Marine officers frequently write letters to the families of the Marines who serve with them. The letters are normally sent via email through a distribution list. This is one small example...
Major Timothy M. Parker, Executive Officer for 2/10 Marines writes:
Friends and Families of 2/10, We have completed our first two months in Iraq. I have had the opportunity to visit every site, and the high level of motivation and esprit de corps consistently inspires me. It almost seems like the places where things are hardest the morale is best. The weather has begun to cool, which was a welcome relief, although I’m sure you’ll soon hear complaints about how cold it is here (Marines are only happy when complaining).
Like many, I find it distressing that so many people back in America don’t understand why we are here. I’d like to relate to you a story that will hopefully bring all of it into perspective. Most of you will note the story of Huda, the young girl whose picture has graced our webpage for the past month.
On 3 November, we returned Huda and her father to their village, Al Majjarh. It was a great homecoming. The entire town came out to welcome them back. Huda mom wanted us to stay for lunch, but we try not to stay too long for security reasons. After talking with the family for a little while, CWO Torres went to talk to the village sheik (yes, they really have those here), and I walked back to my vehicle.
After I got back to the vehicle, two little girls walked up to me, and began to talk to me. I couldn't really understand what they wanted, and then they ran back to their house. They returned to me with a baby girl, who couldn't have been more than six months old. I could tell she was a girl because she had pierced ears, which I thought odd for a village so poor. She was a sweet little girl and they let me hold her, and I finally found out that what they wanted was water.
The village has problems with getting clean water, it's one of the projects we're working on in the village. I gave them three bottles of water, and they took the water and the baby back home. They returned to talk to me, which is a relative term since I don't speak any Arabic. So, I took out my wallet and showed them a picture of my family, and pointed out my own family (my wife and eight children). They took my pictures and ran back to their house.
I could see their mother in the backyard, so walked over there. One of the little girls had handed my pictures to the mother. She began speaking very rapidly, then began to cry. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, so I called one of our translators over. She (the translator) said that the mother was sad because I had to be away from my family.
I asked where she was from, and she told me she was a refugee from Fallujah. She was frightened of all the terrorists, and the bombs that were being dropped. They were living in a tent in Al Majjarh. I told her that I hoped soon we would drive out all the terrorists, so that she could return home. I told her that I was sad to be away from my family, and my family was sad I was away from them, but my family and I felt the sacrifice was worth it, so the people of Iraq could have the same freedom as we do. She seemed very touched, and genuinely appreciative of our efforts.
We are changing this country for the better, one person at a time. President Theodore Roosevelt once said:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
The Marines and Sailors of 2d Battalion are men in the arena, they are making a difference for our great nation and for Iraq. I truly hope you are all as proud of them as am I.
Major Timothy M. Parker, Executive Officer for 2/10 Marines writes:
Friends and Families of 2/10, We have completed our first two months in Iraq. I have had the opportunity to visit every site, and the high level of motivation and esprit de corps consistently inspires me. It almost seems like the places where things are hardest the morale is best. The weather has begun to cool, which was a welcome relief, although I’m sure you’ll soon hear complaints about how cold it is here (Marines are only happy when complaining).
Like many, I find it distressing that so many people back in America don’t understand why we are here. I’d like to relate to you a story that will hopefully bring all of it into perspective. Most of you will note the story of Huda, the young girl whose picture has graced our webpage for the past month.
On 3 November, we returned Huda and her father to their village, Al Majjarh. It was a great homecoming. The entire town came out to welcome them back. Huda mom wanted us to stay for lunch, but we try not to stay too long for security reasons. After talking with the family for a little while, CWO Torres went to talk to the village sheik (yes, they really have those here), and I walked back to my vehicle.
After I got back to the vehicle, two little girls walked up to me, and began to talk to me. I couldn't really understand what they wanted, and then they ran back to their house. They returned to me with a baby girl, who couldn't have been more than six months old. I could tell she was a girl because she had pierced ears, which I thought odd for a village so poor. She was a sweet little girl and they let me hold her, and I finally found out that what they wanted was water.
The village has problems with getting clean water, it's one of the projects we're working on in the village. I gave them three bottles of water, and they took the water and the baby back home. They returned to talk to me, which is a relative term since I don't speak any Arabic. So, I took out my wallet and showed them a picture of my family, and pointed out my own family (my wife and eight children). They took my pictures and ran back to their house.
I could see their mother in the backyard, so walked over there. One of the little girls had handed my pictures to the mother. She began speaking very rapidly, then began to cry. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, so I called one of our translators over. She (the translator) said that the mother was sad because I had to be away from my family.
I asked where she was from, and she told me she was a refugee from Fallujah. She was frightened of all the terrorists, and the bombs that were being dropped. They were living in a tent in Al Majjarh. I told her that I hoped soon we would drive out all the terrorists, so that she could return home. I told her that I was sad to be away from my family, and my family was sad I was away from them, but my family and I felt the sacrifice was worth it, so the people of Iraq could have the same freedom as we do. She seemed very touched, and genuinely appreciative of our efforts.
We are changing this country for the better, one person at a time. President Theodore Roosevelt once said:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
The Marines and Sailors of 2d Battalion are men in the arena, they are making a difference for our great nation and for Iraq. I truly hope you are all as proud of them as am I.
