I am so proud I could bust my buttons!!!!

A young man in our church named Justin had a school project to do. He chose to do something about the war and asked if he could write (e-mail) Hannah. Now he is in Middle School and is quite the good student. So he sent his questions to Hannah and she in turn answered his questions. I am so proud of her I wanted to post their exchange so all could see the person she has become. The following is that exchange.


Justin,
First of all I am sorry for how long it has taken me to respond to your email. Our schedule has become rather outrageous with the elections nearing us here. We have really uped the security due to the expectation of civil revolt. Anyways in response to your questions I will do my best to hit each one:

Why did you join the military? I joined the military when I was eighteen roughly five months after graduation. To be honest the military was the only logical option to me. I hadn't prepared for college by putting money away and with eleven kids in one family my parents certainly couldn't afford to send all of us through for our degree's. So I enlisted with the military for four years active duty with the guarntee of becoming a LVN/LPN. Basically I am a nurse/ first responder. In battle I am the first person to see any casualties; however, in the states I pretty much stay in the hospital. With all that was going on in our country I honestly thought that it wouldn't hurt to do my part. And since being violent isn't exactly in my nature I figured what better way to serve my country then to heal our wounded. I have always loved the medical field and this gave me my foot in the door so to speak.
Did you know that we were in the middle of a war when you did? Yes I was aware of the war at the time of my enlistment; however, I was not aware of how much the military had changed from many people's common misconceptions. For instance women do work on the line. I am currently attached to an all male infantry line unit. And yes I am outside the FOB everyday. Women spend just as much time risking their lives as the men do here and honestly I didn't think that would be the case.
Did it scare you to join? I wouldn't say I was scared to join by any means. I think the main thing that frightened me was the possibilty of failure. Of not making it through boot camp or being told I wasn't good enough. The aspect of going to battle didn't really frighten me. It was at the back of my mind and that is where I liked it.
What do you do for fun? Fun.... hmmmm... well out here fun pretty much consists of the people you surround yourself with my family so to speak. We have laughed and cried together, fought and played together, and unfortunately slept and bathed together. You become closer to your battle buddies then you ever imagined possible. But at times we do endulge in fun filled activities. For me the gym is my idea of "fun." I spend roughly two to three hours a day working out. What can I say?! You have to work your frustration out some how. And the rest of my fun is usually shared with my boyfriend. We have been seeing each other for a little over a year. And honestly have faced this deployment together. Which is definately not an easy task. Relationships come and go so quickly out here it really is amazing. I am lucky to have such a wonderful support out here. But for those who don't have significant others there are MWR's. They consist of computer's, phone's, t.v.'s, xbox's, movies, books, magazines, and other little bits of entertainment. Pretty much the MWR is the place to go to hang out and socialize.
What does your family think about you joining? As far as I know my family supports my joining and they see the drastic change it has made in my life. They think that the discipline and structure that comes in toe with the military is exactly what I needed in my life.
Especially your mom? My mom supports me and is "jealous" of me to an extent. She wishes she could have experienced the things I am seeing during her lifetime and been allowed to explore herself more before settling down. But as far as how she makes it through the nights wondering how I am.... She has told me that she pretends I am still in Texas. If she allowed herself to worry she wouldn't ever make it through a day. I don't think any mother is able to be "happy" about their child being in war. But I know for darn sure she is proud of me.
How do you deal with being that far from home and missing everyone? The distance doesn't bother me much and the truth is I try my best not to think about home as much as possible. If I don't think about home then I don't realize just how much I miss it. And how terribly I want to be there. If I spend all my time missing home I couldn't do my job. And my job is my only priority here. I have to put my family and my feelings aside. It's the only way to make it through each day.
How do you feel about doing what your commanders tell you? I may not always agree with it, but it is apart of the job. I just give a "roger" and move out. There is no point getting upset over something you can't control. And generally when your command has made a bad judgement call they realize it in time and correct it. You just try not to throw it in their face too often. Everyone is human and we all make mistakes.
How do you and the rest of the soldiers really feel about being there? Tricky question... well it is half and half. The half that are stop-lossed don't fell they should have to be here. In fact they feel held against their will to be here. They have served their time and want no part in this war anymore. As for the other half of us we feel this is what we signed up for. We knew full and well that we would be deployed when we signed up. We may not agree with it, but we weren't forced to be here. It is still a volunteer army to my knowledge.
Do you see that by being there you are helping those people? Without a doubt we are helping these people here. Although as they say Rome wasn't built in a day. This is going to be a long process, but without a doubt it has been started. This war has changed dramatically since OIF 1. These people believe in what we are working for and are willing to put their lives on the line to get it as well. The civilians of Iraq risk their lives in this fight and they deserve their freedom.
Do you really trust that President Bush was doing the right thing? I'll say you certainly have some tough questions and I may not be the best suited for answering all of them. I choose not to take place in the politics of our nation. Regardless the President is the Commander in Chief and I will do as he says. And as far as right or wrong I don't believe that the answer is that simple. As they say hind sight is always 20/20. Looking back there is certianly things we could have done differently, but we didn't. So all we can do is do our best to make the best choices in the future. And have faith in our nations ability to choose the best canidate to run our nation.
If you could be commander of all the armed services for a day what would you say needed to be done that would most help the country you are in and get you home the fastest? I would say that we need to analyze what is going on in this country's economy. This country brings in billions of dollars by fuel alone a year and yet the poverty on the streets is outrageous. There is no quick solution. Continued joint efforts with Iraqi Government officials in running a democratic nation is the only means of turning things around here. And unfortunately that will take years. Even the United States experienced times of turmoil.
What are the children like where you are? The children are pure and innocent. They do not realize the error of their elders ways. To them this is simply the way life is supposed to be carried out. In touching the children and helping them to see that we are here for the good of their country we gain the support of the generations to come. And support is what we need. Although these children run around without shoes and through mounds of trash they remain happy. They are where our future rests.
Please feel free to email any more questions you might have or any you would like for me to elaborate on. I will do my best to reply to you as quickly as possible. I realize school projects do have deadlines. Thank you for yours and your families support. You have no idea how much your prayers mean to us.

Sincerely,
SPC Hannah Fraser

I just doesn't get better than this. It will make an old uncle want to cry.