2003-11-11 - 12:16 p.m.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/opinion/11INTRO.html

this morning, sweaty from the elliptical trainer, i treated myself to a coffee, croissant, and new york times at the atlas. on the op-ed page were printed excerpts from letters that soldiers in iraq had written home. all the soldiers who wrote the letters have since been killed in action. they were all very affecting, but the last one was the most heartbreaking. he had written one of those "in case i don't make it home..." letters to his wife, 6-year-old son and unborn daughter.

i cried big crocodile tears onto the gray lady in the middle of the cafe, just thinking about those young, enthusiastic boys and girls stranded far from home, in harm's way, for a war i personally don't understand.

later, flint called me from the vietnam war memorial. he described the busloads of veterans visiting today, as well as the numerous offerings left at the memorial. a can of coors in a ziploc bag is resting somewhere against that big black wall.