Letter from Capt. Burns 12-30-09

Good Afternoon,

Please see message below submitted by Capt Burns. This message applies to all families & friends of Marines/Sailors attached to A Co in Camp Leatherneck.

Dear family members of Alpha Company,

Two months down and five to go, and these two months have been VERY busy. Over the course of the past two months we distributed dozens of goats, hundreds of pounds of rice, beans and sugar to locals in the surrounding area who are in desperate need. The Marines and Sailors conducted dozens of patrols, interacted with countless locals while successfully executing six Shuras (an informal meeting) with the local villagers surrounding Camp Leatherneck all in an effort to build and gain the trust of the Afghan people. Additionally, we started to shift more focus on integrating the Afghan National Army (ANA) into our regular patrols in an effort to build the trust and faith of the locals that the ANA will be here to instill order and discipline long after coalition forces leave.
We are currently in the beginning of the rainy season here and the once fine “Moon Dust” has now turned in to the consistency of pudding throughout the entire area; recovering a stuck vehicle has become a very common occurrence. This would be the perfect playground for any 10 year old boy who likes to play in the mud.
A few weeks ago we received word that we would be relieved from this mission and after the New Year be reunited with our beloved LAVs. Although we have taken ownership of this current mission, we are LAR Marines and that’s where or passion lies. Our replacements arrived on December 26 and over the next few weeks we will be conducting our turnover. Details of what we’ll be doing are still being determined but until that time we will “Focus and Finish” on the mission at hand.

Please take time to look at http://www.dvidshub.net, and search for 4th LAR. It is a website that contains raw footage from the military Public Affairs Office (PAO). I always welcome PAO to go out with us in an effort to show you and the world the great things your Marines and Sailors are doing here in Afghanistan.

Thanks again for all your support and on behalf of my wife Andrea and I; we hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.

Semper Fi and Happy New Year,
Captain Ed Burns