How many countless tales of bravery are we missing? I'm thankful for B5 and other blogs, like yours, that bring us these stories. Back in September Hugh Hewitt posted a short thing about a Mom of a fallen soldier and how hurt she was everytime she heard John Kerry say, 'wrong war' etc. I looked up her name and sent her a letter telling her that I will not forget her son - who died for my freedom. She wrote back to thank me and to tell me that she knows he's a hero - yet he was her only son. Her pain is something I wish I could erase. I wish there was a way for us to touch each family to tell them what it means to us, ordinary Americans. I wish we could do more - but all we can do is support our troops everday. This is my commitment and it will continue as long as there is breath in my body. Thanks for protecting our freedoms. We appreciate and honor your sacrifice and that of your family. I will always honor you all as American heroes, because that is what you are.

I really appreciate your news on Seoul American High School. I graduated from there in 1977, having spend 17 years going through the DOD school system on Yongsan. In the sixties and seventies, we were exposed to little or none of the unrest in the U.S. on Vietnam, having only AFKN and Stars & Stripes as news sources. Most of us ended up on the conservative, perhaps patriotic to a fault, side of things.

SAHS is a special school, with a dedicated, long term faculty. Some are still there from the 1970s. I can't see any of the old timers doing this to dependents whose own fathers or brothers might be part of the death toll. What does it teach to confront them with this on a daily basis?

Being in the next domino over, whenever things heated up in Vietnam, we had curfews, air raid drills, and evacuation drills (which America ended in the 1950s) The faculty had alot of safety responsibilites for the kids as well, if evacuation became necessary when school was in session. It is hurtful to hear that the otherwise excellent education of DOD dependents is being politicized.

I have often wondered if in heaven we will know how others got there.(If I get there) Will I know these men and women who gave their lives so that so many of us could live in freedom? Will I see them and be able tell them all that their sacrifice meant to me?
I'm sure all of our hearts will be full of the knowledge of the selflessness of these soldiers. If we are able to tell them what they meant to us, I am sure the line will be as long as the eye can see. And it will be a good thing we will have an eternity to express the gratitude, because that is how long we will need.

EDDY, TX is just a blink of a town south of Waco on I-35. It is so small it's combined municipal services are called Bruceville-Eddy.
As a young Army 2LT I was on leave headed to see my folks in San Antonio when my front wheel bearing started to seize & I stopped in an old gas station in Eddy (that's not there any longer). The owners wife drove me in to Waco & I got another bearing. They kept the station open till after midnight while I changed it & wouldn't accept any money for the car ride. (I hid a $20 in their tool box). These are the kind of people in Eddy, & to a great extent in most states of the U.S. I see these same traits in today's soldiers. Keep posting Mr. & Mrs. GREYHAWK, these are the stories we need to hear.

Thanks so much for posting about Cpt. Sims. He was a good friend of mine from college and a true hero. It honors his memory to make his great sacrifice, and that of his wife and son, known to as many people as possible. Please pray for his family as they lay him to rest today.

My sincere sympathy to the Sims family. May God grant them peace knowing of his bravery and the gratitude of our nation. I thank God we have such men and women in our armed forces. May God bless you all.

The reason why she posted it is because a girl said "I dont care about the war in Iraq" so she posted it to increase awareness, to the students of SAHS

Hello, I'm a student at SAHS, and I wanted to tell you that your post gave us all a good laugh in class today.

Ms. Pell didn't post the death count on her door to say that our parents might be next. She posted it because a girl had said that she didn't care about the war in Iraq because she was in Korea and it didn't affect her. The count is there to remind us that it -DOES- affect us.

The way you interpreted the toll hadn't even crossed my mind until this blog entry was shared with us. I had always thought of it as a way of reminding us that the war can still have it's effects on us, even if we're in Korea. I'm pretty sure that's how most of the students interpreted it as well.

I'm a student at SAHS, and this post sucks.

Wow. ...you, sir, are a thundering moron.
Have a nice day.

Let me guess, SAHS?

I’d like to address all of Ms Pell’s students.
I admire the fact that you feel compelled to defend your teacher. Greyhawk and I really haven’t had any personal issue with Ms. Pell until she sent her nasty little email to Greyhawk while he was in Iraq. Greyhawk simply stated how he disagreed with her reasoning in placing the death toll on her door and stated his opinion in a post. He never accused her of trying to scare students on purpose; he understood her reasoning but wanted to point out the ramifications that could come from it. Whether her intentions were good or not does not change the fact that unintended distress could have come from it. Could students really concentrate on their studies knowing their parents could be next on the death list? It’s hard enough to concentrate on school without that reminder, just ask my own kids, they know from experience. Greyhawk only had your well being in mind.

So what’s the real issue you have with Greyhawk? That he exercised his right to his opinion? Did it really warrant such a nasty email from Ms Pell, while fighting for his country in Iraq? Nothing like being called a Nazi whiles you’re fighting for the freedom for that person to call you a Nazi. She also threw in the race card for some ungodly reason. Why? She say’s “what a close-minded, blood-thirsty individual you are. You are the type of person who will fight for freedom, all right, as long as it is for the freedom of white, American males.” Excuse me! He never mentioned race. Why would she say this? Please show me on this site where that is exhibited.

Ms Pell seemed to have an issue with the quote at the top of his page, "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf",. This is a famous quote. Here’s an English assignment for you, guess who wrote it. But beware the answer is tricky.

She called him “a bigot, a sexist, and someone who probably didn’t do very well in school”, well her literary skills speak for themselves in her e-mail and Greyhawk has had over a million visitors who will all vouch that he is far from a bigot and a sexist.

She talks about Greyhawk taking thing out of context, which was never done. He posted word for word her comment from the stars and stripes and linked the stars and stripes article. That makes things hard to take things out of context. And to make sure she was not taken out of context again we posted her ‘support the troops’ e-mail for all the blogosphere to judge for themselves. A copy of this was also sent to her principal and the district superintendent, because it was borderline harassment and very unbecoming of a DODS teacher.

Here’s a challenge? You Game? How about you look around the site and judge with your own mind? And by all means point out anything that ratifies Ms Pell vile assessment of Greyhawk.

While her fundraising for the troops may be commendable her personal attack on a member of those troops is most certainly NOT and I think that is the issue that should be addressed.

I happened to fall upon this website, along with the other site with Ms. Pell's full letter, when I was looking for news of my friend in Iraq.

It made me really sad to see so many people bashing on each other about this whole ordeal.

I really don't know what do say, but I felt like I had to say something. Since the other site does not offer comments or posts, I decided to write it on here.

Ultimately, what I want to say is... our freedom to write and say what we want is protected by our soldiers and others who serve to protect our country.

People burn our flag and slander our government... and it's not by terrorists alone. Some are by US Citizens.

But even then... even when some US Citizens vilify our government and our country, our troops do what they do so that we can do what we do...even it if means we speak wrongly of them.

Too many people in the US take for granted of the freedom we truly have. But oddly enough, this article and blog helps me remember my freedom of speech, along with every US citizen.

I grew up on Yongsan. I lived more than half of my life in Korea. Yes, guards by the gates, weapons, BDUs and hummers on post was definitely a reminder of military presence, but as a teenager of a Military Soldier that is the closest to the battlefield I will ever go. (Thanks to our soldiers protecting us in foreign lands.) Though many of us lived and breathed a Military life style, we also become desensitized of it. Sometimes, the true depth of the military is lost when all we see is our parents come home faithfully every day. Even when war is happening, our parents still return home. That's good enough for us. We sometimes forget that there others out there on the battlefield so that our parents can come home to us.

I know many people think that what Ms. Pell did wasn't right, but it was a wake up call that many SAHSians need at times. Our parents do such a great job at trying to keep things normal, that we forget the expense of what some military personnel have to go through. Even if Ms. Pell has an alternative lesson plan than many conservative US Citizens, she does care for her students and she does her best to help them realize the true depth of freedom. It comes with a price.

Unlike Ms. Pell or Mrs. Greyhawk, I have no talent in writing eloquant letters or comments. I wish I did so I wouldn't feel like I'm stumbling over my words as I write this.
But what I do have is knowledge; I've learned from my DODDS teachers the true value of freedom of expression, especially when they speak their minds.

To all, I commend your comments. Just remember those who help us have that freedom to say what we want to say.