Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Saturday, October 01, 2005 Soldier Angel I applied many months ago at Soldiers' Angels to adopt a soldier. Surprising enough to me, I got a woman in Iraq in a Quartermaster Company. I began writing to her letters that I hoped would amuse her about my ridiculous travails with birds in my neighborhood and how helpful government can be (that's a joke, son). Rather than Care packages which she didn't need so much, I sent her movies they might not have seen. It turns out that they get a lot of bootleg movies of the newest releases, so I try to find more obscure films which she might enjoy. I buy used DVDs at Amazon and they send them right off to Iraq. (I hope that buying them used doesn't make me sound cheap. They're just as good as new and it means I can send her more of them.) I just got a postcard from my soldier and she announced that she re'upped for another 5 years. Amazing. She misses home, has a few more months left to her deployment, but she signed up again. Are these not the greatest people? God bless 'em. Each and every one of them. You know when you see the nutballs parading around their ugly selves as they insist they support the troops that it's not very likely they're sending care packages or charming letters to help keep their spirits up. I was a bit apprehensive when I applied for a soldier -- not knowing how I'd come off, if they even wanted to hear from an old fart like me, or if hearing from a stranger could give them any lift, but boy, I am so glad I took the chance. I try to write droll letters as James Lileks might write them, and I'm doing okay because she says I'm funny. I can't tell you how relieved I am that my attempts at humor are pleasing someone in her situation. I'm not going to publish them here because I write them for her and they're private (don't worry, I let my wife read them). Not everything has to be broadcast to the world. Anyway, I just want to encourage others if they have a desire to help out in that way that it's a great morale booster for the troops to hear from us. I really feel like my ability to write is being put to a higher purpose than spouting off my opinions hither and yon. posted by Mark Butterworth | 5:09 PM | |
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