Dear Hero,

            My name is DL, I’m 17 and I go to *********High School. Christmas is just around the corner, even though it doesn’t feel like it. So Happy Christmas. Or merry Christmas, what’s the difference? How do you celebrate the holidays where you are? It seems like the perfect holidays mean putting up trees and lights, getting the perfect gifts and whatnot, but I don’t think that’s what it’s all about. My family puts up a tree every year, but I think we only do it because of the little kids, because if it was just me, I wouldn’t mind if there wasn’t a tree. This is my nephews first Christmas, he’s four months old. His dad is my brother and he is in Iraq now. I feel bad for the soldiers who can’t see their kids for the holidays. Guess I feel bad for the kids, too. But were sending him a lot of pictures and things.

            I recently saw a video blog of a guy in Iraq. I like to watch things like that, because it kind of shows his “side of the story”.  They are good for me to watch anyway, I’m on the newspaper (Pirate Press) staff here at school and I want to pursue a career in journalism when I’m finished with high school.

Anyway, I want to say thank you, for my freedom. You fight everyday so that I can get an education, help raise my nephew, do things that I want to do, being a kid, being a teenager, having friends. Without you our school might have been bombed or something already. I am not a religious person but I thank God when I wake up, and before I go to sleep, that you are brave enough to be fighting for your family, and mine. I know it would be so hard for me to do something like that, I’m not sure I could. So thank you so much for this shot at life.

We wrote this letter for something like a project for Communication Arts (English class), but now that I did it, I’m glad somebody gets to know how I feel. If you could write back, I think it would be awesome to get a letter from a soldier. Thanks again.