Posts in this series are not of my origin.  I am merely a conduit.

These posts are messages I receive from the mother (J) of a marine in Iraq (Chris) in which she describes her conversations with her son; I simply copy and paste those messages into the series. 

Marine Mom began by sending the messages to a select group, one of whom shared the messages with me.  After reading two or three I hoped to be a part of enabling the sharing with a wider audience.  I am well aware that I have few readers here, but if even just an handful can gain a better insight, well, it will have been worth the effort.

I make no deletions, additions, or changes other than to make identifiable persons less so, but I do make formatting changes as necessary, hopefully seldom, and always as little as possible. 

Of course I have my own feelings, opinions, and thoughts about various aspects of what we read in this series, however, you will know none of them, for this is not my series.  It belongs to a young marine and his loving mother, each trying to maintain their bond under the trying circumstances of war.  I’ve “been there — done that,” but these two people are doing a much better job of it than I did, by many magnitudes. 

I truly hope that the knowledge of their being posted will not change their tenor or character, for such would be an intrusion.. 

It is a my privilege to be a part of the sharing.

Permission to post the messages in the series has been given to me by both the marine and his mother and I hold no rights to them.  They are the property solely of their sources.  Accordingly, you may not repost them without their prior permission.  

    Bob