This “Secret Letter from Iraq” — written by a Marine officer serving in Iraq — was published at Time.com, which kinda makes it “not so secret” now.

Jeff Harell at The Shape of Days has this endorsement of the letter:

You should read it. It’s not all good news and it’s not all bad news. It’s not news at all, really. It’s just a letter home, forthcoming to the extent that the rules of operational security allow and as honest as anything I’ve seen.

Here are a few excerpts that I found interesting:

Most Memorable Scene — In the middle of the night, on a dusty airfield, watching the better part of a battalion of Marines packed up and ready to go home after over six months in al-Anbar, the relief etched in their young faces even in the moonlight. Then watching these same Marines exchange glances with a similar number of grunts loaded down with gear file past — their replacements. Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said.

Anybody who has ever lived through this scene on the tarmac will never forget it, and those who have never been a part of it can ever understand the emotions of that surreal moment that is nearly frozen in time.

Best Intel Work — Finding Jill Carroll’s kidnappers — all of them. I was mighty proud of my guys that day. I figured we’d all get the Christian Science Monitor for free after this, but none have showed up yet.

Hah. I love the dig at the ungrateful moonbats at the CSM.

Highest Unit Re-enlistment Rate — Any outfit that has been in Iraq recently. All the danger, all the hardship, all the time away from home, all the horror, all the frustrations with the fight here — all are outweighed by the desire for young men to be part of a band of brothers who will die for one another. They found what they were looking for when they enlisted out of high school. Man for man, they now have more combat experience than any Marines in the history of our Corps.

Again, if you’ve never served in combat, I can’t explain this to you. If you have served in combat, I don’t need to.
______________

OTHERS:

• SGT Hook
• Redneck Texan
• And this dolt at Nonfamous, who has an asinine moonbat reaction to the letter.