Here are a few of the letters received from some of the Soldiers who received pens I sent. It's nice to know the pens are getting there so I am posting some of the letters I receive here. The names and locations have been deleted from the letters to protect the privacy of the sender.

Dear Mr Gibson,

I am the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Battle Group currently serving its last two weeks of an eventful and very successful tour of duty in Afghanistan. I have been given one of your wonderful pens. This particular one was made from a Walnut tree from the area of London Ontario. I just wanted to let you know that I was very touched by your nice gesture of sending us these mementos of your support for what we do here.

Over the last 6 months, we have made tremendous progress towards a new tactical strategy that focus our work on helping the population of Afghanistan and promotes the development of a safer and more secure community that takes its future in its own hands and, a little like you when building a pen, strive to build institutions and a society that will prosper.

Our Battle Group has fought well and helped a lot to develop a new mentality of progress for the future of the Afghans. Our soldiers demonstrated that they can adapt their posture from the determined aggressive combatant to the approachable friendly peace officer in a heartbeat depending on the situation they face. They have navigated courageously through Improvised Explosive Device (IED) infested territory, fought and won prolonged battles against a resolute enemy and also been able to engage in a meaningful coexistence with a populace of unknown allegiance and gain their trust and confidence. Despite all the sacrifices endured, they maintained their focus on the mission and wholeheartedly embraced their role of establishing physical and emotional connections with the population to develop affinity for the Afghan government, thrust in their security forces and enhance the overall legitimacy of the campaign. Needless to say that I feel very proud of having been part of this outstanding team.

I also wanted you to know that I have used your pen today for something very special. Signing the Orders that will bring them all safely back home. I hope that this way, you will not only feel that you supported us but indeed that you were, in this gesture of sending us a pen, an important part of the Battle Group.

Thank you very much my friend.

Hello Rick
My name is Master Corporal xxxx xxxxx I'm presently posted to xxxxxxx x, as a vehicle tech. I'm am on my second tour over here in the big sand box. Thank you very much for the pen. I'm the 2 I/C on a vehicle repair sec. I will get lots of use out of this pen as it is a one of a kind, I hope this will put a stop to me going through 2 or 3 pens a day as everyone seems to walk off with my pens. I will Email you at the end of my tour to till you that the pen made it home safe. Thank you once again for the pen.

Dear Mrs. Gibson,
It took me a little bit of time to answer to your letter and I'm sorry for that. I receive the pen with the letter a little while ago from my peers that thought I deserved it. I really appreciate that you take time to think about us and to thank us. I don't know you I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm from Joliette, QC (close to Montreal) but I've been posted to Edmonton as a weapon technician for the last 6 years, with my son Jakob, who's now 11. When we started our training last March, I had to move him with his dad in Mtl, and that was probably the hardess of it all. Every other night I take that pen and write in his journal. Before I left, we both got one that we were going to exchange when I get back. This is probably the biggest sacrifice I made in my life. It feel very good here to have poeple like you back home who are supportive of what we are doing. And yes, we are very lucky to live a the country we are living in, to have that freedom. I wish I could make a difference here but it's not only up to me, it's up to all of us no matter witch part the world we are in.

Mr Gibson,

Thank you for the pen you have sent to me. It was timely, as my other pen I carry with me just ran out of ink. Perhaps a sign. It is wonderful to receive such things in the mail and brings cheer. It fits ever so nicely into the little pen pocket of the combats.

Please also send my thanks and greetings to **** *********. He's my wife's Uncle (Peggy) and sister to Margaret, as I'm sure you know (and I hope I do too, sometimes I do get their family tree confused, it is small than mine).

I'm creating a scrap book of my experiences here, so I will be placing your note and accompanying cards from the pen into it as a token and momento of my time here.
No doubt your work is greatly appreciated, and I enjoyed reading about the uniqueness of the pen and the wood it was created from.

Keep all of us in your prayers at the ******** Baptist Church. As you know from the news, on 30 Dec, 4 soldiers from my team here at the KPRT were killed and 4 injured and sent home. It was a tough time for us, but we are getting back on track with our mission. The misson which brings hope, mentorship, and rebuilding to Kandahar.

If you wish, you can track the interesting developments - including the KPRT at this website:

http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/index.aspx?lang=en
This gives a fuller picture to what we are accomplishing here in the light of the sacrifices of our soldiers.

God's Blessings,

Good day Rick,
My name is ****** ******** and I'm originally from Corner Brook, NL. I'm currently posted to the 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment and am serving overseas in ***** Afghanistan. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for the pen and your support. It is beautiful and very much appreciated. With everything we hear in the news from back at home, it means a lot to know that there are people who support us. Thank you once again.

This pen was sent through my nephew who was serving in the middle east. I had sent him a number of pens to be given to those he was serving with, he specifically asked for a fountain pen for this person..

Mr. Gibson,
I just wanted to send you a note to thank you for the beautiful fountain pen that your nephew John gave me. I have a lot of fountain pens from Cross to Mont Blanc and yours is of as high a quality as them.
Thank you once again, I am very proud to be a recipient of such a gift. It is now my official work pen.

This pen was sent to the neice of a member of my church. She was on a short term mission to Afghanistan and I knew there would not be time to get it to her there so I sent it to her home so it was waiting when she got back.

Mr. Gibson,
The pen is very lovely. It is nice to come home from a mission and feel appreciated. You do wonderful work. Thanks so much Angela

Good afternoon,
Here in Afghanistan it is the afternoon, actually 1520. I just received one of your wooden pens and wanted to thank you very much. I can see a lot of hard work went into this and it is appreciated. I also love the fact that the wood was destined for use in WWII. I have been here since July and we will finally be done sometime in Dec. It is always nice to see the show of support we get from back home and I can tell you I really appreciate what we have in Canada after tours like this. This is my sixth tour overall in my career and I am always so happy to get back.

Thank again and take care
**** *********** Acting Camp CSM

Mr. Gibson,

I wanted to extend my thanks for the beautiful African Blackwood pen I just received. I'm currently deployed with the Mission Transition Task Force, which is packing up all the Canadian equipment and files in Kandahar, to either send home for future missions or to our colleagues on the training mission in Kabul. We're all glad to be here doing what we can, and it means the world to us to hear from Canadians who care.

Thank-you for your thoughts and for sharing your wonderful skill and creativity with us! I'll be taking this pen on many deployments to come, as a reminder of the support we have from home.

Sincerely,
**** ***** ******* Mission Transition Task Force Kandahar Airfield

Dear Rick,

My name is ....... ....... and I am a warrant officer in the Canadian Forces. I am currently serving overseas in Kabul, Afghanistan. I wanted to thank you for the lovely pen I received, it is certainly the nicest I have ever owned. In your letter you described it as a "bowtie" with chrome plating. I will try and get a picture and email it to you. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2013.

**** ***** *******