I keep finding out things that are changing, such as Pastor Brian leaving First Lutheran and my daughter Bethany switching from her crib to a toddler bed. Every change makes me feel a little farther from home as I remember it. I remember a couple scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" when the soldiers try to remember home; sometimes it comes clearly, and sometimes it seems a lifetime away. These notes to you, and your letters in response, help me remember that Red Wing is still my home, even if things have changed since I've been gone.

Michelle sends me clippings from the Republican Eagle and the Pioneer Press every so often, usually about the Vikings or local goings on. For example, she'll see an ad for Gordy Trelstad playing his musical saw at some local event and will send it to me as a small touch of home. You might suspect I'm too busy or too deep in big wartime things to enjoy that kind of stuff, but the opposite is true. It's exactly the days when I am busy in fighting this war that I enjoy little reminders of home the most.

In fact, it's those little reminders of home that give me purpose for being over here in the first place. I know that this war is about more than just what happens here in Iraq. One thing that irritates me is the ignorance of those who say that we soldiers don't even know why we're over here. Yes, there are frustrations, and sometimes we don't agree with HOW we are fighting, but this is the best educated army in the history of the world and the vast majority of us know WHY we are fighting.

We have seen terrorists fight. We have been attacked by them and even, on rare occasions when we catch them, fought them face to face. They respect no rules, they have no restraint, they follow no chain of command that restricts their violence. Back home, it's easy to live every day happily unaware of the fact that there are thousands of people like this in the world, people who would kill as many Americans as they could if only they had a bomb big enough and a way to deliver it. We remember the story of Beslan school in Russia, where terrorists connected with Al Qaeda raped and killed hundreds of elementary school children on 1 September 2004. We know this war is not just about Iraq.

There are some who seem to think that if the United States just packed up and brought all its troops home, the violence would stop. We soldiers know that's not true. The Islamist extremists will only negotiate while they are stopping to reload and sneak around behind us. So in the end, we may hate being over here, but we would rather fight them here than in our own backyard.

I guess I did have something to say after all.

I know some people will disagree with the things I just wrote, and that's OK. I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong or start any heated debates. I'm just trying to show you that some of us (many of us, in fact, but right now I'll only speak for me) still believe that this is a fight we cannot avoid, against an enemy who will not quit, and one we must win for the sake of people who want to live a normal life both here in Iraq and back home, too.

God be good to you!
CH Steve Timm