Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991 TAG: 9103010530
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Bessler's wife, Alma, is not sure whether the Red Cross has been even able to notify him yet that he is a father for the first time. Their last telephone conversation was Feb. 2. All she could tell him then was not yet.
"I pray he knows," she said.
But Bessler, with Delta Co., 3rd Platoon, 2nd Marine Division in Saudi Arabia, wrote a letter dated Feb. 5 to the son or daughter he expected, anyway. By coincidence, it arrived on the day Joshua was born.
Bessler, 19, had no way of knowing whether the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, but he and his wife had already chosen the names.
Here's the letter, dated Feb. 5:
Dear Jessica/Joshua,
Hey there, little one. How are you? I hope that you are hefty and very active, but don't give your mom a hard time.
I don't really know how you feel right now. But I know how it feels to come into a place and be scared and not know who anybody is.
I really wish that I could have been there when you were born. But I am over in Saudi Arabia, fighting for our country. I hope that you never hold the time that I don't spend with you against me. I will spend every available moment with you and your mom that I can.
Me and your mother love you very much and we will always be there for you, no matter what. We will do our best to raise you to the best of our ability. I bet that you are the cutest baby ever born. I haven't even seen you yet, but I know that you are as cute as can be. I love you very much.
Me and your mom love each other very much. That is why we decided to have you. I really wish that I was there to help your mother raise you. I will be there soon, OK? So don't give your mother a hard time, OK?
Well, I have to go for now. I will write to you again soon, OK?
Love, Dad
Tell your mother that I love her and miss her a lot, too.
by CNB