John -- Brendan asked me to pass on the email below to you. About three weeks ago, his unit got surrounded in an orchard by about 400 Taliban and spent four days in battle. Too close to call in air support or artillery. Two men in Brendan's unit were killed. He dragged them both back from the perimeter. Thom Maholic, the guy who was enjoying the NASCAR series so much, died in his arms. Thom's family is very close to Brendan's, lives on base at Ft. Bragg not far from my brother's house in Fayetteville. Thanks again for your kindness. It means a lot to the lads. As ever, Brian

Dear Mr. Warner I can only begin to express how much we appreciate your gifts of the additional copies of the DVD series "American Stock". Master Sergeant Thom Maholic, my team sergeant and the man I replaced, was a huge NASCAR fan and was thoroughly enjoying the copy of the DVD series that Mr. Warner had so generously sent in May. In fact one of the discs was still in the player when we had to sadly pack up his room. I now intend to pass one of the unopened copies to his 10 year old son Andrew. Like his father, he too is a racing fan. Someday he may enjoy watching that which gave his father a little happiness and connection to normalcy while here in Afghanistan. Personally, while I was watching the series, I looked forward to the end of a work day to get back to my bunk area, fire up my laptop, plug in the headphones and enjoy. I must say though, Thom Maholic had it playing extra loud and on a big screen TV...you could almost smell the asphalt and hot tires! It is our honor to serve. We can only hope to extend the blessings of liberty. Sincerely, Brendan O'Connor