Marine 2nd Lt. G. Brad Hartman is a 1996 Sycamore High School and 2000 Denison University graduate. He is the son of Janice and Gary Hartman. He is in Iraq, serving with a security forces platoon. His father writes:

Brad was anxious to go to Iraq to do what he says he was trained to do. He was deployed in February on a lead team to prepare for the arrival of the rest of his unit.

In a recent communication home, Brad wrote, "We all miss home, but know these poor people need to be saved.

"I look at the children's faces and see the kids (referring to his niece and nephews). We cannot let anyone suffer like this, it's horrible. We have our mission and we will execute it."

In another letter, he wrote, "I always thought I was fortunate, but until I saw things here, I had no idea how fortunate we really are."