Representatives of Atlantische Initiative e.V. and Bild.de are scheduled to meet with Defense Minister zu Guttenberg later this month for an official presentation of the Feldpost letters. A first reply from one of the soldiers stationed in Afghanistan has already appeared at bild.de, and we wish to present our readers with excerpts (translated into English). We encourage you to comment on the exchange below or write a personal letter to the German men and women fighting in Afghanistan.
Excerpts of the letter from Martin Mertmann:
It is a great joy and an inspiration to all of us soldiers to read your letters. Finally we can see that there are indeed people in Germany, besides our family members and comrades, who support us and our mission.
I must admit that it was not without envy that I looked to my American comrades during the past months. They kept receiving letters from complete strangers and even schoolchildren expressing their gratitude for the service the US soldiers are rendering their country. They did not only receive letters, they got parcels as well. All we German soldiers have been seeing up to now have been nonsensical debates in our parliament or lip service by our politicians...
Our heartfelt thanks to all of you and may you rest assured that your letters mean much more to us soldiers here in Afghanistan, or in Kosovo, or elsewhere in the world, than if the media reports once again that our Defense Minister calls on the soldiers in Kunduz or Mazar-i-Sharif to take courage...
For the German original, please see here.
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