Letters Home From Boot Camp: Thank You for Reading!

April 19, 2009

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading and commenting on “Letters Home From Boot Camp.” This is my final addition to the series.

The letters I posted here are nearly all of the letters Tiffany sent home from Fort Jackson, SC, during her Army basic training in 1999. I edited little and left out only a few things I thought my daughter would find too personal to share with the world.

I have always recognized how poignant and well-written Tiffany’s letters home are and intended to “publish” them some day. I didn’t realize, though, that re-reading them would be such an emotional experience; now I know why I kept putting that project off.

To all getting ready to send a loved one to military basic training, I hope Tiffany’s letters bring you inspiration. Know that your loved one will, like my daughter, come home a stronger, more self-confident adult.

After basic, Tiffany went on to AIT at the military language school in Monterey, CA, where she studied Arabic and trained to be an interrogator for nearly a year. She was certified as fluent in Arabic but, fortunately, didn’t do well enough to become an interrogator. I say fortunately because just days after she finished AIT, the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, changed our world. Had Tiffany been an interrogator, she surely would have been among those sent to Iraq. Instead, Tiffany spent the rest of her military career at Fort Hood, Texas.

Tiffany is currently a stay-at-home mom living near Washington, DC. She’s the mother of the cutest little boy in the world and I’m a very proud grandma.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all who serve or have served our country. I wish you safety and wellness.

Peace,
Susan