Marine Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher
Feb. 2, 2005

Dear Mom & Dad,
Hello. I haven't written in a while. I have been busy. But there is good news. I only have 2 weeks left in country, unless we get extended again. But we shouldn't. There are set dates for everything. Combat operations for 1/3 stop tomorrow (big smily face). Tomorrow we go to "AL ASAD" US Military air base. We'll stay there until the 15th then head back to Camp Fallujah to pick up the marines we left there. So by the 18th or 19th I should be in Kuwait and I should be back in hawaii around May 9th. So I'll probably be home (Chicago) around June. So maybe I take 'leave' and stay on island cause you all will be there or maybe you can delay your visit a month. Cause I really want to see everyone back home. I don't know exactly when I'll get leave.

Maher, 19, of Grayslake, Ill., was at the wheel of a Humvee when he drove into an ambush in the Anbar province town of Hit, near Fallujah, on Feb. 2, 2005. This unfinished letter was found in his notebook. According to his fellow Marines and the mother of his best friend, Maher volunteered to take a second shift in place of his best friend as a birthday present.

Marine Lance Cpl. Karl R. Linn
Dec. 17, 2004

To: Richard Linn (father)
Subject: Re: socks
I don't really have problems with blisters (as long as I'm not using the crap hot-weather boots, which I opted not to bring), so one pair of socks is the same as any other as far as I'm concerned.  The thorlos would probably be great for long night patrols in cold weather (I have pictures of frost from one morning we were out in the wasteland; there was ice forming on the machine gun), so send those; however, cheap throw away socks would be equally useful.  What I really need is a huge quantity of socks; laundry is kind of iffy here at the dam, so I need a huge supply that can last a few weeks and then the whole batch can be washed at once.  I can wear the same pair of socks multiple days in the row without fear of infection, since my boots stay pretty dry; however, the smell is horrid when I take the boots off at the end of the day, so having a pair of socks for each day or 2 would probably make the room smell less butt-like.

Oh by the way, the box you sent got here yesterday, I like the goodies.  Still lacking in skittles and starburst and of course gummi's over here, but I trust that will be fixed shortly.  Nice of you to send utensils over... sometimes its like we have this food and nothing to eat it with.  As for the ramen noodles, I did find a cheap plastic GE electric kettle in perfect working order when we moved into the dam, so I have a source of boiling-hot potable water... however, there are no bowls here, so maybe next time consider sending the noodles in cup form.  The noodles are handy though cuz they don't serve lunch here, so they sure beat MRE's at times.

Speaking of boxes, did my 2 from california ever show up??  Though most of it is my stuff, somewhere in there are some blue star banner pins for you guys.

Linn, 20, of Midlothian, Va., died Jan. 26, 2005, from wounds received from a rocket-propelled grenade during an attack on his convoy in Haqlaniyah.

Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew "Andy" G. Patten
September 2005 (written to his best friend's mother)

Hey Mrs.E !
Finally! Sorry it's been so long. It seems like every time I sit down to write a letter someone comes into our room to grab us for a working party. Oh well, such is life! So how are things going? Getting ready for school pretty soon huh? Well things are going pretty good here, but its pretty boring nothing ever happens. Its the same thing every day, but at least the weather is cooling off a little or else I'm just getting use to it! About the only exciting news to report is that yesterday we found a weapons cache. Oh a couple of nights ago when I was detached to the snipers I got covered in tar on top of a roof. It stank! I was glad to here that your guys vacation went well. I bet Christy was happy that you guys went to Noah's Ark, since you guys owed her! haha! Also tell Eddie that I wish him good luck this year at Northern. (sigh) sometimes I regret not going to college but at the same time I'm grateful for this experience. I wanted to tell you that I challenged myself to memorizing two verses a week and when I memorize them I write them up on the wall next to my rack. So hopefully by the end of the deployment I will know alot of God's word and have the whole wall covered! Some of the guys give me a hard time for it but I don't care cause everytime they say something I say "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:10. Also I just wanted to say thanks for all the times you guys were there for me, when I needed a good lecture!, and thanxs for taking the time to write and take pictures for me. You don't know how much that means to me. When ever I get a letter or pictures it lights up my whole day, sometimes the whole week. Well got to get some sleep. I got the grave hour shift tonight for post. Love and miss you guys!
Andy

Patten, 19, of Byron, Ill., was killed Dec. 1, 2005, along with nine other Marines in Fallujah from an explosion caused by two IEDs.

Marine Lance Cpl. Geoffrey R. Cayer
Jan. 29, 2006

Dear Mom, Dad, Everybody,
We just got back to camp after spending six days out. The people I encountered were friendly, they know we're here to help them and they really appreciate it. So don't worry about me, everything is fine. Anyway, I got dad's letter dated the 16th. He wanted to know about the weather. Among other things, and it's rained quite a bit in the past couple of weeks, it's also been about 50 degrees for the average temp…I miss you guys so much but know that I'm needed here and I see the good we're doing so that makes things easier. This is my second letter in like 3 weeks so I'll try to write you guys more, it helps pass the time and when I do I don't feel so lonely….Love Geoff

Cayer, 20, of Fitchburg, Mass., was killed July 18, 2006, in Al Anbar province.

Marine Lance Cpl. Norman Wallace "Wally" Anderson III
Sept. 30, 2005

Hey guys, what's up?  Are you surprised that I wrote?  Sorry it took so long, I really don't have an excuse, it's just hard to site down and write when I could make a phone call instead.  I know I haven't called in a while either but I just assumed Tori was relaying everything to you.  The phone situation gets pretty annoying too, whenever someone is injured or worse they shut the phone center down for as long as it takes to contact their family.  This happens too often.  So anyway, I thought a good old fashioned letter would warm the heart.

I received your latest package, which had all the dip last night.  Everyone appreciated it "ALOT"!  Mail is a lot faster here, usually taking ten days to get here so that's a plus.  I want to thank you so much for all that you send.  I loved the trail mix.

Al Qaim is a very nice base, word is that we have the best chow hall in Iraq which I don't doubt at all.  The food here is great.  The base isn't nearly the size of Bagram but we're hooked up.  There's A/C in the wooden hooches that we live in.  We also have bunk beds with mattresses, we're spoiled here.  There's also cold water and hot showers, yeah, spoiled brats.  But... they keep sending us out to FOB's for ten to fifteen days at a time.  We built our FOB "Belleau Wood" from the ground up with a little help from the engineers who suck at their job by the way.  Belleau Wood is just south of Ubaydi, a nasty city just crawling with insurgents, which we found out when they welcomed us with a couple of 120mm's our first hour there.  They weren't hitting inside the FOB, which is only 100m x 100m, but they were getting close until we discovered their FO on a water tower.  They kept this up for seven days until we spotted them. Anyway, Belleau Wood is just the opposite of Al Qaim.  It's basically a dust bowl with some bunkers in it.

The weather here isn't too bad, it can actually be nice, it has cooled down and it gets chilly at night.  Enough for a fleece and beanie. So we're back in Al Qaim for a couple of days until we go back to Belleau Wood.

We've done a couple of missions, one was sought of Al Qaim near the Jordanian border.  We cleared the city of Ar Ruthabah.  Not as eventful as it was built up to be, they always make it sound like the next invasion.

We have a mission coming up soon.  I know I can't say anything about it beforehand but I'll fill you in afterwards, cool? We use tracks or Amphibious Assault Vehicles for whatever we do.  So they're pretty much our second home since we're in them so often.  They come in handy for taking walls or any other structure down. 
Alright, I'm closing.  Tell everyone I said hello and that I'm holding the front lines down.  I love you both very much and I am so grateful to have you two as parents, I'm returning the favor by trying, I'll make you proud.
Love,
Wally

Anderson, 21, of Parkton, Md., was killed Oct. 19, 2005, by a suicide car bomber in Sadah. Before he was hit, Anderson killed the driver who was heading toward their forward operating base, and in turn saved many lives. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor.

Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Daniel McLeese
Oct. 10, 2004. (E-mail written to best friend and given to his mother)

Whats up dog? Ive been really busy lately I haven't gotten an email  from you in a while, just wanted to make sure every thing is ok. I  lost one of my really good friends out here in Fallujah, it was f---ed  up but I'm ok, that's part of war. There has been some other guys  called up to the good Lord I also knew.
Anyway,  how are you,  how is school? What's up with this affair ---- is having?  I'm  still waiting to hear who it is and what's up with it. Tell Jerry I  said hello, how is your Mom? Tell Trent and Scott I said what's up and  hope all is well. What's up with the Judices, how are they? I hear Frankie is playing football.

Are you still thinking about the Navy? I really would like to talk  to you about it before you join but you do what you want,  I just wish I had  more info before. I still would be doing what I am now because I  love it.  I know I'm  over here so my friends and family don't have to be. Y'all made it in to school off of hard work and you deserve to go and not  have to worry about  me at  war.  If I would have done better in  school I could be at LSU with y'all but this is what the good Lord has planned for me and I'm really good at it, like y'all are in school. I can't  wait to see you when I get home.  I'm glad I have friends back  home as good as y'all, it makes me feel good.  Y'all better be ready to  party it up when I get back. Remember all those poems you  used to  write? Will you write another one and send it? I really love to read  those things about all of us,  it is really cool. Well I've got to go, until next time.
Love always,
Your brother  JM

McLeese, 19, of Covington, La., was killed during the battle for Fallujah, Nov. 13, 2004.

Marine Cpl. David "Bear" Stewart
June, 2005
Hey mom,
This is me telling all of you that  I love you and I hope that all of you are doing very well. I will try and call you as much as I can . I talked to Andrea and she seems to be doing well. I know that the both of you need to quit worrying bout me . I love all of you so much and I cannot wait to get back in the swing of things again in the real world. I hope my baby Bear will be doing fine . I know that you all have to do what you have to do . If he goes , then I do not believe I will be getting another dog . They seem to love me, but they do not stay around very long. Well , we think that we have made it to the halfway mark of this deployment . I hope so. There are rumors floating around about us heading back around Mid Sept. I received the letter from Chickie , hahaha , she is a Character. I hope to get the chance to write her soon. If you happen to talk to her please tell her I said to tell Nathan " Little buddy " hello. I miss playing pool with him. I miss riding the horses and I miss what it felt like being at there place. I pray there are many more times like that in that place and plenty more of our own hehe. I think I am going to try and put a motivated [with Marine Corps. and American ornaments] Christmas tree up this year. I look forward to all our families cooking this year and as far as the unit goes when I get home, I think they can put a little investment in someone else besides myself and Pit to do all of the functions. I already know that it is coming. I cannot wait till the ball this year . I know that last year was kind of crappy . They kept on busting me about a stupid friggin plaque hehe , can you beleieve that? This year , they can make it. I want to go hunting and fishing and spend lots of time with my soon to be wife. I miss her and love her like crazy. Well tell dad and Jo I said that I love them . Send my hugs and kisses to lilly rosie and bear . Ok, I love you mom, talk to you later.
Bear

Stewart, 24, of Bogalusa , La., was killed Aug. 3, 2005, near the Haditha Dam in Al Anbar province when his amphibious assault vehicle was hit by an IED.