[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13335-S13336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL SERVING IN IRAQ

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to share with my colleagues 
another positive story from a member of the U.S. Armed Forces currently 
serving in Iraq. His story, once again, depicts the frustration that so 
many of our servicemembers have with the lack of public attention in 
the U.S. to the humanitarian and military successes of their work in 
Iraq.
  I recently received a letter in the mail from Ms. Ann Sensenich of 
Boiling Springs, PA. Ms. Sensenich wrote to me:

       Dear Mr. Santorum: Enclosed is a copy of a letter I 
     received from one of our soldiers serving our country in 
     Iraq. I am forwarding this to you as I feel this is a letter 
     that should not be viewed by only my eyes.
       I have been sending packages to my employer's son in Iraq 
     and he forwards them on to his soldiers and this is one of 
     the responses I received.
       Please share this letter with anyone you feel would 
     appreciate the service of this and all our U.S. soldiers 
     defending our country and keep in mind he indicated he would 
     go back seven times before he would let terrorists on our 
     soil.
       Thank you for reading this and please share his words with 
     others.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Ann B. Sensenich.

  Attached to Ms. Sensenich's correspondence is the letter that a 
deployed servicemember wrote to her when her package was shared with 
fellow servicemembers. He wrote:

       Dear Ann Sensenich, I am deployed with the 3/3 ACR. We 
     received your package, and I just wanted to take a little bit 
     of my time to say thanks.
       Your package helped with the morale of a lot of soldiers. 
     Due to the negative feedback we get from the media and people 
     back home, it is nice to receive a package from someone who 
     supports us and what we do.
       People like you are the reason why we fight this war. We 
     sit over here day to day risk getting shot at or having 
     mortar rounds dropped in on us so that the people back home 
     (like yourself) can keep on enjoying the freedoms that a lot 
     of people take for granted everyday. I, myself used to take 
     those things for granted also until I was deployed to fight 
     for our freedom. This is my second deployment, and this is 
     the first time that we have received a package from someone 
     in the states. So, thank you for your unselfishness, and 
     don't ever feel bad for the soldiers that are over here 
     fighting this war. This is our job! This is what we were 
     trained

[[Page S13336]]

     to do. I would come back over here seven more times before I 
     let these terrorists on our soil. You can sleep safe in your 
     home tonight, enjoy every warm meal you have, enjoy your warm 
     shower tonight, and wake up to a free world tomorrow because 
     we are over here fighting for you and your family.
       Once again--Thanks! I just wanted you to know that your 
     package that you sent did not go unnoticed.

  Mr. President, these stories need to be told. Our soldiers are 
sacrificing their lives for us; they are putting themselves in harm's 
way each and every day over there, and missing valuable time with their 
families and loved ones. They need to know that we support them, and 
that their bravery and hard work is not going unnoticed.
  We cannot allow critics here in the United States to influence the 
mentality of our troops. They need to know that we stand with them and 
that we support their invaluable mission.

                          ____________________