Married Man.

So I'm finally home. And married.

It's 6:51 AM and I have been at work for the last 12 hours. Oh yeah, and it's Sunday morning, and the guy who was supposed to show up and relieve me....well he didn't. And he won't answer his phone. Nor will anyone ELSE in the freaking unit.

We finally got wedding pictures put up! Jessica Bennett was the photographer and she did an amazing job. To get a good look at them all click on the picture above, or go to her website: http://www.jessicabennettphotography.blogspot.com

Update From Caleb's Mom

Just wanted to fill everyone in on Caleb's situation in Iraq. A week and a half ago, Caleb fell while climbing out of the guard tower. He landed on his shoulder and knocked it out of socket. The problem is, the shoulder kept falling out of socket, so they transported him to FOB FALCON, the big base where he used to live in Baghdad and he saw a doctor. They did an x-ray and exam and relieved him from combat duty (it was his shooting arm) and really believe he needs surgery for ligament damage. He spent several days in Baghdad and is now in Balad, Iraq at a hospital waiting transport to the country of Qatar for an MRI. He is not in pain (unless the shoulder pops out), and he is just enjoying the rest and trying to keep the shoulder stabilized . The doctors in Baghdad told him one of three things will probably happen, if there is ligament damage which they suspect: 1,, they will tape him up and send him back to Baghdad for non-combat duties,(and perform surgery when his tour is over), 2., they will send him to Germany for surgery and rehab, or 3., they will send him back to the US for surgery and rehab.

We are praying for the Lord's will, but would love for him to come back to the states!! Whatever the scenario, it looks as if his combat days are over for this tour and we are grateful for that!!

I asked him if he would receive a purple heart for falling out of the guard tower and he said "only if someone were shooting at me!!" We might as well keep laughing and at least be grateful for this little respite he is having, even if he has to return to Baghdad!!

We'll keep you posted!!

Hot Like Fire.

It's hot yo. Like for real.

Just a little sitrep:

The other night I fell down a ladder and dislocated my shoulder. They took me to a FOB where I got X-rays and the doc told me that my shoulder injury is serious, he just doesn't know what it is.

As of now I'm waiting for paperwork to get pushed through so I can get flown to Qatar to get an MRI.

I'll update as I learn more.

BBQ

Today was the best day in Iraq ever. I haven't been this happy since I got here, and I'll stay happy for another day or so (that's a long long time over here) all because of my lunch.

We had a mission this morning that lasted for a couple hours and on the way back we stopped at another patrol base. On this patrol base they just happened to be having a barbeque.

Let me stop here and explain something - I love barbeque. A lot. It's my favorite food, and it never ever gets old to me. For my first meal on leave everyone knew I wanted to go to O'Boy's BBQ, but that's a whole other story, and when I get home from this place my first meal will be BBQ of some kind. BBQ and sweet tea are pretty much my life force.

So we're all sitting in the trucks waiting at the PB when it comes over the net, "Hey if you guys want some, they got ribs out here." I immediately ripped off my headset and started to extricate from the turret of the MRAP. I took off running towards where the ribs were and lo and behold, the United States Air Force is good for something...those dudes can cook. I will never speak bad of them again, cause they gave me ribs.

So I grabbed a plate of ribs and went back to the truck to eat. I was a little hesitant at first just because food here looks good, then tastes like raw sewage, and if someone had committed such an atrocity with God's greatest gift to the South it'd been WWIII in the place. After staring at the glistening meat piled on the plate in front of me and savoring the scent of awesome I decided that the Air Force couldn't be so cruel as to make ribs that sucked. So I took a bite. It tasted like America! It was like the Air Force had just started Shock and Awe all over again - this time on my taste buds. It was so good. I inhaled those things. They were the best ribs I have ever had, absolutely perfect.

After I was done I just sat there and savored the sweet victory I had just enjoyed over my hunger and the monotony of food in Iraq. While I was sitting there I noticed that my hands still smelled like BBQ. Which was awesome, but what was better was that I could smell Carlisle too.

See Carlisle sent me a bandana in the mail and it smelled like her, and I've kept that thing sealed in a ziploc just so I could smell home every once in a while. Well today we had a pretty gnarly sandstorm so I decided to wear the bandana around my face (bandit style) to protect my lungs and all. Well mix the smell of BBQ, Carlisle, and the fact that it wasn't too hot today - I almost felt like I was home for a few minutes. It was amazing.

Thank you Jesus for BBQ.

News From Baghdad

Today was a pretty long day in Iraq, with lots of lows and very few highs(other than the temperature!)

A sandstorm kicked up this morning right about the time we rolled out and it hasn't stopped yet. It's not the worst one we've been through, by any means, but a sandstorm is crappy regardless of the intensity! Especially when you're on the gun. I'd compare it to standing in a room that's in the process of being sandblasted. You feel it everywhere, and you can never ever ever get rid of the sand that just builds up on everything. Especially weapons.

After our missions this morning (there were 3) I had to come back and pull tower guard, oh yeah!!

I had guard duty with Watts, who's really cool. He's a mechanic, but he's been doing a Scout's job ever since he showed up to 6/8 Cavalry, so he knows his stuff! The dude also loves to read, and we have alot in common which makes six hours in a jail cell go by a lot faster.

We noticed something tonight that only soldiers in Iraq would notice, or even appreciate. Over here we don't have refrigerators, we have coolers with ice. We stock these coolers with water, Gatorade, Coke, Rip-its, whatever. Tonight, I reached into the cooler in the guard tower and grabbed a Gatorade, then did what I always do. I squeezed the crap out of it to get the water out from behind the label. Watts started laughing when I did this, which kinda caught me off guard. Then he said, "Dude, only a Joe would understand what you just did." You see, what happens to Gatorade bottles when left in a cooler with water, is several ounces of water get trapped between the label and the ergonomic grips which provide a secure grip for the electrolitic explosion you're about to enjoy. This water usually drips out at random periods throughout your drinking experience convincing you that you just spilled all over your lap, but no.....it was just the water. To prevent these little surprises, Joe came up with a solution: squeeze the crap out of the bottle before you pull it out of the cooler, shake it, bang it on the cooler, then take off the label and then VOILA!! -- no water on your lap!

Funny how things like this seem so natural to us, but in the states I never would have thought to do that. Nor would I ever have had the problem, because I would take my cold Gatorade from a refrigerator!! It was funny.

I Hate Turkey

Have you ever talked to a Vet from Korea?

Everyone I've met said they'll never eat cabbage again. Lots from Vietnam say they'll never eat rice again. It seems like every war has its taboo food.

Welcome to Iraq. Our food is turkey.

Every. Single. Day. I haven't had fresh food in weeks. And every night for dinner our cooks, who are more like sadists than chefs, fix us turkey.

I could understand having turkey a couple times a week. I can see how it is difficult to provide a big variety of food. But every night? Turkey cutlets, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, gravy. Sounds good even. 'Cept everything looks so scary I only get turkey and mashed potatoes.

The process for cooking Army food is so easy, a caveman could do it;

Step 1: Bring water in 5 gallon pot to boil.
Step 2: Go to freezer, grab bag of turkey cutlets.
Step 3: Throw bag (yes, the plastic) into boiling water.
Step 4: Precooked turkey in plastic bag is now thawed, remove bag from water.
Step 5: Cut open bag, pour into serving pan.
Step 6: Laugh when Joe asks if it is turkey for dinner again.

Every. Single. Night.

I never ever want to eat turkey again. I don't want to smell it or see it.

This is my manifesto. I am taking a stance against giant birds for food. Thanksgiving will no longer be a turkey and stuffing meal. Not at my house. We're eating pasta. Christmas turkey? No, thank you. I am never going to eat turkey as long as I live.

Don't try to convince me that your turkey recipe is the best and it doesn't taste like "that stuff you had in Iraq." I don't care. I'm not eating it!

In fact, my driver said it best, "if someone brings turkey to my house, or even mentions the bird, they're getting two to the chest and one to the head." Yes, he's talking about bullets.

For those of you who have ever had an MRE, you know it's not the best thing in the world. It's not even that great. And if you have hot food, you'd much rather have that. Well, I say nay! We fight over MREs here on the patrol base. Because an MRE means you have enough calories to skip dinner. And the turkey!

Seriously. I hate turkey!!

Update From Caleb and his Mom

Caleb was able to send me an e-mail yesterday on Mother's Day and that was a wonderful thing!! Even more special coming from a child in a war zone! We finally figured out a way for him to communicate with everyone. Now that he is so limited on internet time, he is forwarding an update to his blog, and then I am posting it for him!! We hope this will work better so everyone can hear from Caleb himself every once in a while!! So here goes Caleb's latest update:

I GUESS IT'S BEEN A WHILE. IT'S KINDA HARD TO UPDATE THIS FROM MY NEW LOCATION, BUT I THINK I FIGURED OUT A WAY TO DO IT, THANKS TO MY MOMMA. SO, YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING LATELY? I GUESS I'LL TELL YOU GUYS.

IMAGINE THIS......

YOU'RE THE GUNNER ON AN MRAP (THE NEW VEHICLE TO REPLACE THE HUMVEE, STANDS FOR MINE RESISTANT AMBUSH PROTECTED) AND YOU'RE OUT ON PATROL. IT'S THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE BEEN IN YOUR TRUCK FOR A FEW DAYS BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING STUCK ON GUARD DUTY (AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT), APPARENTLY, WHILE YOU WERE IN THE GUARD TOWER SOMEONE ELSE RODE IN YOUR TRUCK AND ON YOUR GUN. THEY ALSO HAPPENED TO BREAK THE METAL RING THAT ATTACHES THE SEAT TO THE TRUCK. HOW? I DON'T KNOW. BUT IT'S VERY BROKEN!

SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE A SEAT, YOU HAVE TO TURN YOUR TURRET A LITTLE BIT AND SIT ON THE FRAME FOR THE AIR CONDITIONING. WHICH IS A 1 INCH SQUARE ROD. NOW LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE MRAP. IT MIGHT AS WELL HAVE NO SUSPENSION AT ALL. IT IS BY FAR THE BUMPIEST RIDE I'VE EVER BEEN ON. AND IT'S NOT JUST BUMPING UP AND DOWN. IT'S BEING THROWN INTO THE AIR AND THEN AS YOU COME DOWN THE TRUCK COMES BACK UP TO MEET YOU, SHATTERING YOUR BODY AND ROCKING YOU TO THE CORE. OR THROWING YOU FACE FIRST INTO A .50 CALIBER MACHINE GUN THEN RIGHT BACK INTO THE TRUCK, WHILE KNOCKING THE WIND OUT OF YOU. IT'S BRUTAL. AND NOW, YOU'RE HITTING ALL THESE 'BUMPS' WHILE RESTING ON A METAL BAR. THAT'S SQUARE.

SO, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU'RE BACK ON MISSION. YOU'RE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH THE ANNOYING BUMPS AND ROCKING, BECAUSE ANYTHING IS BETTER THAT THE GUARD TOWER. EXCEPT THAT YOU'VE HAD FOOD POISONING FOR THE LAST DAY OR TWO. YOU KNEW THAT THE IRAQI CUCUMBER WAS A BAD IDEA....BUT TOTALLY WORTH IT! SO, NOW YOU'RE TRYING TO RECOVER, YOU'RE STOMACH IS SCREAMING IN PROTEST AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HOPE AND PRAY YOU CAN'T SEEM TO FIND A SMOOTH PATCH OF ROAD.

OH, BUT I'M NOT DONE! WHILE ON THE MISSION, A LOW HANGING WIRE SNAGS YOUR BIRDCAGE AND TEARS IT OFF YOUR TURRET. SUDDENLY, YOU HAVE NO SHADE. AND SHADE IN IRAQ IS A 20 DEGREE TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE. SO NOW YOU'RE SICK, GETTING BEAT TO DEATH, AND ROASTING! BUT AT LEAST THE AIR CONDITIONING IS WORKING, SO MOST OF YOUR BODY IS RELATIVELY COOL. AND, YOU'RE ON MISSION, SO THAT'S GOOD.

AFTER ABOUT FIVE HOURS OF ROUTINE RECON, YOU GET AN EOD MISSION, WHILE ON THE EOD MISSION YOU ARE PULLING SECURITY. BUT GUESS WHAT, THE GODS OF WAR ARE NOT DONE MESSING WITH YOU, OH NO......YOUR AC JUST STOPPED WORKING! SUDDENLY, IT'S HOTTER IN THE TRUCK THAN OUTSIDE, WHICH ISPRETTY BAD, CAUSE IT'S PUSHING 130 OUTSIDE. AT LEAST THE MEDICINE THE DOC GAVE YOU IS WORKING. FOR NOW. AND A CAR JUST BLEW UP. THAT WAS SWEET. OH CRAP! NOW THE CAR IS COMING BACK DOWN. WELL, NOW YOU'VE GOT A SOUVENIR LICENSE PLATE. GOOD NEWS, YOU GET TO GO BACK TO THE FOB (FORWARD OPERATING BASE) WHICH MEANS GETTING THE AC FIXED, AND GOOD FOOD, AND THE PX.

SO YOU GO TO THE FOB, DROP OFF YOUR TRUCK AT THE MECHANICS, AND GO TO THE PX, BUY ALL KINDS OF JUNK. RED BULL, CANDY, A GERBER, MAGAZINES, STUFF TO MAKE LIFE EASIER AT THE PATROL BASE. AT LEAST OUR AC DIED ON THE WAY BACK TO THE FOB.

OH, APPARENTLY SQUADRON NEEDS YOU TO LEAVE THE FOB IMMEDIATELY! NO QUESTIONS ASKED. BUT YOUR TRUCK IS STILL BEING WORKED ON. TOO BAD, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE WITHOUT AC. THIS IS GOING TO SUCK. HARD!

AFTER A RIDICULOUSLY LONG AND SWEATY DRIVE BACK, YOU FINALLY MAKE IT TO THE PATROL BASE. THE LONGEST DAY THAT YOU CAN REMEMBER, SINCE THAT ONE DAY A FEW DAYS AGO, IS FINALLY OVER. ON THE WAY BACK TO YOUR TENT YOU WALK PAST THE CHOW TENT. THEY HAVE TWO COOLERS OF ORANGE JUICE SITTING OUT, AND ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN WATER. YOU DRINK A CUP, THINKING TO YOURSELF, CONCENTRATE IS TERRIBLE, BUT AT LEAST IT'S NOT WATER.

AS YOU'RE FINALLY GETTING READY TO GO TO BED YOU REALIZE THAT THE OJ MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BAD IDEA. DEFINITELY A BAD IDEA. YOU RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN OUT OF THE TENT. AND GUESS WHAT? CONCENTRATE OJ TASTES THE SAME COMING OUT AS IT DOES GOING IN!!

OH LORD, TOMORROW IS GOING TO BE A LONG DAY. AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE TOWER GUARD. OH WAIT, YOU DO! AFTER YOUR MISSION. AWESOME.

Update From the Middle Eastern Front

Caleb made the move over the last 2 weeks to the tent city. He is now living in a tent with about 20 other soldiers. They have electricity and AC, but have to stand in line for internet access. So, this makes our communication more limited. After standing in line, Caleb only has 30 minutes on the computer, and if he wants more time, he has to stand in line again!! So, needless to say, we don't hear from him as often as before! He said the days are getting much hotter and they have been dealing with sand storms lately. The sand is very fine, like powder, in Iraq, so much time is spent keeping weapons and personal items clean!

Thankfully, hostilities have been less over the last couple of weeks and we are grateful for that!

Keep praying for Caleb's safety, strength and emotional health while living in a war zone and being separated from family and friends. Your prayers and concern are a constant source of encouragement for Caleb and our family!

I'll report again soon, Proud Soldier Mom, Betsy

On the Move...

Sorry it has been so long since the last update. I am failing at keeping up Caleb's blog! I will try to be more consistant in the future!

We have been able to keep up with Caleb pretty regularly the last few weeks and are grateful for that opportunity. He is doing well but has been very busy. The first few weeks he was back in Baghdad were very hectic and dangerous. That was when Al-Sadr's militia was acting up in Basra and Baghdad. Caleb and his crew had a couple of close calls, but thank God, they were not harmed. After things settled down a bit, he had some good news and was promoted to Specialist! He is no longer Private First Class de Armas, he is now Specialist de Armas. With the promotion he received a pay raise and that made him very happy!

Caleb is still (most days) the Gunner on his Humvee. Every time we sign off of the computer I remind him to "keep his head low!!"
And his response is always, "Don't worry, Mom!"

Last week has been very hectic because he and about a hundred other guys are moving off of the FOB (forward operating base.)
They will still be in the same area of Baghdad, but will now be living in a small tent city. He will still have electricity and computer access, but will have to make trips back to the FOB for mail and supplies. I have a feeling the living conditions will not be so nice as before, but I will get an update from Caleb soon and fill you in.

Please keep praying for him and the other brave soldiers in his unit, they are certainly in need of the Father's protection and strength.

I will update again soon, proud soldier mom, Betsy

Update on Caleb

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on our soldier, Caleb! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with him while he was home (in Orlando) on his mid-tour Leave. He seemed to be doing great and really glad to be home with family and friends, and mostly with his fiance, Cali!! He safely returned to Baghdad about a week and a half ago and is back in the business of fighting a war! He is trying to adjust again to Army life and being away from home and all of the comforts of life in America, but he is doing well. He was hoping for a couple of days to get over jet-lag when he arrived at his base (FOB FALCON), but he was put right back to business! We are able to talk to him several times a week through the computer and are so thankful for that contact. He wanted me to thank all of you for your prayers, letters and care packages. He so appreciates all of the support. Continue to pray for his safety, his health and emotional strength, and just endurance to finish the race in Iraq! We are praying he will be home by the end of the year. I will update again soon and Caleb will when he has the chance, the internet is so slow in Iraq that it takes him forever to post a blog, so I am helping out! Betsy, proud Army Mom!!

At Home...

Ok. So I need some help.

I've been thinking about coming home and all. And I need the assistance of someone in the Central Florida area. Someone who reads this owns a firearm. I have no clue who you are. But you should take e shooting. Cause, I don't think I can handle 18 days without something going boom. And I wanna fire a weapon. Preferably something in the 5.56 - 7.62 range. Pistols just don't do it for me anymore. If you have access to like, a Class III range, then you'll be my best friend forever. I just want to shoot. Without someone shooting back. That'd be cool.


Hook it up!!

Clarification

I'm not coming home for good. I'm only coming home for my midtour leave. I'll be in the states for 18 days. Then I come back to sunny Iraq.

I'm done. I was officially pulled off mission status about 20 minutes ago. From now on all I'm doing is packing and getting ready to go home. See you guys soon.

I leave here in four days. Ridiculous.

Ridiculous is a good way to describe the last week here. Apparently Hajji thought that now was a good time to start doing some serious IED's and what not. Seriously guys, can we like, lay low for a week or two? Thanks.

In other news, it's starting to warm up. I think I need to get my AC fixed in the truck this weekend. That sounds like a plan.

I've been really scatter brained this week. I can't sleep. Then I want to sleep all day. I'm sick of my iPod. I want new music. You guys should hook that up when I come home. What should I do when I come home? Any ideas, post them. Cause, that would be awesome.

Peace.

Our internet is back.

I am alive.

I'm busy, I'll update later.

Internet

Ok, so our internet died. But as soon as I get it fixed I will be online.

If anyone is interested in talking to me over here, I have AOL instant messanger (www.aim.com - its free to download and use) and my screenname is waryall


I'm ALWAYS online. It's usually from around 10AM EST to around 2 or 3PM but depending on whats going on I may be on earlier or later.

Last few days have just been alot of real quick missions. Nothing major.

Updated wishlist:
Peanuts
Airheads
Magazines (anything)
Suprisingly - NO MORE Q tips...I underestimated how many would be sent here. I'm probably in the 20,000 range. At least.

Snow in Iraq?

Yep. According to the news, for the first time in 100 years it snowed in Baghdad today.

But let me tell you something. Snow in Iraq is only cool for about....5 minutes. Then the WHOLE COUNTRY turns to mud. Not cool like watery mud. No..this stuff is like cement. It sticks to everything. And it's like driving on ice. And the heater in my humvee is downright pathetic. So pretty much all day I was freezing to death.

In other news, those of you who watch CBS nightly news saw us yesterday (Thursday). Apparently they did like a huge story on the squadron. I was around the reporters, but never got on camera or anything like that. Just pretty cool that we made the news. I don't know what the story was. Hopefully they told it right. There's been a lot of blood shed for this place. And we've only been here for 2 months.

I just went back and re-read some of my entries. Dr. Burch, if you ever read any of these, I'm sorry, I know there's a lot of comma splices.

Stupid Missions

So today was pretty relaxed. Around noon or so we had to escort the XO to one of the patrol bases, which meant drive to a base, sit in the truck and wait.

While we were there they called up EOD (our actual mission) cause they found an IED somewhere. So rather than spin up our other section and have them escort EOD out, they tell EOD to standby and wait for us to get back to the FOB.

Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem running missions all day, it makes time go by ALOT faster. But when you have the necessary elements in place to pull a mission, doesn't it make sense to use them, rather than wait for a totally different group to finish a mission and come back and roll right back out.

Somehow though, after about a half hour, the powers that be decided to use our other section (thankfully) so we only had to do the one mission.

After that we got a class on IEDs...dude, these Al Qaida dudes are sneaky little dirtbags. And creative.

Just so you all know I won't be updating for a couple days, I gotta go out and do the hooah thing and kick in doors and all. I'll be safe. I'm coming home. Mom don't worry about me. I'll update when we get back.

Long Days, Longer Nights

The last few days have been rediculous.

We've been pulling missions all day and all night. Literally. We squeeze in a couple hours sleep and then roll right back out again.

But I saw some seriously awesome displays of American firepower. Like, really awesome.

There is nothing cooler than watching two Bradleys engaging a house, which then explodes, and then followed up by an airstrike. Oh yeah.

I'm sure I'll have another mission tonight. Lately we've become everyone's favorite when it comes to escort. I think we've run like 8 or 9 missions to the same place. Doesn't sound like much, except the shortest one was something around 4 hours.

Whatever. Three weeks til leave.

War is Hell

According to the Associated Press:

"The latest deaths reported by the military:

-A soldier was killed Wednesday by an explosive south of Baghdad."


Iraq isn't fun anymore.

Escort.

This morning we were supposed to wake up at like 5 something so we could do PT. The whole PT thing in Iraq kinda erks me. I mean, we run missions all day long and then most nights, but for some reason we still have to go to the gym. Whatever.

So the guy who does wake ups for everyone shows up at our room at 8 to wake us up (jackpot!). So we went out to the trucks, did the whole morning routine, then we chilled in our rooms for a little while. Right about lunch time (as usual) we got a mission call. I seriously think that Al Qaida has like a hunger meter or something. Cause EVERY time we get called out for EOD its at meal time. It's super frustrating.

So we all rolled down South to blow up an IED. The area where we were is pretty secure, so we all turned into the stereotypical tourist and busted out the cameras. I think I took like a hundred pictures today. Of nothing. And as usual, I left my camera on the truck. So you're all out of luck until I get the motivation to go out to "Stephanie" as my gunner has so affectionately named our truck. I disagreed, I wanted something awesome like "Super Killer" or "Mega Destroyer"

And now I have another mission

Homesick-ish

All I want to do right now is sit on the front porch of the Kilgore house with Cali and Rae and Ellis and True and Richie and everyone else who "lives" there. I wanna tell my stories, just like True likes them - rediculous.

I should probably explain that. I love to tell stories. If there was a way I could get paid to travel around and just tell stories to people, I'd do it. The best part about my story telling (depending on who you talk to) is that I get really excited about the story I'm telling. I start like yelling and moving around all over the place and acting stuff out. It's truly something to watch. And when I'm home that's all we do. Sit on the front porch for story time...and I'll go into a twenty minute story about a fight at a show and how this guy punched this guy, and then all of a sudden there's a stupid girl in the fight (she got hit, and yes she deserved it) and blah blah blah.

I also have a lot of very serious stories that I tell. Like the little boy that got killed on SR 44 in New Smyrna Beach.

Stories are how I cope with stuff. And I like to let other people know what happened or what I saw. I guess that's one reason I started this blog. I know that my family wanted a way to keep up with what I was doing over here..but it was more for me than it was for them. Because I know by the time I get home I'll have so many stories, I couldn't remember them all. So I'm saving them here. I'm letting the world hear my stories. I just wish that I could type the way I talk. My stories are thoroughly more enjoyable in person.

I also wish that the Army didn't censor us. I want to be able to explain what it's like to see your buddy wounded, or to shoot at someone, but they won't let us. Somehow it gives away operational security. Whatever.

As far as the questions posted on my comments:

The metal thing on the front of my truck. We call it a Rhino. I can't explain how it works (OPSEC) but it's used to defeat IEDs. Problem is, like most things we have, it only works about the half the time, because the really sneaky bad guys figured out how to work around it. I'm living proof. But it does work, so don't get mad at the Army or nothing.

Iraq's impact on my faith. Well, missing death by about 8 inches really gets you thinking. Alot. I have spent alot of time thinking and trying to figure out exactly what it is God is wanting me to do with my life. Iraq has taught me not how to listen to God, but how to hear him. And I've heard alot. I'm very different than I was before I left. I'm much more of a peaceful person now. When I left I was very confrontational (as hard as that may be to believe). I enjoyed things like, getting in fights, mosh pits, what have you. That's one reason I joined the Army - to come to Iraq and kill people. But I realized real quick I was an idiot. A broken nose is one thing. Missing a leg, or an eye, or not breathing...that's a little bit worse. I realized the stupidity involved in the stuff I was doing before I left (Cali got me under control, but Iraq really got it) and now I'm very much disinterested in anything "action oriented." I would rather spend the rest of my days showing kids in Thailand or Africa what it's like to be loved.

Looking into the eyes of Iraqis - that's really a hard question to answer. Every neighborhood is completely different than the other. Some neighborhoods, they're truly happy people who appreciate us and what we're doing. Other neighborhoods, you just know that something bad is going to happen. Cause noone will look at you. Or they all do the tough guy thing and stare you down. I don't really know. For the most part though, I'd say that most Iraqis I've met seem to love us. I know the little ones do. I know there is at least one guy who hates hates hates us. We might have accidentally caused a little car accident...in which a dude on a bike got tagged by a pickup truck. Woops. My bad.

Blythe - One of the guys I work with went to high school with you. Barker is his last name. He's a pretty cool guy. Small world huh?

Blegh.

Wow. Today was awesome (read that with as much sarcasm as you could muster).

Today all started yesterday. We woke up at some stupid hour, I don't even remember to clean the trucks. In Iraq. We spent a couple hours sweeping dust out of our truck, and taking out all the gear and everything to re-organize it all. Doesn't sound like much...but let's look at what's in my truck:

2 radios
A computer
A Browning M2 .50cal Machine Gun
Several cases of .50 cal ammo
The gear for me, my gunner and TC (3 IBAs, ammo, helmets, NODs, flashlights, gloves, snivel gear etc)
A couple first aid kits
A stretcher
A roll of concertina wire
Food
Water
Rocket Launcher (oh yeah!)
Slave Cables
And about a million more things.

So anyway about 30 seconds after we finish putting everything away we get called on a mission. We had to take the Maintenance Chief out to recon a route for something or other. And the chief and a mechanic both rode in my truck. This is good because they get to see how we use our trucks and how they break and what we do with all the cool stuff the put on our trucks (like our PA an police siren). Well while we were out, they noticed that the steering was not as easy as it should be and the chief told me to take it to the motor pool today. Oh why? I hate the motor pool.

So this morning we ran a couple EOD missions. We actually blew up a real weapons cache (take that Al Qaida!).

Then I came back and went to the motor pool. And spent like 12 hours replacing the suspension on my humvee.

But then I came to my room and there was a postcard from Thailand:

"Hey babe!
I just wanted to send this postcard to you...btw I climbed up to the top of the temple on the front of this. Anyways, I hope you are doing good. I miss you so much babe. I can't wait to see you! Don't forget to by me some sweet stuff! I love you so much! I miss you like crazy.
Love your Carlisle"

And I guess...my day wasn't that bad after all.