Million Dollar Letter to Our Troops

Description: Mail call is the only thing the soldiers have to look forward to. If their name is not called, it is like having a knife stuck in their heart. Our Military Members

Categories: Ministries: Military Ministries, Relationships: Families
This Post has been viewed 5678 times.
Submitted by: Nannette | View Member Profile | View Other Posts
Created: 11/30/2004

A Million Dollar Letter?
by Tami Eiselt

Everyone has magnetic ribbons displayed on their cars that say "Support Our Troops." I don’t have one, so I wanted to do something that our soldiers could see and touch. As part of my “Civic Responsibility” I decided to share a little of my life with others by writing letters to our troops.

As citizens of this country, we have certain rights and privileges. One of the duties as a citizen of this country is to defend it against our enemies. Right now, we have several enlisted men and women doing just that in Iraq. I might not agree with the motives of our leaders as to why our soldiers are over in Iraq, but I am proud of each one of them for defending our country. I wanted to send them letters to show that I care.
I figured this would be a piece of cake. I planned to write 30 letters. That would add up to be ten hours of service. I read the instructions we were to follow in writing our letters. I was going to thrill them with my exciting life. Each letter had to be slightly different. I was on my tenth letter with twenty more to go. Wow, my life is boring. All I do is have daily prayers, study, go to school, clean house sort of, and care for my husband and pets. How do you write about that thirty times?

I became frustrated. All they would want to do with my boring letters was to make paper airplanes and fly them across the barracks. I even shared that in some of my letters. Should I change my project? This was turning out to be much harder then I had expected.

Then I saw some pictures on the internet. Our soldiers were out sleeping on the ground in the mud. They didn’t even have barracks or a tent. Sand flies were biting them and their food was filled with sand. My letters were a pitiful project. Our soldiers deserve better than what I can write. If only I had the money to buy them something they would enjoy.

About that time, my sister called me. I told her about my project and how our troops wouldn’t care to read a silly letter from someone they didn’t even know. She said that wasn’t true. Her husband’s best friend was just visiting from Iraq. His name is James "Jimmy" Yunker. He is a Sergeant First Class in the army in Iraq. He's over a platoon of 30 guys with Charlie Company, 1-16th Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Jimmy says, "A soldier in Iraq would rather get mail than to eat, sleep, or receive a million dollars. Mail call is the only thing the soldiers have to look forward to. They jump over each other to get their mail when their name is called. If their name is not called, it is like having a knife stuck in their heart. They are even more touched to receive mail from people they don't even know. The soldiers are amazed that people who don't even know them would care enough and appreciate them enough to take the time to write letters or mail packages to them."

Jimmy further says, “receiving letters keeps the morale of the soldiers up. It carries them through another day of hot or cold weather, sand everywhere, mortar fire, house raids, horrible meal rations, lack of sleep, and the sight of death all around.” Jimmy watches out for his guys that don't receive mail from home. If he gets letters that are marked for "any" soldier, he makes sure to give them out to the soldiers who need a morale booster the most. He also says that many of his soldiers are so touched by letters written to them by kids or people that they don't know, that many times they write letters back to show their appreciation.

Jimmy is from South Haven, Kansas. South Haven has supported Jimmy and his guys by sending packages and letters. The community put on a program and fed Jimmy and his platoon of 30 guys. My sister attended and said the program was great. This is how I know what Jimmy had said. Jimmy's Battalion is in Fort Riley now. Some are going back to Iraq, and others are staying home.

Now that I know how important letters are to the soldiers, I feel good about my decision to write letters. Whether people in the United States back the war or not, we need to support our soldiers. They are over there giving their lives for what they believe in so that we can be free. I realize the soldiers don't know who Tami of Kansas is, but I know they are excited anyway. It makes me feel good to imagine a soldier's name being called and seeing him with a big smile on his face jumping over the other soldiers to grab the letter I sent to him. I feel great knowing that those soldiers would rather have my letter than a million dollars. I never dreamed that anything of mine would ever be worth a million dollars, but now I know that that one simple act of writing a few lines to a soldier is worth more than that. It can't get any better than this!