Letter from Afghanistan

He had not been expecting a letter. As he sorted through the mail after working 10 long hours at the refinery, he came across a letter from his son who was stationed in Afghanistan with the 1^st Marine Infantry Division. The postmark on the letter was a week old but he knew it took awhile for mail to travel to the house from a country halfway across the globe. He stared at the letter intently for a few minutes before opening the letter with tears in his eyes. He was a single parent since his wife left him that many years ago and Tom, his only son, was grown up and in a foreign country. The house seemed so lonely without the constant banter he and his son had shared for so many years becoming more like best friends as the years went by. He was finally able to break the reverie in order to open the letter that his son had written hundreds of miles from home.

"Dear Dad,

I just wanted to let you know that all is well here or at least as well as it can be. I am not allowed to tell you exactly where I am at but it is far worse than being at home. We are constantly on the move lately, looking for the hidden Taliban fighters that have been causing this country so much grief. In the short time that I have been in country, I have come to realize how grateful I am for all the things I had growing up. The kids here don't have much by way of food, water and fun things that kids enjoy doing. Above all, a lot of the children here don't have parents to take care of them. Because of this, I want to tell you how much I appreciate everything you did for me while I was growing up. Mom leaving us hurt both you and me but I wouldn't give up anything that we shared together. You did a great job of raising me to become the responsible individual and team member I have become. You are the best friend and dad a kid could have.

Anyways, I am looking forward to finally being able to come home on leave in two months and 10 days time (I'm not keeping track or anything!). Having spent the last 10 months here, I am looking forward to enjoying your original deer stew recipe at the kitchen table and sharing stories like we used to do when I was in school. Well, I have to go now as my platoon is moving out to another small town or city that I can't pronounce. I'll write you again when we come back from liberating this town from the Taliban so the kids here can have some semblance of normality. Talk to you soon.

Love,

Tom."

As he finished the final sentence in the letter, he could not hold back the sobs that had been welling in his chest when he first opened the letter. The memories were still so fresh in his mind. It felt like yesterday that they spent all that time together on the weekends getting to be closer in every way. He slumped into the worn couch with the realization that he would always be alone. Just last week he had received the news from the Marine Corps that his son had been killed in a town that he couldn't remember or pronounce. His platoon had come under fire from the Taliban insurgents. They had fought back heroically and were able to chase the insurgents from the town but they had suffered casualties. Tom was one of those casualties.