A letter home

This letter appeared in our Christmas Eve paper and I thought it worthy of sharing. Please pray for all our men serving in every branch of service everywere!!!!


LCPL Curtis Mejeur from West Michigan is serving in Iraq. His family forwarded WZZM 13 this letter - His mother writes, I thought it would be a good reminder for all Americans:


As the holiday season arrives I would just like to write you all so you remember those serving our country. Remember that they have given greatly of themselves so that you may have a peaceful holiday season. I cannot stress the thankfulness that I have for those that have shown me support over the past year; it has helped me push on so that I can do my job here in Iraq.

I can remember standing in those fateful yellow footprints outside of MCRD. Thinking to myself, "here you go, lets hope it's all that you had planned". And it has been. I have made the best friends I could ever hope for, and I've kept the true friends that I never noticed enough. I've made it half way around the world, and soon, I'll make it back again. I've vested myself in something larger than myself, something larger than Alpha company, I've helped shape history as we know it. But it has come at a cost. I have also lost my friends. I have doubted the shape of the history we are creating. I have doubted the very beliefs at the core of my being.

This is where I will stand, I will. I have made my choices and I promise to stay with them, this I guarantee. Remember on the nights that are coming that there are men and women out there who share the same night, but with far fewer people. Remember his life is far different from yours, but still the same in so many ways. Know the differences, accept them, and hold on to the similarities. That is what we hold onto here in Iraq.

Remember that when you get dressed in the morning and you straighten your tie, he will straighten his Kevlar. You will button up your shirt, he will snap up his flack jacket. You will look in the mirror to make sure you look right, he will look to the right, and the left, to make sure his buddy has his throat guard on. You will grab your keys on the way out the door, he will grab his rifle. You will get in your car, him an armored humvee, and do 75 on the way to work. Anything over 10 scares him to death. You will spend all day attempting to close that lucrative deal, he will spend all day trying to figure out who wants to kill him, who doesn't, and who really doesn't care either way. You will do the same 75 on the way back from work, he'll walk 6 miles. You'll relax when you get home, he'll go right to post for 6 more hours. You'll talk about what you're going to do on Saturday, he hasn't seen a weekend in months. You complain about dinner, he can't believe he's getting hot food this evening. He lives in a world where he must be respectful and polite to everyone he meets, but also keep a plan to kill them.

I write this not for your pity or because I think I have it bad. I write it in the hopes that next time you hear someone disrespecting our troops, that you have the courage to stand up to them, and remind them that although they may not agree with what is happening in the world, our troops are not to blame. We will still care about their safety and interests long after they have forgotten about ours.

Remember their families, they are the ones that have the real fight. Everyone here stands together on the mission at hand. It is not the same at home. It hurts them to hear that, "the war is stupid, all we're doing is sending our young men and women to do, is die". This statement is false and uninformed at best. They fight a much different war, and theirs does not always have everyone standing together. Theirs is the constant state of worry that follows them day in and day out. They will not know much if at all for a year at a time.

I wish you the best, throughout the next year and beyond. Merry Christmas!