An e-mail from Afghanistan

A great surprise in my e-mail box this morning and I wanted to share with you . . . .

Howdy Neighbor!

I don't know if you heard or not, but I shipped off back in September for a tour of duty here in Afghanistan.  A sister unit to my Marquette unit was deploying and they were short a Platoon Leader so I volunteered and, well, here I am.

Today I happened to be gathering the incoming mail for my men and what in the world should I come across but the latest edition of your UP Magazine!!!  Ht off the press in beautiful uptown Chatham, MI U.S. of A.  One of my soldiers (Staff Sergeant Joseph Hattamer) apparently has a subscription with you.

I am the only Yooper in the platoon but most of the men are from the Wausau and Green Bay area of Wisconsin so they fully appreciate Yooperisms, eh.

All is well so far.  Our mission is to leave the wire every day and run missions where we look for IED's and other wicked things that go boom and the bad guys who place them.  Somewhat thankless work - but someone has to do it, so we may as well be the ones to step in and do it.

The soldiers I am with are true professionals and I am honored to serve alongside them.  I assure you, they do not disappoint and they earn their pay each day.

I hope all is well with you, Robin, and the whole crew at Porcupine Press.  Slip into the pub and have a beer for me!

I ask you to pray for my troops that they may be keen to their work and protected from physical, emotional, or spiritual harm until they step foot once again back in the United States.  Doing the hard, dirty work of national defense is never easy but these troops do it day in and day out with nerves of steel.

Blessings Mike.  I am sorry I didn't get to say goodbye before I left Chatham.  I'll be home as soon as this tour is over - I miss the Yoop and the nice quiet life we lead in Chatham.

Andy Reichert