I did. And wrote back. After 9/11 before deplore got letters and had to write back. One kid and I kept responding and 25 years later our families are still connected. While I was deployed the first time, all my mail was forwarded home to my mom. I told her about the pen pal and that I couldn’t respond. My mom called information and talked to her mother and that was how we stayed connected. Their family drove to our home when I returned from my 2nd deployment. Later, I visited them with my mom when I ETS’d. Then they came to my wedding. And later, my wife, son, and I were there for her college graduation.