A photo of Kinga Ilyes appeared on the cover of last month’s University Student issue of Maclean’s a weekly Canadian news magazine. Apparently there were some pinup pictures and Ms Ilyes became an instant favorite of Canadian forces serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, One soldier was so taken with Ms Ilyes that he sent a handwritten letter to Macleans to thank them for the photos.

Sgt. Chris Karigiannis was pretty sure that nobody at Maclean’s would even open the envelope. At the very most, he hoped a few lines of his handwritten note would end up on the “Mail Bag” page at the front of the magazine. “I really doubted that this letter would have been acknowledged at all, to be honest,” he said later.

By now, our loyal readers already know the story. Last month, halfway through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Karigiannis dropped us a line from the front lines, saying how much he enjoyed and appreciated Maclean’s — especially the “extremely attractive young lady” featured on the front of this year’s University Student Issue. “The very refreshing image on your cover, given this girl’s natural beauty and incredible sexiness, had most of us in agreement that she is the best pin-up in our collection,” he wrote. “Who would have thought that our most impressive female photo would come from Maclean’s?”

Within days, the once-anonymous cover girl — 24-year-old Kinga Ilyes — was a household face. Media outlets across the country reprinted the sergeant’s heartfelt letter, and in Ottawa and Toronto, Sun newspapers plastered Kinga’s pretty face on the front page. “DARLING OF KANDAHAR,” the headline screamed.

On Tuesday, Karigiannis sent us another note, this time via e-mail. “I am astonished at the reaction,” he wrote.

Most soldiers like to see a pretty face. During the past 60 years, soldiers have collected photos, sometimes reckless pinups, of women. They’ve graced barracks lockers, hooches, and rucks for years. Why would the Canadian soldiers in Kandahar be any different? We even found Playboy pinups in NVA rucks

SGT Karigiannis, a 10 year veteran of service, had spent a year with the Skyhawks, their parachute demonstration team, before attachment to the 3rd Bn, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Kandagar.

In his e-mail to Maclean’s, Karigiannis said his troops would love Kinga to visit Kandahar. “The soldiers would certainly appreciate her visiting, I have no doubt,” he wrote. “My only concern would be that she may not have the recognition that she is currently getting at home (I do not know how many troops read the news and would agree with my tastes or opinions). All things being equal, however, an intelligent, beautiful, and motivated former university student from Toronto would be enough for the troops to appreciate. What I mean is you don’t have to be famous...but sexy sure helps!”

But the sergeant didn’t want readers to get the wrong idea. “The last thing I would want is to earn stalker status,” he wrote. “The letter I wrote was well-intentioned, honest, and simply a thank you note.” He wasn’t looking for a response, he said — not from Maclean’s and certainly not from Kinga. “People’s personal lives are just that,” he wrote. “I know she has had quite a bit of attention and I hope this has not caused a problem for her. Feel free to offer my e-mail to her if she’s interested (with no expectations of any kind). Nevertheless, say hello to her for me if you get a chance.”

Just before 8 AM the day after that email, SGT Karigiannis died, along with two other soldiers, when they struck an IED in open country between two checkpoints about a mile apart.

Just so you know they’re dying in the real war, against the people who helped kill 3,000 Americans.