Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Jason Moore Jr., 6, of Shawano, shows the letter he received this month from President Barack Obama. The president replied to a letter Jason had written about seeing a boy from Syria on the news after his home was bombed and his family was killed.
Six-year-old Jason Moore Jr. saw news coverage about the bombings in Syria, including a little boy who lost his family and home in an attack, and his heart went out to the young victim.
The Shawano boy wrote a letter two months ago to President Barack Obama, asking how such a tragedy could occur, offering his home to the boy and expressing fears that such bombings could happen here.
Obama wrote back, telling Jason that the United States was doing all it could to help Syria and its refugees and that his concern at such a young age would make him an important part of his community in the future.
“Our country is working with other countries to try to stop the war, and we are helping some children and families to come to America to escape the violence,” Obama wrote in the letter.
The president went on to say that he was glad Jason wrote him a letter about it, noting that “as long as you keep asking important questions and do everything you can to help others, you can make the world a better place.”
Cheryl Moore, Jason’s mother, said she never expected “in a million years” that the president would reply with a personal letter. She had expected that, if there was any reply at all, it would be a standardized response.
Cheryl Moore said Jason’s grandmother regularly watches the news, and the image of the Syrian orphan boy was shown constantly.
“He kept questioning about the little boy being shown on TV, and it was just really upsetting him,” she said. “We told him, ‘A thing to do would be for you to write a letter and send it over to the president and voice your feelings and thoughts about it.”
Jason wrote the letter, with some help from his grandmother, and sent it off to the White House.
“He just felt that it wasn’t fair that (the boy’s) home got bombed and his parents were killed,” Cheryl Moore said. “He wanted to know where this little boy was going to go and who was going to take care of him. He even offered his house if the boy had nowhere to go.”
As time passed, the image of the boy was no longer in the news, so it was almost forgotten. Then a first-class package arrived at the Moore house on Dec. 5, and it was a letter to Jason from the president.
Jason said he was “happy” when he realized Obama had written him back.
“That boy’s house blowed up,” he said Wednesday. “I was sad about that.”
Jason, who is in first grade at Hillcrest Primary School, is getting noticed at school for the letter, which will be in the school newsletter.
“I’m going to put (the letter) in my bedroom,” Jason said.
Cheryl Moore said Jason’s grandmother planned to take him to Washington, D.C., next summer, and they might even get a chance to tour the White House, even though Obama will be out of office by then.
“(Obama) actually answered his questions and concerns in there about what happened,” Cheryl Moore said. “He said that sometimes bad things happen to good people.”
She noted that the president pointed out in his letter that the bombings in Syria were not as likely to happen in the United States because there are people willing to protect Jason and others living in the country.
“He also said that Jason’s strong concerns will make him a very good person in the community, and that he’ll make a difference in the world when he gets older,” Cheryl Moore said.
Even knowing her son as well as she did, Cheryl Moore was very surprised that a 6-year-old had such empathy for someone he didn’t even know. Jason is active in youth sports and the Cub Scouts, but she didn’t realize he was paying close attention to the bigger picture in life.
“It just blew my mind,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, where is this coming from?’ Normally, he doesn’t pay attention to such stuff, but lately, he’s been more concerned about things with children.”
Jason is focused on other concerns closer to home. The Toys for Tots campaign has caught his attention, according to his mother, and he wants to find ways to donate.
“His old jackets and shoes that don’t fit him and are still good, he wants to know if we can donate that stuff,” she said.