In August of

1990, Andrew Roy entered J.C. Booth Middle School as part of its first

sixth-grade class. Within several months the United States began Operation

Desert Storm and students followed the news in class.

Roy, 24, is

now a first lieutenant in the United States Navy with the USS Paul Harrison.

He spoke to current sixth graders at Booth Tuesday afternoon, explaining

that the events that are taking place around them now will affect them

in the future, as it did for him.

Roy graduated

from McIntosh High School in 1997 and was a part of a state champion cross

country squad. After high school he attended the U.S. Naval Academy and

graduated with honors. He has spent two years in the fleet, is an officer

and loves the experience of being at sea.

The USS Paul

Harrison is based out of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and just returned to the

states after a nine month deployment. Roy's parents still live in Peachtree

City and students at Booth sent letters to Roy and others on his ship.

In November

of last year, Roy and his colleagues were part of a Maritime Interdiction

Operation near the Persian Gulf. They would board boats trying to leave

Iraq, making sure that they were not trying to smuggle out goods that

went against sanctions. Roy told students that he would board everything

from cargo ships to small ships and once boarded six ships in two hours.

He met many interesting people and found that generally, the Iraqis did

not like Saddam Hussein and were just trying to make money to get food

for their families.

The USS Paul

Hamilton is an AEGIS Guided Missile Destroyer that is larger than a 45-story

building. After its work in November the ship made its way to Australia

for New Year's Eve with hopes for heading home soon afterwards. The very

next day the USS Paul Hamilton was told to head