The pen pal relationship started in 2007 after Karen Ledford read an article in Guidepost magazine about a mother and daughter who had corresponded with a soldier through anysoldier.com and had eventually met him.

Karen Ledford, who wrote to her husband Wayne Ledford while he was stationed in Korea during the First Persian Gulf War before they were married, said it helped her understand how much of an impact a letter can have on a soldier overseas. The Guidepost story gave her the idea of sending a care package to a soldier and suggested to Lauren write to one.

Scrolling through the countless names on anysoldier.com, Lauren Ledford said she chose the name Patrick Nelson because of Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants.

Her choice of pen pal turned out to be an Army paratrooper nearing the end of his military career, which would include three tours for a total of 39 months deployed.

Nelson, who said he always wanted to be a soldier, first joined the Minnesota National Guard in high school, where he completed his basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., and then completed his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) after he graduated high school in June 2001.

Incidentally, Nelson had been pen pals with a soldier who was deployed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War when he was in second grade, whom he credited with inspiring him to become a soldier.

“I remember him coming to my classroom to visit when he got back and thinking that I wanted to be just liked him,” he wrote. “I then promised my mom that I would give college a try.”

Nelson headed to college in the fall of 2001. He wouldn’t stay for very long. On Sept. 12, 2001, while the world was still in shock over the terrorist attacks, he headed to the nearest Army recruiting center.

“I knew the active Army would be the first ones deployed, and I did not want to sit at home and watch the events unfold on TV as I was an able-bodied person that my country could use,” he wrote.

Nelson would later go on to take part in Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003 before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006 the again with a tour of duty which spanned 2007 and 2008. While stationed in east Germany, Neslon said he joined the paratroopers and sent to Vicenza, Italy, eventually assigned to the historic 173rd Airborne Brigade and attended airborne school in Fort Benning, Georgia.

“If you ever read the book ‘War’ or saw the documentary ‘Restrepo,’ that was our brigade,” he wrote.

Nelson said he had signed up for anysoldier.com, but didn’t expect to ever receive anything and was surprised to get in contact with the Ledfords.

“I was very excited, as getting mail is one of the big highlights over there,” he said.

After sending Nelson a care package for Christmas, Lauren Ledford got off the bus after school one day to find her mother outside their home with a hand written letter from Nelson.

“She was really excited to have somebody write to her,” Karen Ledford said.

They would switch over to email, however, in order to make it easier for them to communicate.

At first, Lauren Ledford said their letters talked about simple matters, such as advice on boys in her school or her love for horseback riding, while Nelson would tell her about Shanna, his girlfriend and now fiance.

Lauren Ledford’s correspondence with Nelson later came in handy in fifth grade when she had to do a class project on a foreign country and chose Afghanistan. As part of the project, she cooked flatbread, which is a traditional Afghan food, while Nelson provided her with a description of what the country looked like. One observation he made in particular was the lack of sanitary water and how happy Afghan children would be when U.S. troops gave them bottled water.

FROM AFGHANISTAN TO MINNESOTA

Gradually, Karen Ledford said, writing to Neslon and sending him care packages became a ritual for the Ledfords.

Among some of the things Nelson wrote to Lauren Ledford about was a deadly skirmish that occurred in 2005 near the Pakastani border. While unloading supplies from a Chinook helicopter, an insurgent fired a 107mmm rocket, which exploded about 10 meters away from Nelson and 10 other soldiers. Eight, including Nelson, were wounded, while two were killed. Neslon was evacuated on a helicopter to a forward surgical unit, where they removed shrapnel from his back. He was then flown to an airbase for two weeks to recover before he insisted they allow him to return to his unit, though he was not allowed to participate in any missions for several months until he had fully recovered.

It was during that time Neslon started taking online classes through Central Texas College via a program called e-Army U. Even though he was in the middle of Afghanistan’s rugged mountains at a forward operating base, Special Forces deployed with them had satellites which provided Internet access.

Quickly, both Lauren Ledford and Nelson realized they had a shared passion for education and academics, including history, their favorite subject. Lauren Ledford currently has a 4.0 at Tahoma Junior High and takes AP classes.

“Patrick is very determined,” Karen Ledford said. “He’s got these goals and achieves them. Lauren is so much like that. She’s a determined young lady. They share that similarity.”

Nelson would later go on to finish his associates in general studies before leaving the Army in 2008. When he went to college, he worked toward a double major in history and sports management at Minnesota State University-Mankato then a master’s degree in sports management. While at MSU, Nelson was named the first ever NFL Pat Tillman Military Scholar in 2010. He also received a Horatio Alger scholarship.

At the same time, Nelson also started a blog called Real Combat Life, where he shared his combat experiences through writing, which he said is easier than to talk about it. Also, he felt it helped bring more positive attention to the war effort, as he considered the media portrayal to be consistently negative.

“I wanted to help shed some light on the positive things that we were doing over there and to help educate the public on the service and sacrifice that our military makes,” he said. “History was one of my majors in my undergrad and I felt it important to remember these stories for our future generations.”

The blog struck a chord among other likeminded veterans who contributed their own experiences. Nelson then heard about a program Pepsi sponsored called the Refresh Project, which provides grants based on public voting. Nelson entered his blog, hoping it would help generate more interest and allow him to expand it.

“I really had no idea what I was getting into but I figured that it could help the site become bigger and better and reach more people,” he wrote.

After the votes tallied up, Real Life Combat came in the top 10 and won $25,000. Nelson was then able to use the money to hire a professional web design company to create a new site, in addition to advertising and public relations work.

Nelson now works for the Minnesota Vikings as an operations intern through his sports management degree. His job, he said, mainly consists of booking flights and hotel rooms, ensuring all the meals are ordered, providing transportation to appointments. Despite the distance, he and Lauren Ledford still keep in touch.

“She is a sweet girl with a very kind heart,” he wrote. “I tell her about my job and she tells me about her school work….and friends and asks for advice.”

For Lauren Ledford, Nelson is someone she trusts and can go to for advice.

Recently, they have made several attempts to meet each other, but have been unsuccessful. Though attempts were made to make it happen via the Seahawks-Vikings game Nov. 4, which included Lauren Ledford writing to the Vikings asking them to bring Nelson along, it ultimately did not work out.

Nevertheless, the Ledfords and Nelson are still hopeful it will one day happen.

“She is a great friend of mine along with her entire family,” Nelson wrote. “Even though we have not met, I feel like I know them really well as we have shared many things together. I enjoy hearing from her mom Karen about things the family have been doing and staying up to date on Laruen’s grades….which are all As!”

If they ever did get a chance to meet, Karen Ledford said, one thing they would probably do is go ice skating, as Nelson enjoys ice hockey, one of their many mutual interests.