Dear Soldier -Heartfelt Letters
from America’s
Children
Barbara Warfield Baldwin
Reviewed by Ashley Denis
This collection of letters was both
colorful in its words
and in its pictures. Whether children
are asking our soldiers to please come home safe, what guns they use in
Iraq,
or telling them about the pets they have in their homes, these children
are all
very aware of what is going on in Iraq; they know they are there
fighting for
our freedom and risking their necks to do it.
As you turn the pages, taking a look into
each child’s
perception of the war, and learning what questions they desire to ask
of our
soldiers, you’ll notice you have an array of emotions.
Laughter is not a stranger as you read
through these letters, especially when you read something like “how do
you take
a bath?” or “I have lots of friends here.
Some are tall like a house, and some are short, but I like them
anyways.” Other times you feel your
heart wrench at how considerate some of the letters are; “Try not to
get hurt,
ok? One thing the earth doesn’t need is more hurt people.”
Or “You make me confident in everything. You
make me feel safe in what I do.” Statements
like these are raw and real
emotions that children are pouring out in their letters to these men
and women
in Iraq.
It is so inspiring in reading about the concerns children
can possess for people they don’t even know, as well as the innocence
of a
child when they ask the most simple of questions because they are truly
interested in what type of food these men and women like to eat, and
where they
live, and what they do in their spare time when they are not being
soldiers.
I found myself laughing on one letter, and crying on the
next. Not only is this book a
compilation of letters to our soldiers, I believe it is also a small
piece of
the positive side of life; an inside scoop into a child’s creative mind
as it
spills over onto the letters with which they write; “I hope this letter
from me
will make you feel at home. I hope this
letter will make you feel a little less scared.
…Whoever gets this letter, please don’t die.
If you do die with my letter so that will let
the world know that I care for each and every one of you out there in
the war.”
I think Tim, says it best in his letter when he says “if you
get hurt, make sure you get to a doctor!”