Hello, My Name is SPC Joe. My company and I received your package. Everyone raided the box and took what they thought the best things were and within moments the box was all but empty. I got up to see what was left and it turns out the very best things were still inside. At the bottom of the box I found a plastic bag with letters inside.T hey were letters from children. I can't remember all of what was written but they all shared the common heart felt message of, "thank you for keeping our country safe". As I read each one I was brought to recall similar messages which I had read as an Infantryman while deployed to Afghanistan from 2009- 2010. You will never know but those letter from children made me feel proud to serve my country. They made me feel like someone besides my family cared about me and what I was doing. I know most people don't seem to care about the letters or give very much thought about who sent them or where the packages come from.

As I read the simple words of each child again it made me feel gratitude for the people in our country who still care about what is happening to our countrymen while they are far away from their family and friends. War changes people. Combat leaves wounds that doctors can't see or heal but there is something special about the faith of a child and the impact their simple and pure words have on others. I guess all I wanted the children to know was how thankful I was for their letters. Keep sending them! People need to feel like they make a difference. It goes both ways, when we give we receive and small things can make a powerful difference for good. Sometimes all someone needs is a little hope and a little encouragement to keep on going and fight to live another day.

Tell all the children that we love them and that we love their letters too! Thank you for the thoughtful packages too! I means a lot to me that there are still people who care about soldiers. I want the children to know that they are our heros and that we are here because of them. Thank you all so much and God bless you and our great nation.

Sincerely, SPC Joe

Followup to this email...the email address had a different name than Joe, always wanting to make sure that we have each name down for a package, we asked if his name was on our list.  This is that reply:

I did mean for you to find out my name, it is Ammon. I guess I should have remembered what email I was using before I sent my letter. I just wanted to thank your organization anonymously. You don't have to send me a package. My mom and fiancee both are sending me packages. I just really wanted to thank you because kids wrote me before on my last deployment and I got packages from you before when no body else could send me something. I also know that a lot of soldiers forget that those packages come from caring people who use their time and money to send them and then soldiers neglect to be thankful.