Thank you.
Dear Sandy,
As you requested, son, I brought Flat Sandy with me to Florida last November so that he could have an adventure. He has spent the months since then at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. After telling you just a few things about Tampa, this letter will tell you about his time there.
The city of Tampa lies on Tampa Bay, atop a small peninsula that is just to the east of St. Petersburg. Peninsulas are fingers of land surrounded by water on three sides. This is interesting because the state of Florida itself is a peninsula. This year, Tampa has been an exciting place to live because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in a great game against the Oakland Raiders.
Flat Sandy has been at work with me at the United States Central Command, called CENTCOM for short. CENTCOM is located on McDill Air Force Base at the southern tip of Tampa’s peninsula. From McDill, one can look north and see the tall buildings of downtown Tampa, the old Cuban quarter of Ybor City, and also look west to see the Opera House and other buildings of St. Petersburg. You and your class can learn more about Tampa and St. Petersburg on the internet at www.tbo.com.
As a soldier at CENTCOM, I cannot be specific about my work, but I can provide you with an idea of how Flat Sandy spent his time.
CENTCOM is the headquarters that the President of the United States has made responsible for carrying out the military part of US policy in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. (Your class can learn more about CENTCOM at www.centcom.mil.) General Tommy Franks, a four-star general, is the CENTCOM commander. He is on television a lot because CENTCOM runs global Coalition military operations in Afghanistan and because CENTCOM would be responsible for directing any war waged to compel Iraq’s compliance with United Nations’ resolutions. This makes Tampa an important place in 2003.
The military portion of the Coalition is called the Global Coalition Task Force against terrorism. It includes 21 countries. All are taking part in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan, around the Indian Ocean, and across the Horn of Africa. Flat Sandy met the wonderful men and women from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Norway, Britain, Canada, and France with whom I have the honor and privilege to work each day.
My American co-workers include folks from the US Army, Marines, and Air Force, as well as folks from the US Navy and Coast Guard. One mission is to help the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country after twenty-three years of warfare.
I worked with Colonel Jxxxxxx of the French Army during the past several months. After hearing the Flat Stanley story, he happily took Flat Sandy with him on a trip to Afghanistan. Colonel Jxxxxxx wants you to have the enclosed unit crest, along with pictures of him at the Massoud Airport, Kabul, so that you remember his trip with Flat Sandy.
Colonel Jxxxxxx went to Afghanistan to see the new national army that French and US soldiers are helping the Afghans to build. If the Afghan people want peace and can make the right choices to help it along, then this new army could be a big part of building a brighter future than any Afghan children have known for centuries.
Helping make that happen is a big responsibility for Colonel Jxxxxxx and for every one else involved. If the Afghan people become united and strong enough, then people like Osama bin Ladin, enemies of both human dignity and liberty, can never again use Afghanistan as a place from which to make attacks against the world’s innocent people.
As you may hear in the news, other folks at CENTCOM are helping General Franks prepare to carry out the President’s orders, in case the terrible dictator Saddam Hussein forces a war of last resort upon the world and the United States. So far, Saddam Hussein has refused to meet the commitments his Iraqi government made to the United Nations. These unmet promises are ones to abandon chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons with which he threatens other nations and bullies the people of Iraq.
A lot of passionate discussion is going on between governments and within the United Nations to determine if and when a war might be necessary. An objective of such a war would be to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s ability to hurt people. A second objective would be to keep him from aiding others, who think like Osama bin Ladin, to hurt people. General Franks, the forces at his command, and the people working with him at CENTCOM make none of those decisions. Their job is to be ready, and  if ordered  to fight, to win, and to help the people of Iraq create a more Just Government for all Iraqis.
Military people from countries around the globe work at CENTCOM. They want to make the world safer and better. They are joined together to protect all people who want the opportunity to live their lives free and in peace and with safety from tyranny and oppression. All of them work very hard. That means they do not have much chance to play, or do a lot of fun things, or to be at home with their families as they would like to be. However, they are part of the big, on-going story of History that is now unfolding in the spring of 2003. Flat Sandy has been part of their adventure.
The people that Flat Sandy met in the past three months are quietly heroic. Each of them is involved in tasks with great meaning for you and your classmates, teachers, and friends  both as Americans and as citizens of the world. What they do  just like the jobs done by police, firefighters, and medical professionals  is more important than what is done by popular sports figures and celebrities, by those who amuse us when we choose to pass time away from our daily concerns. Though what they do can be important, too, to making life good.
These military people have done their jobs so well for so long that a lot of Americans became confused about what heroism really means, at least until they were reminded of the truth through the events of September 11, 2001. What all your friends’ parents do is great and important, too, and just as easy for people to overlook. The work they do  in jobs, as moms and dads, as members of your community, and as citizens of Kansas and America  is important and worthy because it helps make life better for others as well as for themselves.
The people that Flat Sandy came to know at CENTCOM want to do their jobs well. They want to keep the world safe and in doing so provide you, your classmates, and your entire generation a chance to make the world better. They want to make it so that all of you can play, have fun, and grow up to be good people and true citizens, with the liberty to make your greatest dreams come true.
I hope that all your classmates’ parents will do their part, and hope that you can help others remember that, within our Republic, every private good is built upon furthering the public good. Your classmates, your fellow Boy Scouts, and all those others among whom you live now ought to at least occasionally remember that brave people, both men and women, are standing guard for them. These quiet heroes are ready, if they must, to win in any fight against those who want to make the world less safe, less free, less civilized, and steal from Americans and others the liberty and opportunity to pursue happiness. Do your reminding, though, with the quiet dignity that true bravery and heroism require.
Love,
Dad.
