Wrangell says goodbye to Matt Nore as he deploys with the National Guard

The gym at Evergreen Elementary School was packed as teachers, parents, friends, and students from across the school district congregated last Wednesday to say goodbye to a member of their community. Kindergarten teacher Matt Nore left Wrangell last week with the National Guard, on deployment to Kuwait. This is his fourth deployment with the Guard, Nore said, and he will be gone until February of 2020.

“We’re going to Kuwait on a law enforcement mission on an Army military base there,” he said in an interview. “We’ll just be a police unit for American soldiers. We’re not policing Kuwaitis or anything like that, just American soldiers and then contract workers that are on-base. I guess everywhere you go you’re going to have assaults, or thefts, or traffic accidents, or anything.”

Nore, who grew up in Wrangell, signed up for the National Guard when he was 17-years-old and was first deployed in 2004. He has now been in the Guard for 18 years. He has seen a lot of the world, he said. He has been to Iraq twice, Cuba, spent a few weeks assisting the Border Patrol in Arizona, and even went to Mongolia in 2006. This will be his first deployment to Kuwait, he said.

“I signed up before 9/11, not thinking there was going to be another war or any time soon or anything like that,” Nore said. “Then, right after I went to basic training between my junior and senior year of high school … 9/11 happened. Right after 9/11 happened I was sitting there in government class going ‘Ah, crap.’”

When not serving his country, Nore serves his community as a kindergarten teacher. Teaching was something he knew he wanted to do for a long time, he said. According to many fellow teachers at Evergreen Elementary School, as well as students, he has been a valuable member of the school’s staff.

During the going away ceremony, several people came up to let Nore know what he means to Wrangell.

“I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Nore in my third grade class many years ago,” said teacher Brian Merritt. “He was an outstanding student, very competitive but a good sport, very sharp in math, and at this point in time still holds the record for the 100 multiplication facts: 2 minutes and 14 seconds … I know I sleep a lot better knowing America is being served and protected by people like Mr. Matt Nore and other women and men who join the military.”

Mikki Angerman, another teacher at Evergreen Elementary, also spoke at the ceremony. She pointed out the sacrifice Nore and his family were making, with him being away for a whole year. It was a sacrifice that the whole community was thankful for, she said. She said she was very happy that so many people showed up to send Nore off, so that his family could see how much support they had.

There were many people who shared memories of Nore and wished him luck on his deployment. Teacher Ryan Howe was scheduled to speak, too, but came down sick. He did record a video so he could still say goodbye to his friend, however.

“Well, it looks like you’re heading out again Mr. Nore. We’re going to miss you a lot, but I think you’ll really like it there. I was reading about Kuwait, and between the ice cream and the cake you’re going to have a great time. After all, it is a ‘dessert’ country,” he said in his video, getting a good amount of laughter from the audience.

There were many other people who spoke, as well, but kind words were not the only thing the community said goodbye to Nore with. Merritt presented Nore with a stack of notes from his students, students from Jennifer Miller’s class read a poem that they wrote for him, and Laura Davies’ classroom recited famous quotes that they felt matched Nore’s personality. Evergreen Elementary’s kindergarten class also gave Nore a book they made, so he wouldn’t forget them, and recited the “A B C’s” of Matt Nore. These were words, starting with each letter of the alphabet, that they thought he represented. Some of the words included “amazing,” “brave,” and “caring.”

The love and support Wrangell has for Nore goes beyond everyone who spoke at the going away party, though. Besides teaching, Nore also spent time helping out with the local Girl Scouts. Elizabeth Roundtree, leader of Girl Scout Troop 26, said that the troop is selling boxes of cookies to send overseas to Nore and his unit. It is already cookie-selling season for the Girl Scouts, and Roundtree said the troop has ordered about 4,000 boxes to sell. They are hoping to get 150 of these donated. The troop has booths set up at Wrangell IGA on the weekends where people can buy boxes, she said, or people can just come talk to her girls and ask to buy some boxes. The deadline to purchase boxes is March 27. Roundtree can be contacted at (907) 204-0737.

“Everyone’s been really supportive and we appreciate it, me and my family,” Nore said. “I think one of the reasons I serve, and I like serving, is I like our community. That’s always on the forefront of my mind, ‘why do you serve?’ I think it’s my family, my community, and then my state, and my country.”