This was in my personal email today, and I wanted to share it. This is one of "my" soldiers, and as with all of them, please keep him close to your heart as he gets "short".


A Favor To Ask

Hello everyone and Good Morning. Well the end is drawing near.
An 18 month deployment which began back in July 2004 with an after-
noon phone call, will soon be all a memory...some good and some bad.
We've seen lives taken and we've seen destruction, but we've also
seen the many changes that have occurred since are arrival and the
many more that continue to occur in improving the way of life for this
country. There are some that agree with us being here and there are
some that disagree. As for those of us here, it's not whether or not
we agree or disagree, the fact is, we all VOLUNTEERED. There are many
who stand and protest the war when yet on those very same days, there
are many standing and raising their right hand and re-enlisting, some
while manning a checkpoint where they know they stand in harms way
because of the threat of a suicide bomber or a vehicle car bomb.

We don't ask that you favor the decision of going to war, but what we do
ask for is one simple favor...pray for us as you do your own so that we
may come home and be able to be with our loved ones, once again.

With that being said, Ramadan has passed as well as the signing of the
constitution, but we have one more mile stone to assist with...The Pres-
idential election in December. This will be our toughest month, yet.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, the holidays that most look
forward to. Here in Iraq, the only thing to look forward to is the day
they say "It's time to board the plane and go home". For during the
holiday season, it will be business as usual. We will patrol our sectors,
look for the individuals who are planting roadside bombs, and do every-
thing we can to make it home safely.

So I ask of you on behalf of all the men and women over here, when you are
sitting at the table enjoying your meal, opening presents, and celebrating
a New Year, pause for a moment and say a prayer for all of us for our time
to depart is soon near.

May God Bless you all for all that you continue to do in support of all the
troops.


I know this has been around for awhile, but I think it's worth a return visit:
We Support You