Did you receive 'Dear Soldier/Airman/Sailor/Marine' letters?

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 00:36:30 -0500

<p>One of my favorite parts of being deployed were the "Dear Soldier" letters and cards we'd get from kids from back home. Some of them were pretty crazy, but we loved that they took the time to write them and send them. My personal favorite was:</p><p><br></p><p>"Dear soldier,</p><p><br></p><p>Congratulations on being alive. I know Iraq is one giant murder box so I hope you live. Thank you for fighting for us."</p><p><br></p><p>Who else has one that sticks with them?</p>

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2014 3:01 AM

GySgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 03:01:12 -0400

I just love the drawings of killing bodies!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2014 3:03 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 03:03:19 -0400

TSgt,<div><br></div><div>My favorite was similar. It was a homemade Christmas card that included, "Good luck! I hope you don't die before Christmas!"</div><div><br></div><div>I kept that one for months because it made me laugh every time I read it.</div>

Response by SGT(P) Aaron Haddock made Mar 9 at 2014 3:47 AM

SGT(P) Aaron Haddock — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 03:47:50 -0400

"Thanks for fighting for us, because you may never see your family again" coupled with the drawings was a memorable one.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2014 10:15 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 10:15:20 -0400

OMG yes...I had one that said "Merry Christmas, have a nice War!"<div><br></div>

Response by SFC James Baber made Mar 9 at 2014 11:16 AM

SFC James Baber — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 11:16:46 -0400

I used to get tons of them from 3rd/4th graders that had no real concept of what was going on that had drawings of everything getting blown up and then them adding hope your days are filled with fun.

I always had to laugh at the combination of the two in the cards and on the drawings.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2014 11:20 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 11:20:20 -0400

"Dear Soldier,<div><br></div><div>First, DON'T DIE!  If you think you are going to die, don't give up.  Ever!</div><div><br></div><div>Ok?</div><div><br></div><div>Your friend,</div><div>Brandon"</div>

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Nov 20 at 2014 9:48 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:48:22 -0500

"I hope you don't die".

Response by Sgt Daryle Bostrom made Nov 26 at 2014 2:37 PM

Sgt Daryle Bostrom — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:37:58 -0500

I had a lot....the ones from kids were always great. The one that sticks out, was a sorority from ASU, that had a picture of 5 girls that were dressed in Lingerie, that said "Stay Alive, so you can come back and join us"....I had that one hung up for the remainder of my time...lol

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 10 at 2016 9:46 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 09:46:12 -0400

So my team got this huge care package box from this grade school in California. In it was a bunch of treats and goodies and stuff. But above all were the letters from the teacher and all the kids. I volunteered to write all the kids back. But the one letter that stuck out the most was this kid that was asking about favorite games and what not and in his letter he hand drew Mr Handy Robot from the Fallout game series.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Aug 10 at 2016 11:02 AM

Capt Seid Waddell — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 11:02:27 -0400

We got boxes of homemade cookies that we had to throw out because the anti-war types back home would lace them with magic mushrooms or some such - so we could never trust anything that came from strangers.

The strangest package was a box of broken dolls - there was probably a message there somewhere but I never figured out what it was.

Ours was a different war.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 10 at 2016 3:46 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 15:46:06 -0400

As I have not been deployed yet, I do not. However, my father got one back in '03 that reads "Hello happy sqwurrell (I think he meant 'secret squirrel'), I hope you don't die when you are fighting the bad guys. That would make me sad. Be strong soldier!"

It was cute, and kind of disturbing. My dad eventually found the kid who wrote it (a 1st grader -- we'll call him Billy.

Turns out, Billy's father was KIA in late '02 by an IED outside Fallujah, Iraq. My dad found the boy and thanked him for his letter. Last I heard, Billy still talks to my dad and is in the process of coming into the Army now.

Response by 1SG Bill Farmerie made Aug 10 at 2016 3:57 PM

1SG Bill Farmerie — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 15:57:58 -0400

I received one during Desert Storm. It was an any soldier letter. It was written by a distant relative and I happen to get it.

Response by SPC Kortney Kistler made Aug 10 at 2016 8:33 PM

SPC Kortney Kistler — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 20:33:48 -0400

We recieved a lot of those letters in 03'/04' Iraq. The one was typical dear soldier and then the kid says "my brother was hit by a Coke truck and I'm not sure how I feel about it."

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Aug 10 at 2016 10:40 PM

CSM Charles Hayden — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 22:40:59 -0400

TSgt Private RallyPoint Member Every time I see your caption, "Dear Soldier", I cringe. Years ago the caption would be titled, 'Dear John'! My letter was addressed to; "Dear Chuck, I have met another --/---- --/"!

I wrote Carol's mother a nice letter thanking her for the hospitality I enjoyed and // that was it!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 11 at 2016 10:16 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 10:16:10 -0400

Twice in my career I have gotten pretty cool "any service member" packages. Well, I personally didn't get them but guys in my unit did. The first was in Desert Storm and a buddy of mine in another platoon got an any service member care package that was sent by the elementary school I went to. After the letters were passed out, he ended up with the one from my little sister. The second was during OIF 3 and my Team Warrant got a package from my niece's school class. He showed me the letter where she mentioned her uncle (me) was deployed also.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 16 at 2016 11:55 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 11:55:11 -0400

This was one of the best!!

Response by SFC Terri Will made Aug 16 at 2016 10:41 PM

SFC Terri Will — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 22:41:35 -0400

Not so much what the letter said, but the fact that it was from the next building over from where I had lived in NYC, before I joined the Army , that I thought was cool.