Kids visited by firefighter/war hero

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - One of western New York's bravest, who's also an Air Force Reservist, paid a special visit to a Buffalo school.

He's built a friendship with the students who welcomed him back from a tour of duty. Master Sergeant Rodney Wilkinson works as a Buffalo firefighter, but also used those same skills while serving overseas. He showed the children of the Elmwood Franklin School how he helped people in other countries.

Kindergarten students first met Master Sergeant Wilkinson on a field trip to his firehouse in 2008. Then he was sent to Iraq for four months, to help train firefighters there. Wilkinson has been with the Buffalo Fire Department for 18 years and has been an Air Force Firefighter for 23 years.

The students at Elmwood Franklin learned about serving others by creating holiday cards and sent care packages to his unit. He appreciated what the students did for his unit.

"You know, times getting a little rough over there, especially during the holidays, and they were very good at sending us Christmas stuff, and turkeys, and stuff they made by hand, and it was wonderful. Present them with a flag, as a token of our appreciation, and I'm going to show them some pictures of what we did while we were there," said Wilkinson.

The students even saluted while that flag was presented to the principal of the school. Two more Air Force officers, Edwin Ortiz and Daniel Coleman, joined Wilkinson at the assembly. They're both also with local fire departments.