Dear Sergeant Dakota Meyer:

You have never met me, and yet, I was so moved as I watched your interview on television that I had to reach out to you. I, like many others, watched in awe as you shared your remarkable story. Despite the amount of bravery and heroism you displayed, I could sense you felt you had failed at your mission. When you were asked the question how you felt when you discovered the soldiers you were trying to rescue were dead, I whispered to myself, please do not say it was in vain, and those were your exact words. My heart sank with the mere thought of you feeling this way. So I am writing this letter to you in the hopes that I can share a message with you: people with your courage and valor never do anything in vain, despite the outcome of anything you may try to achieve. (letter continues...)

Just the attempt to do what you did, is a success. I too feel like a failure every time a casket returns home with a soldier in it, I wish there was something I could have done to prevent it ... the sense of loss is overwhelming. I can only imagine the pain the families go through.

I have learned in life that the outcomes of the challenges we face do not always meet our expectations, but we never walk away from them unchanged and it's up to us to decide for better or worse. Yes, it is heart-wrenching to know those soldiers lives were not spared, and one life lost is one too many. But you see your mission did not end on that day. As soldiers you defend our freedom and way of life, the very essence of what America is, on the battle field. Every soldier serves as an inspiration to those back at home. You and soldiers like you, inspire ordinary people like me to continue the mission here at home. What we have is freedom, and it has never, nor will it ever be for free. We have always paid the price of our freedom with the lives of our soldiers, a debt that can never be repaid. And it is because of the countless number of soldiers that have given their lives not only for my freedom, but for my children and my children's children, that I will uphold every person to continue the mission of preserving the extraordinary gift of freedom given to us by men like you.

I hope this letter brings some comfort and peace to you. I will keep you and your family in my prayers, I will first thank God for bringing such a courageous man into this world, I will then ask him to watch over you, and lastly I will ask him to never let me forget the courage you have taught me.

If you or family ever travels to South Florida, our home is open to all of you; there is always extra food for family.

With kindest regards,
Your fellow Americans
Sylvia Alayon & M Sgt Jeffrey C. Hurt E-7 USAF Retired
[contact information on file--CM]