Soldier returns home for a pizza delivery

By Kim Cox
kcox@campcountynow.com

Cobie Ouzts, who is about to re-enlist as a medic in the U. S. Navy, came home for a visit and wound up delivering pizza at Pittsburg Elementary School.
The 22-year-old, who was recently stationed at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, visited Mary Ruth Townsend and Krystal Farmer’s third grade classes, his teachers when he was in the third grade.
“When they heard I was going to Afghanistan, they adopted me as their sailor overseas,” Petty Officer Third Class Ouzts said.
Mrs. Townsend said they exchanged e-mails while Mr. Ouzts was in Afghanistan.
“Cobie was much better about communicating with us than we were with him,” she said.
He was home for a break from his current station in Guam when he and Mrs. Townsend agreed on a pizza lunch for her and Mrs. Farmer’s classrooms.
The medic, in his uniform, hand delivered several pizzas to the class and helped pass them out while visiting with students and teachers from his alma mater.
He said it’s terrible to see someone his age who would be forever having to deal with a missing limb or other permanent injuries.
“In Afghanistan, I saw everything,” he said. “It’s taught me to count every day as a blessing.”
Mr. Ouzts said through the U. S. Navy, he is working on his degree in medical studies, with a minor in biology. This summer, he said he will be a lab tech in San Antonio.
“After that, I don’t know where they will lead me, but I will go,” he said.
While he was in the class, Mrs. Townsend dug out a book his class put together all those years ago, called “The Remembering Book.” In the book, a third grade Mr. Ouzts said he “wanted to be a doctor so he could help people.”
“That’s the thing about Cobie,” Mrs. Townsend said.