For those of you who want to keep deluding yourselves about whether or not we 'bleeding heart liberals' have a skewed and biased view of the situation in the Middle East, stop reading now. And for those of you who feel tempted to reply in some - in ANY - smarmy way about this letter - please don't. This is REAL. This is my heart and soul, my family.

The following letter is from my beloved Adam, who just turned 19 over there, a week ago today. Adam is no wuss, not by any STRETCH of the imagination, as you can tell from his letter. Adam won the Medal of Valor before his 19th birthday. He joined up with the intention of doing what whatever he was called to do, and he is doing that and trying to keep his head up. But he told me the last time he was home, right before he shipped out to the desert, that I was right about my fears, and that he didn't believe in this war, that he thought Bush was in the wrong. This is not some hippie liberal speaking, this is not someone who hasn't got the courage to do what the rest of us won't. If he were fighting a just cause, he would say so, with pride and a loud "HOO-AH!" - and he would feel like he was putting his life on the line for a reason. As it is, he feels like he is finishing a sentence, and just trying to keep himself and his buddies alive until they are freed from the prison of our government's insanity. I warn you, this letter is heartbreaking. It confirms all of my worst fears and suspicions about the ! @#$-up our government has made of this situation and of these soldier's lives.

All of you who think otherwise, up to and including ! @#$ George ! @#$ W. - AND his whole ! @#$ SHRUB clan - can officially kiss my @$$. I'm sorry to be so blunt and rude, I try to be open-minded, I try to see all sides, but if two people, in such very different positions can see this situation the same way, then something is very, very "rotten in Denmark". You can say what you want about MY opinion and feelings on the matter, but the following is the opinion of a very typical, ABOVE average (according to his CO's) soldier living right out on the front line. And no matter how you feel about the politics of the matter, please pray, or send good wishes, or good energy - or whatever you believe - for these soldiers. It is obvious that they need them.

-s

"Howdy from beautiful B-------, Iraq

Hey Sam , sorry it took me so long to write you but I’ve been busy like you wouldnt believe. I’m glad everything is good with you. Being out here really puts everything into perspective and how much those who are close to you really matter. I really miss home and well, just being free to do as I please. I might should have let you talk me out of joining. But its okay. I don’t like what I do most of the time but I am good at it. Life is such a precious thing and it is taken out here so fast. I don’t enjoy taking life at all but you become numb to it all after a while. Combat brings out a person inside of you that you don’t like and who you are afraid of. There’s nothing in this world like that. There is so much hate out here. People that hate us because they don’t know why we are still here. And us soldiers hate them because they have killed our friends who we were hanging out with the other day and who didn’t even know why they were here or what they were fighting for. It's not that we are fighting for a cause that we don’t believe in its that we don’t know what the cause is. We’re just fighting for our lives and that’s all, fighting scared that we wont go home.

[I had to edit this part out because it's a surprise... -s.] I miss you Sam, I miss the porch chats and [and i had to edit this part out because it's illegal. :) -s.]. I miss everything about regular life I should have spent more time with you last time I came home and for that I apologize. And I will not neglect your friendship again this time because now I cherish everything valuable like that more than ever. I’ll leave you now and I just want you to know that I love you and cherish you and I’ll see you soon

Love, your loyal Vice President

PFC Adam P."