during the persian gulf1 war, i was stationed aboard the naval2 amphi*ous ship uss nassau. as a senior marine3 intel*ce *yst4, my workdays were routinely twelve to six* hours long. like all the veterans, we looked forward to receiving mail from home.
unlike the vietnam war, the gulf war found support among most americans. as a result, we soldiers received an enormous amount of "to any * member" mail from the states. i n*r took any of those letters, since i wrote to my wife and two children on a daily basis, as well as occasionally writing notes to my daughter's classroom, and i didn't feel i had time to write to anyone else.
after five or six months of hearing the mail orderly - announcing the availa*lity of "to any * member” mail, i decided5 to take a few of the letters. i planned, as time permitted, to * them a line telling them "thanks" for their support.
i picked up three letters, and placed them in my cargo6 pocket and proceeded back to work. over the next week or so, i started responding to the letters. when it came time to answer the third letter, i noticed it had no return address, but a colorado postmark, which made me think of home. i had missed spending thanksgiving, christmas and new year's with my family, and i was really lonesome for them.
i opened the card and started to read the letter enclosed. about the third or fourth sentence down, it read, “my daddy is a marine over there, if you see him tell him hi and i love and miss him." this statement really touched me and made me miss my family *n *. i looked down to the signature—and sat in stunned7 silence as tears filled my eyes.
my own daughter chris had signed the letter.
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