To the People Who Broke into Our Father's House After His Death

Dear Editor:

On the day we were mourning the death of our father and laying him to rest, we found that you broke into his house and stole many of the contents of his home. While the items you stole may have had little meaning to you other than their monetary value, what you have taken from us are many sentimental items, which we treasured from our childhood. These items brought back memories of our father and our childhood.

Your actions not only deprived us of these items and the memories they represent, but your actions also robbed us of the opportunity to grieve the loss of our father without worry. Instead of consoling one another over the loss of our father, we were forced to deal with the loss caused by you and your actions. Now, we will always be reminded that there are people in this world that will take advantage of the misfortune of others for their own personal gain without regard for the impact that it may have on someone else's life.

While you do not seem to be concerned about what affect your actions might have had on us or others, we do want you to know a little about the man from whom you stole. While our father was not perfect, he was our father and we loved him.

He served in the Vietnam War and earned two Purple Hearts. He put his life in jeopardy for his country, and that sacrifice was repaid by someone breaking into his house after he passed away and stealing his Army jacket and going through his personal belongings before his family even had the chance.

We are very proud of our father for his service and eternally grateful that when called into service he rose to the occasion. We hope that someday, if you are fortunate enough to have children or if you have children already, your children can look upon you with the respect and admiration that we have for our father. While you may have taken the items from his home, you have not taken nor diminished the memory of our father.

Your actions were selfish and despicable. Our only hope is that your actions came from a moment of desperation necessary to provide for you and your family. While we will never understand your selfish act, it is our hope that from here on you find the right direction with your moral compass, and that someday you will be able to act selflessly and you will make your children as proud of you as we are of Roger Bain.

God Bless you and your family,

The Family of Roger Bain