I currently have a friend serving over in Afghanistan. He sent me a letter for Thanksgiving today and I thought it really puts things in to perspective. Here it is, enjoy:
I thought I'd drop you a line and wish you a happy thanksgiving.
Thought I'd share some of the things I am thankful for and what I would say if I was back in the states about to carve a turkey;
I am thankful for being American
For being born in the greatest country in the world
To have the right to make decisions for my self
To be able, to work to be rich or poor, the only question is how hard
All-tho there has been hard times in my life, none have left me mal-nourished, or to sleep in the cold under the stars
I am very thankful for my many good friends and a job to work for
A central government, with military, and police that for the most part don't work for the highest bidder, and that are actually concerned with the safety of the nation.
Let me tell you, these things are oftenly over looked, and it's not until your in a nation where you can't trust the police even as a citizen of the community. The cops here work for the war lords and there is no such thing as a government.
We were in a southern city last week and it was unbelievable to see. The public transit passed by filled to the brim, so overloaded people were sitting on top of the bus in the freezing cold. Or as a donkey passes with a father and son, the son on his way to a school the Americans just set up, a large white tent with no heat, and the father on his way to work on the street selling this months crop, full of vehicles that bellow black exhaust. We pass by tents all the time that sit on the edge of that same road with a trench that runs behind it that acts as a gutter and a sewer, very commonly with human feces floating by, this is a family's home. There is no such thing as a bathroom here I've seen many times in many different villages a person walking down the street just pop a squat and leave a pile for one of the street vendors to later wash into that ditch running on the side of the road. There is no such thing as middle class, ether your filthy rich or your dirt poor.
This is not a pity story, just some things we, I, had never thought about on thanksgiving. I was to busy thanking god for the new t.v. I just saved up for or the new stereo. Never once had I thought about the sewers and the public transit, the police, and least of all the government. But all of these things put together is what makes home so great. Never before was I so proud to say "THANK GOD FOR THE U.S.A."
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MISS YOU TONS!
SGT J****** J********