Dear Families and Friends,

We are at last coming to the end of our mission here in Iraq. While we are looking forward with great anticipation and excitement to reuniting with our loved ones, we are departing with mixed emotions. Our indescribable joy will be tempered by thoughts of our fellow Marines and comrades who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We will never forget them. Their names and faces will be etched in our memories forever. Even when we are old and gray, they will remain young and at the dawn of their lives.

We have learned much about ourselves since we've been gone, and for that we will be better men and women. The experiences here in Iraq have taught us that we must not take life for granted, that we must cherish every moment of every day. We have also learned that our country has much to offer, that with great power and abundance comes great responsibility.

I cannot thank you enough for the tremendous lift you've given us these past eight months. We have ridden that wave of support through exhaustingly endless days and nights, and it will carry us home. I want you to know that your thoughts, prayers, letters and packages were what we needed most when we were lonely and tired. They were indispensable in the accomplishment of our mission. Each and every one of us feels that we have made a significant contribution to the rebirth of Iraq. We are enormously proud of our efforts and grateful for you who made them possible.

While we mourn and honor those we lost, we will also bear in mind those we leave behind. Please remember in your thoughts and prayers the brave men and women who will fight and toil on, trying to bring peace and democracy to a land that for too long has known little of either.

We are returning home with our heads held high and our arms wide open. We are ready to turn our full attention back to those who mean the most to us. We are eager to share in the reward for our long and difficult separation. And we are more appreciative than ever of our many blessings, foremost among them you.

Semper Fidelis,
R.J. JOHNSON
Colonel, U.S. Marines