It’s been nearly five years since the U.S. sent troops to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom. With initial shock dulled, does the American public still think about the almost 200,000 soldiers in active combat?

Barry Hannah and his woodworking classes do. For years, Hannah’s students have “turned” pens on a lathe — a machine used to shape material by rotating it rapidly while the user presses a cutting tool against it — as a class project. Now students are turning pens for more than just a grade.

Vocational technical classes across the country are teaming up with FreedomPens.org to make sure every soldier in the Middle East has a reminder of home. FreedomPens.org is a woodworkers’ organization dedicated to providing custom hand-crafted pens to servicemen and women overseas.

Made from Honduras Rosewood and featuring 24-carat gold trim, all pens are student-designed.

Sophomore Cameron Hastings hopes his efforts help.

“I’ve made 30 pens from two classes, only two for this (project),” Hastings said. “I think the pens help the soldiers remember that we are still thinking about them.”

Girls in the classes have begun making their pens out of Chinese pink ivory, especially for women in the military.

Pen recipients have already responded. Heart-touching e-mails sent by soldiers, sergeants, colonels and airmen have praised pen makers’ efforts.

“The pens are all so beautiful and so special,” e-mailed “Col. Lori,” stationed in Baghdad.

“Knowing that folks are showing their support for what our soldiers are doing over here made them touch each of us in a special way. I can’t thank you enough for the pens.”

So far, Hannah has enlisted three classes to craft pens, and the first 30 are ready to be shipped. FreedomPens.org reported having sent more than 73,000 pens to the Middle East.

“I just want to get the word out,” Hannah said. “My brother is a shop teacher up at the Lake of the Ozarks and I told him about it, so his class is starting the project.

“This is a really cool thing. I get goose bumps every time I talk about it.”