A nephew was once assigned to write an essay about "memorable people I have known" and was called a liar in front of the class, kept in detention after school, and sent home with a rather nasty note.

He had stated that he had an uncle who was a sniper in Viet Nam, his dad was a warden at a Federal Penitentiary, another uncle was a CIA agent, and lastly he had an uncle who was a rocket scientist.

His mother's reply to the note was:

"<teacher>

Apologize.

<mother>"

His dad was in charge of the "Honor Farm" at Leavenworth Penitentiary.
His Uncle L was a secret service agent.
He did have an uncle recently returned from Viet Nam where said uncle had been on "single agent patrol" as a sniper for at least a year.

I sent him a stub from a welding rod that had been used to assemble an Apollo Liquid Oxygen Tank along with a small sample of the gold-plated mylar insulation from one of the tanks, with a note describing what they were.

I'm not sure of the content of the letter he received from Uncle L, but I'd guess that he had a pretty good time at the next "show and tell."

John