Letter from Iraq

An old, dear personal friend is a chaplain with U.S. forces in Iraq, and I just got a two page letter from him. I can’t resist quoting one passage:

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My assistant got a cute letter from a third grader, whom he didn’t know, from his home town. In the letter was included a cutout of a stick figure. The letter said;

I would like to introduce you to my friend Stanley. As you can see, he is flat so I call him Flat Stanley. He wanted to take a trip, so I decided it would be nice for him to visit you. He will be traveling by mail because it costs a lot less than an airplane ticket.

Please keep Stanley for one week and include him in your daily activities. After one week return him to me at the above address with a letter explaining what Stanley did during his visit. I will share your letter with my third grade class so that we can all enjoy his adventures.

Sincerely, Brittany

We got the F-18 pilots to take Stanley for a ride and planned for him to go with us on a helicopter.