Annie and Ruthie in “The Known Soldier”

Annie

Since when do you have a pen pal who's a Marine?

Ruthie

Since I changed schools. It's a class project. A volunteer project. It's to let all the men and women who serve in the armed forces know how much they're appreciated. We can't send real mail, so we have to send e-mail. That's the safe way to do it.

Annie

What do you write about?

Ruthie

Oh, different things. Sometimes just funny stuff that happens around here. You know, to give him a laugh

Annie

Funny....family stories?

Ruthie

Yeah, I've got plenty of 'em. You can't just write about serious stuff. He gets enough of that being in the Marines!