I just finished reading the book American Sniper written by Chris Kyle. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m confident that I will. Knowing how popular the movie is in just its first week of release, I don’t want to reveal any details of this exceptional read. However, Kyle briefly mentions in his book the story of one of his Navy SEAL buddies, Marc Lee, who was serving with him in Iraq during the battle for Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province in western Iraq. On August 2, 2008, during an intense firefight with Iraqi insurgents, while laying down covering fire for his fellow soldiers, Marc was mortally wounded. He became the first SEAL team member killed in Iraq.
About two weeks before he died, Marc wrote his last letter home. Here is the text of that letter:
Glory is something that some men chase and others find themselves stumbling upon, not expecting it to find them. Either way it is a noble gesture that one finds bestowed upon them. My question is when does glory fade away and become a wrongful crusade, or an unjustified means by which one is consumed completely?
I have seen war. I have seen death, and the sorrow that encompasses your entire being as a man breathes his last. I can only pray and hope that none of you will ever have to experience some of these things I have seen and felt here.
I have felt fear and have felt adrenaline pump through my veins making me seem invincible. I will be honest and say that some of the things I have seen here are unjustified and uncalled for. However for the most part we are helping this country. It will take more years than most expect, but we will get Iraq to stand on its own feet.
Most of what I have seen here I will never really mention or speak of, only due to the nature of those involved. I have seen a man give his food to a hungry child and family. Today I saw a hospital that most of us would refuse to receive treatment from. The filth and smell would allow most of us to not be able to stand to enter, let alone to get medicine from. However you will be relieved to know that coalition forces have started to provide security for and supply medicine and equipment to help aid in the cause.
I have seen amazing things happen here; however I have seen the sad part of war too. I have seen the morals of a man who cares nothing of human life…I have seen hate towards a nation’s people who has never committed a wrong, except being born of a third world, ill-educated and ignorant to western civilization. It is not everybody who feels this way only a select few but it brings questions to mind. Is it ok for one to consider themselves superior to another race?
Surprising we are not a stranger to this sort of attitude. Meaning that in our own country we discriminate against someone for what nationality they are, their education level, their social status. We distinguish our role models as multimillion dollar sports heroes or talented actors and actress who complain about not getting millions of dollars more than they are currently getting paid.
Our country is a great country, don’t get me wrong on this, otherwise none of us would be living there. My point of this is how can we come over here and help a less than fortunate country without holding contempt or hate towards them if we can’t do it in our country. I try to do my part over here, but the truth is over there, [in the] United States, I do nothing but take.
Ask yourself when was the last time you donated clothes that you hadn’t worn out? When was the last time you paid for a random stranger’s cup of coffee, meal or maybe even a tank of gas? When was the last time you helped a person with the groceries into or out of their car?
Think to yourself and wonder what it would feel like if when the bill for the meal came and you were told it was already paid for.
More random acts of kindness like this would change our country and our reputation as a country.
It is not unknown to most of us that the rest of the world looks at us with doubt towards our humanity and morals. I am not here to preach or to say look at me, because I am just as at fault as the next person. I find that being here makes me realize the great country we have and the obligation we have to keep it that way.
The 4th [of July] has just come and gone and I received many emails thanking me for helping keep America great and free. I take no credit for the career path I have chosen; I can only give it to those of you who are reading this, because each one of you has contributed to me and who I am.
However what I do over here is only a small percent of what keeps our country great. I think the truth to our greatness is each other. Purity, morals and kindness, passed down to each generation through example. So to all my family and friends, do me a favor and pass on the kindness, the love, the precious gift of human life to each other so that when your children come into contact with a great conflict [like] that we are now faced with here in Iraq, that they are people of humanity, of pure motives, of compassion.
This is our real part to keep America free!
HAPPY 4th Love Ya,
MARC LEE
P.S. Half way through the deployment can’t wait to see all of your faces
The men and women who serve in our various military branches are incredibly skilled, courageous and committed. They are trained to vanquish our enemies and they are the best in the world at what they do. Many, such as Chris Kyle and Marc Lee were extremely proficient at killing, yet they were not truly killers. The last written words sent home by Marc Lee is all the evidence one needs to know that within the rucksack of their hearts they carry care, concern, loyalty, generosity, and love.
For all those who, throughout our history have put on the uniform of the United States of America in service of the ideals of freedom that we hold dear – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – we owe them all an incalculable debt of gratitude. The down payment on that debt is making sure that we live up to Abraham Lincoln’s charge: to care for he or she who shall have borne the battle, and for their mothers, fathers, widows, and their orphans. And, might I add, living up to the ideals espoused by Marc Lee in that lost soldier’s last letter home.
“When the will defies fear, when the heart applauds the brain, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death-this is heroism” – Robert Ingersoll
Have an AWE-full weekend!