Marines share water and food with Iraqi kids

To the editor:

We received a letter from our son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq. He asked us to share a portion of his letter:

"I was not sure what this war was all about until I went into Iraq. Now I realize that our commander-in-chief is not oil hungry or power happy. He has a heart, a very big one. When we cross the boarder, we go through a town full of people who are hungry and begging for water. Not just people, but kids from 3 to 20, begging, running to our trucks saying 'Mister, mister, water, water' and rubbing their stomachs like they have not eaten in days.

"I am a motor transportation operator. We have been on the road for 70-some hours with little food and water ourselves, but the other Marines and myself gave all of our food and water to the kids, not knowing when we would get more ourselves, but we were all thinking it would be sooner than these people would.

"I do not want people to feel sorry for us, because it was a choice we made. These people have no choice. Saddam has taken everything from them. So why are we fighting this war? It is so we can continue to have freedom in our country. But right now it is to give a better leader to a country that needs to be set free.

"So when you want to protest this war, try not eating or drinking for a week or so. Then see if you want to protest."

JUNE and DAVE ERNST

Perryville, Mo.