Dear FRONTLINE,

I fully support this war and the reasons for going, but in the end, we have lost this war. Yes, we will install the government and finally get out, but it will never realize its potential as a "democracy" after we do leave. Why? I saw more insurgents CREATED during this program than defeated. I understand war is an ugly thing, but when you brutalize the people you are trying to help, even in just isolated incidents such as shoving someones car off the road or coldly shooting their dog, it breeds contempt at the deepest levels. I know I would be head hunting the guy that shot my dog.....and Id get him. Thanks alot for your assistance EU and UN. We should have had PEACKEEPING forces in here long ago, not maintaining such a heavy handed military force that continues to breed its own enemy.

Nick Richardson
Denver, CO

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'm a regular viewer of your program. My battalion was stationed out of a FOB in Tikrit.
My USAR component engineer battalion did our fair share of soldiering in the year we were there, and we are proud or our work and service.

Soldiers like those profiled in Dog Company are a whole caliber above soldiers like me. They do the hard work of keeping everyone safe over there by rooting, digging and hunting bad guys where ever they are.

The show struck me as being right on; showing very close to what the Real is of what soldiers go through, every day. Telling their story is an invaluable service. Keep up the good work.

Rich pastorius
colorado springs, CO

Dear FRONTLINE,

... I can't tell you how impressed I am with these Americans. They're neither the gun-toting imperialists the left paints them as, nor are they the unquestioning flag-wavers the right seems to favor.

These guys are real Americans: they think for themselves, they work hard to help people as best they can, and most of all, they're working hard to do their job.

I didn't support the invasion of Iraq, but now that we're there, I can't support leaving the job unfinished. And I'm thankful that guys like the soldiers of Dog Company are representing us in the world.

Christopher Geisel
Vancouver, BC

Dear FRONTLINE,

FRONTLINE,
This was a very touching show, thanks for letting us in, in the lives of soldiers. I had no idea how it was, but because of your show I have a better understanding. My paretns and I cried through the whole show. My thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers and their families. God Bless

Virginia Borrego
Sabinal, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

After watching this one episode of the war in iraq, i am convinced more than before that diplomacy would have been the better course than war. for me this episode shows the military as a large, inefficient, bureaucratic, lumbering, and antequated band of brothers (and sisters.) I was amazed that they didn't have maps of where they were going and referred to enemy territory as "Indian" territory as if this is a childhood game of cowboys and indians, not to mention the racist nature of that comment Our military seems to have no understanding of itself as an occupying force. We're just the big dumb Americans who have God on our side and always get our way. How could they hate us? If this is our military, we all are in deep trouble.

Linda B

Dear FRONTLINE,

..besides being completely proud of these guys and respecting them and everything they are doing for us, i was happy that a major network could report something as controvercial as this with little or no bias regarding political views on the war, and stay on the real focus, the soldiers that are serving.

Thanks for showing us a great group of guys, and keeping it focused on them and not politics.

Alex White
Reno, Nevada

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thanks for you report,

I was a medic stationed at FOB Ferrin-Huggins with the 82ND ABN DIV. The soldiers of 1/8 CAV were our replacements. My entire family watched your program last night and came out with a better understanding of what myself and my soldiers had to deal with on a daily basis. Your program helped answer questions that I still have no words to describe to them. They say picture is worth a thousand words, last night they received volumes. Thank you for helping me bring a better understanding to my family of what life was really like

Ben Martin
San Antonio, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

As retired members of the U.S. Army, my husband and I found the program to be very well done visually. However, because of that the editing of the language, it provided more comic relief than interest for us. We know of no one in the military that have been in that situation, whether real or even in training environments that speak that way EVER under the pressures these soldiers were under! Without the true "color" of the language, the tension, severity and gravity of the situations were "sugar coated" and not reality.

Vicki Kohout
Atlanta, GA

Dear FRONTLINE,

This was a really incredable show but a few things really struck me. The producer devoted 2 minutes, it seemed , to the shooting of the dog and the effect this had on the soldiers. However the "colateral damaged" guy in the taxi and the driver comming down the on ramp were totally glossed over. Also no atempt was made to explain the Shiek bloody eye. Had he been beaten. It was also strange you would take great pains to disguise the military translator, but film the Shiek informing on insurgents. Surely this man will now be killed.

Russell Grigg

Dear FRONTLINE,

The program was absolutely riviting. The pride in and respect for those soldiers and all of their brothers overwhelms me. I hate this war and believe it is the biggest mistake the USA has made since Vietnam.....but I have always believed and still do, that the American military is the single grandest tool for hope, peace, and freedom this world has ever had. I resent that these young men and their dedication to the principals of freedom have been so abused and their resource for positive change been so squandered by George Bush, who I am sure is going to live in Infamy as the worse president the country ever endured. I pray every night for these soldier's safety and for their homecoming. But I also believe that the Army - and indeed the entire Country needs to do more to help them and their families reintegrate into normal society - home life - and relationships.

Thank you for the insight into the lives of ordinary men who perform extraordinary feats of courage, honor, and bravery. They are true heroes.

Anne Cosper
Austin, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

I recieved an e-mail from a friend telling me about this program yesterday, becasue me husband is in the military everyone is always sending me things to watch or read about the war. Because of my fear that some day I may have to give him a hug and kiss goodbye to send him into unknown of the war I almost never watch these types of shows. Well last night I found myself watching this program on the these soldiers and I think I have such a better understanding of way my husband thinks and feels about fighting for the freedom of this country. Thanks you for showing this program, it helped me to understand my husbands love for the military and his fellow bothers in the 128th. I still have the fear everyday that we will be packing his bags but I now know he will be with a family that loves him as much as I do!!!!!!! God bless all who are fighting freedom. Thanks

Beth Smith

Dear FRONTLINE,

I just returned from a year of service in Tikrit and Mosul and i have to say this is a great show! It shows that the US is there to help and can only help them when they want to be helped. Being on an unknown amount of convoys this past year it shows the dangers of what every soldier sees everyday! It show the truth which since ive returned CNN and other news will not show. Thank You Very much!

joshua jiannoni

Dear FRONTLINE,

I was filled with anger, shame and sorrow as I watched American soldiers bully Iarqi civilians.

I was angry when the one of the soldiers, I can't remember who, chided those who protest against the war and the occupation. I remember him saying something to the effect that the protestors should enlist and serve in the military as it was the only, in his mind, patroitic thing to do. He forgets all the young, fat, smooth college-aged reactionaries back here in the United States who support Bush's Iraq War but won't put their own lives where their mouths are!

I was disgusted when the captain, upon ending his tour in Iraq, said, as he was being driven to the airport, "This is what God wants you to do. There's nothing better than this job." Or words to that effect.

This program did not make me proud to be an American. It did not make me wish to support these troops.

Ernest Spoon
Urbandale, IA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for the detailed view of the complexities of combat operations in Iraq. By luck you selected a unique month to be in the midst of the men and women of 1-8 Cav. But what of the successes in building the schools, road, water distribution systems and electrical grids? You focus on the harsh reality of combat and only mention, via the CA Captain's words, the unit's mission - to get Iraq (and this small piece of it) up and running in order for a free society to florish. We win each time a terrorist or sympathizer is taken out of the mix, but we also win each time a school opens and water flows. Show those victories as well. As a veteran of the first Gulf War, I have a different view of the aftermath of war. This portrayal, despite the obvious omission I mentioned, brings the reality into light. Thank you.

James Koch
Deer River, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'm an instructor in the US Army and I continually look for better ways to train my soldiers. This documentary is the most accurate I have ever seen. It hits home and hits hard. I plan on buying the video to show my soldiers and to show them what they are facing when they get there.

GREAT JOB!

Jon Saunders