Mom receives unusual letter from son in Iraq
Beth Whitelatch of Connellsville was shocked and pleasantly surprised when she recently received a letter from her son in the Persian Gulf. Whitelatch, officer manager at the Uniontown Country Club, said it’s a miracle that the letter arrived at her home at all.
“When you see it, it’s hard to believe that it got here,” said Whitelatch. “Nathan wrote it on the cardboard from his MRE (made ready to eat) meal given to him by the United States military.”
Whitelatch said she knows that her 20-year-old paratrooper son had jambalaya with ham and shrimp to eat on the day he wrote the letter and she said that she couldn’t imagine that he liked it.
“That’s what it says on the front of the cardboard,” she said. “Jambalaya with ham and shrimp. I didn’t know that they were allowed to have pork items in Iraq and if you look at the nutritional facts it lists 105 milligrams of cholesterol and 40 grams of carbohydrates. The meal is a heart attack waiting to happen.”
Whitelatch said her son told her that the meal was one of only two he receives daily.
“Nathan is in Northern Iraq guarding the oil fields, ” said Whitelatch. “He parachuted into Iraq on the third night of the war I think and he’s been there ever since, so you can imagine my surprise when I got the letter on Saturday (April 26) and it was postmarked April 18.”
Whitelatch is a member of the 173rd Airborne Squadron stationed out of Vicenzia, Italy. He was deployed Aug. 28, 2001, and his mother said he has only been home once, for five days, since that time.
Whitelatch said when she first saw the letter she thought that someone had placed trash in her mailbox because of the condition of the letter.
“Look at it,” she said. “It just looks like a discarded piece of cardboard. It wasn’t in anything like an envelope but for whatever reason it made it through to me. I was so surprised when I turned it over and saw Nathan’s handwriting.”
Whitelatch said her son wrote that he is “hot, tired and hungry” and that brought tears to her eyes.
“My whole family has been out buying items to send to Nathan, but after I got this letter I began to think if the soldiers are hungry I’ll bet they are hoping for some good old American snacks when they open their packages.”
Whitelatch said her son also said that he only gets four hours of sleep a day.
“He said he can’t wait to get home and said that the soldiers in his squadron have found a lot of missiles where they are,” she said. “He said it is starting to get hot and he said he got an e-mail from my brother.”
Whitelatch said she sends e-mails every day and her brother has promised to hold a crawfish and beer bash for Nathan and his buddies when they get home from the war. “That’s probably why he found my brother’s e-mail first,” said Whitelatch. “My brother wants him to come to New Orleans for a big welcome home party.”
Whitelatch said her son told her to say hello to everyone and to send everybody’s address.
“He really wrote a lot on that little bit of cardboard,” said Whitelatch. “I think he’s really thinking about home and family.”
Whitelatch said Nathan, who attended Connellsville Area Senior High School, quit and got his GED, is now asking his mom to get him college applications.
“He sent an earlier letter telling me to make sure that his sister Erin, a college student, continues to do well in school,” Whitelatch said with a smile. “Nathan said if Erin doesn’t he’ll have to come home and straighten her out.”
Whitelatch said her son could be out of the service as of Dec. 25, but she’s not sure if he will re-enlist.
“He loves what he’s doing,” said Whitelatch. “He has talked about continuing with the Army so I’m not sure what his final decision will be.”