Friday, March 25, 2005
What a Great Birthday
Well, a few days ago was my birthday and about three days ago I got a ton of mail from so many people. To all who sent me mail, thank you so much. It was a great encouragement to mail from so many of my church family, many of whom I don't even know personally. God bless all of you for all you are doing for me while I'm here. I love you all.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Sad day
Today was a sad day for the 278th, 2nd squadron Peacemakers, and the U.S. as a whole. Many men have died since we entered into this war, but one has finally hit close to those of the 278th and the family and friends of them. On Sunday the 20th a soldier died who was a member of the HHT Company. I wont give a name, but he was an honorable man and was a husband and father to 4 children.
Today in honor of this man we had a memorial service in which the majority of the Peacemakers were present along with Colonel Adams (Regemental Commander), Sergeant Major Pippen(Regemental Command Sergeant Major), and a lieutenant general (three star). We stood though a long service and then at the end of it we marched up to a picture of the soldier and placed behind it was a box which held his weapon with his helmet on top of it with his dog tags hooked to the weapon and in front of the picture stood his boots. I don't know when the tradition started but it was a good thing. Very depressing but it was good for me to pay my respects for a fallen brother.
It was also a good remembrance of the price paid for freedom; past, present and future. Seeing the numbers on T.V. and the newspapers kind of makes it surreal, but when you have to go though something like this it makes it real. You can then finally understand what men have put on the line for the sake of their loved ones and those who don't even know them. So, this week find a man or woman who served faithfully for us in the past because if it wasn't for people like those of the past we wouldn't be able to live like we do--FREE.
Today in honor of this man we had a memorial service in which the majority of the Peacemakers were present along with Colonel Adams (Regemental Commander), Sergeant Major Pippen(Regemental Command Sergeant Major), and a lieutenant general (three star). We stood though a long service and then at the end of it we marched up to a picture of the soldier and placed behind it was a box which held his weapon with his helmet on top of it with his dog tags hooked to the weapon and in front of the picture stood his boots. I don't know when the tradition started but it was a good thing. Very depressing but it was good for me to pay my respects for a fallen brother.
It was also a good remembrance of the price paid for freedom; past, present and future. Seeing the numbers on T.V. and the newspapers kind of makes it surreal, but when you have to go though something like this it makes it real. You can then finally understand what men have put on the line for the sake of their loved ones and those who don't even know them. So, this week find a man or woman who served faithfully for us in the past because if it wasn't for people like those of the past we wouldn't be able to live like we do--FREE.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Not much new here
Well things are smooth sailing here. Not much to write about. We went on a big mission the other day. It was just a presence patrol. Let them know we are still here. Bet they liked the look of our big gun. Not many 56,000 pound tracks rolling down the road these days. Made for a long day though. Pulled about 14 hours on that one. Not to bad though, guess I cant complain, I am in a combat zone.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
sorry no pics
having problems figuring out the picture thing. have to get back to Jojo on that one. maybe soon.
Best Friends in the World
This post in entitled, “Best Friend in the World” because that is simply what I have. In three days it will be the 15 of March, my birthday. Not that it is all that important, but some out of the kindness of there hearts have made it that way for me, not because I'm becoming a year older, but because they loved me enough to go though the trouble of making in special for me when I am so far away.
They sent me some snacks, movies, candy, and letters which I really have enjoyed. The greatest thing though was a wonderful blanket that the Martha Stewart, without the jail time, of the group, Wendy, made me. It is soccer balls on one side due to the fact that I love soccer even though I'm horrible and on the other side is one of the coolest things ever. It is gray which goes well with the front since the primary colors of the soccer team I played for and helped coach one year, White County High School, is gray and maroon. It isn’t the color that is so amazing though. It is the stuff that Wendy sowed on. In the center is the logo of the First Baptist Church Youth Ministry which we have had on t-shirts for the past few years. Wendy took a shirt and using the logo placed in on the center of the blanket. For the next thing you have to understand a custom of our group. When ever we go some where we like to get shirts with out names on the back of them that way people will know who we are and where we come from. Couple of summers ago we went to a World Changers event to do some work and we had these shirts made. This is the cool thing, some of the kids and adults were willing to give up their shirts to be ruined so that the names could be taken off the back and placed on my blanket. It was awesome. Nancy said that others had brought shirts but they came late and she was in a hurry so that I would receive it before my birth day, but those on it are: K-PA, LEASTER, AUDREY, SHMERIN, JUDGE, MOMSTER, K-POO, BEISIL, STINKY, TIMBO, BANANNA, RYANNE, WENGE. Don’t be worried if some of those sound like funny names to you but we like our nick names. Well to all back home thanks for the great birthday. Wish I was there to enjoy it with you but I'm will all of you in spirit. God bless you all.
This post in entitled, “Best Friend in the World” because that is simply what I have. In three days it will be the 15 of March, my birthday. Not that it is all that important, but some out of the kindness of there hearts have made it that way for me, not because I'm becoming a year older, but because they loved me enough to go though the trouble of making in special for me when I am so far away.
They sent me some snacks, movies, candy, and letters which I really have enjoyed. The greatest thing though was a wonderful blanket that the Martha Stewart, without the jail time, of the group, Wendy, made me. It is soccer balls on one side due to the fact that I love soccer even though I'm horrible and on the other side is one of the coolest things ever. It is gray which goes well with the front since the primary colors of the soccer team I played for and helped coach one year, White County High School, is gray and maroon. It isn’t the color that is so amazing though. It is the stuff that Wendy sowed on. In the center is the logo of the First Baptist Church Youth Ministry which we have had on t-shirts for the past few years. Wendy took a shirt and using the logo placed in on the center of the blanket. For the next thing you have to understand a custom of our group. When ever we go some where we like to get shirts with out names on the back of them that way people will know who we are and where we come from. Couple of summers ago we went to a World Changers event to do some work and we had these shirts made. This is the cool thing, some of the kids and adults were willing to give up their shirts to be ruined so that the names could be taken off the back and placed on my blanket. It was awesome. Nancy said that others had brought shirts but they came late and she was in a hurry so that I would receive it before my birth day, but those on it are: K-PA, LEASTER, AUDREY, SHMERIN, JUDGE, MOMSTER, K-POO, BEISIL, STINKY, TIMBO, BANANNA, RYANNE, WENGE. Don’t be worried if some of those sound like funny names to you but we like our nick names. Well to all back home thanks for the great birthday. Wish I was there to enjoy it with you but I'm will all of you in spirit. God bless you all.
Pretty Faces to Brighten a Cloudy Day
For the past few days it has done nothing here but rain and in the desert that isn’t a pretty thing. The sand of the desert isn’t anything like the sand on a beach. This stuff is nasty. Muddy and when you walk in it you just sink in and in gets all over your boots and in my field, my profession, you can’t really stay out of it to well. But thankfully the other night after I got off duty God allowed me the strength to go to the Bat Cave, the internet place, so that I could talk to some I haven’t heard from in a while. It was great, I got to talk to a lot of people but one of them, Kayla, went though some major work to send me a ton of emails. On those emails were tons of pictures that her friends and she took a short time back. They were great. It is amazing how some pictures of friends from back home can be such a booster. It was great and it made my next day so much better. I got to talk to Kayla and Meg, who are in the pics, Leah, who I got to see through the power of web cam, Nancy, David, Ryanne, and an old acquaintance and new friend, Hannah. Thanks for being there for me guys, it means a lot. Oh yeah, the rain has stopped for a couple of days.
What I've Seen so Far
I have been in country for 3 months now. The time has flown by; seems like yesterday that I was eating my Christmas dinner at Brassfield-Mora. Brassfield-Mora was a nice FOB (Forward Observation Base). It was really small and in a lot more hectic part of the country. But as for the FOB itself, it was rather safe and calm. We were only mortared there a few times. The number is unsure because some of them didn’t land to close to us and we had hard times knowing what was a mortar and what was just some other, not so important, explosion.
One thing that is important to understand about Brassfield-Mora and even here at Bernstein is that even though I am never in much danger, except for the mortar occasionally, there are men who daily are going out on missions risking their lives for our safety. They go out and don’t receive any glory for what they do, but it is them who deserve the praise. One would constantly here stories about convoys that would go out and they would constantly get attacked by small arms (AK 47), RPG’s (Rocket Propelled Grenades), and IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices).
I remember one day sitting in line for the MWR, were we use the phone and computers, and a young soldier, 19, was talking about what has happened in his short time in country. Here is a kid, only out of basic for a few months, placed in a unit headed to Iraq (3rd Infantry Division), placed on a Colt team to perform a mission which he wasn’t trained for specifically, given a ROE (Rules of Engagement) that benefits the enemy more then the soldier, and he spoke of being shot at more then he could count. That is simply amazing to me and I look up to him for his service.
I’m much like a cook or the guy at the gate pulling guard. My mission as artillery is to support the guys doing the missions out on the streets. They are the true heroes. The only thing I do that is hard is being away from my loved ones, but even the business man has to do that. So don’t become complacent to the combat that is happening over here because of my writing. I can only write about what I see and for some reason God has given me a pretty easy trip.
While I was at Brassfield-Mora I didn’t get to see much. I sat in a tower that over watched the city but the people were pretty normal to us. Not in what they did, but how they lived. They woke up in the morning around 5 to 6 and were heading off to their jobs shortly after. Some drove out of the city to there employer, others stayed in the large city of Samarra. There was a large oil refinery that employed a lot of people, many were farmers, and many were shepherds (a career that I really enjoyed watching and seeing work), and others had jobs in service I’m sure. But other than the general not much was seen that was so amazing to talk about, except the religious building.
In Samarra there are two main religious buildings: Stairway to Heaven and Golden Mosk. Both are important to the religious people of the city but the Stairway to Heaven is one that is important to the whole Muslim community. I have noticed that the Muslims are much like the Christian community of the world. They have one core beliefs that they hold to that makes them all one faith, but they have a huge amount of doctrinal differences that cause them to separate. For some reason the Sunni people were the ones who found favor in the former dictator Sadam Hussein and they have the more astounding mosk such as the Golden Mosk. The Stairway to Heaven (common name given among U.S. soldiers) is a far more important religious object that is important to all of the denotations of the Muslims. It is believed to be the Tower of Babel, which is talked about in the post-Flood chapters of Genesis. Of course they know as well as everyone that it isn’t the original tower, but it is one of the most cherished buildings in the Muslim Faith.
Since I've been to Bernstein, which is out side of the city Tues (not sure on proper spelling) and roughly 75 miles away from Iran, I haven’t seen as much in structural objects, even though there is a very nice mosk in the city but nothing compared to the mosk of Samarra, but I have been blessed to see many more of the people and even able to speak so some of them.
One of the nice things about being at Bernstein in that we are with 278th people and that basically factors down to the fact that they are good country people for the most part. At Brassfield-Mora the interpreters were treated as outsiders by both the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions. Here they are accepted. They eat chow with us and talk to us like we are one of them and them one of us. The coolest thing is that when I went to the Chaplin’s service I got to actually meet my first Iraqi’s. They are Christians and they told us that there are many Christian churches in Tues. I was shocked at first but they said that Sadam didn’t have a problem with the Christians because they are a peaceable people who didn’t cause problems, unlike the other Muslim sects: Kurds and Shiites. I saw how that fit well with what Paul and Peter taught about obeying the government and why it was that Sadam wouldn’t worry to much with such a small group of people.
Then a mission came down and a few men were requested from my battery. I was chosen for the mission and I was ready to go. I had long waited for my chance to get out and see something. Our mission was a simple one of escorting personal from this FOB to another. It was an amazing trip that I hope not to soon forget. Driving though Tues was a blast. People filled the streets and sidewalks. One thing I found odd was that along the street hundreds of cars were lined up for some reason. I came to find out that they were waiting of gas. Crazy that a country that has so much petroleum would have a problem with fuel but there must have only been one gas station in the whole town. The price for fuel was about 50 cents, American money, pre a gallon. But due to the lack of stations people might have to wait in line for hours upon hours and sometimes the station would close for the night and you might find your spending the night on the street waiting for it to open the next day. The sad thing is that there are these men who go to the gas station and buy a bunch of gas and put it into these plastic jugs and then sell it on the side of the road. They sell a gallon, which should be 50 cents, for around $3. In the states one might find that good business practice but here it is just a devilish method of ripping people off because they don’t have much of a choice; wait in line the whole day or get ripped off horribly. Another thing that makes it so repulsive is that it is clearly against the law and yet they do it right along the street. There is no law enforcement in the country so people do as they wish.
As we continued along to the destination we went though many small little villages. One of the most amazing things I saw as I journeyed though these towns was children running to the road to give is thumbs up. Children playing games would stop, children riding there bikes would lay them down, children a hundred meters off the road would come running just go give us a thumbs up. I think that says a lot. This is the future of this country and by some grace of God they have found favor in us. I'm not saying that we are some great people and that the world deserves to praise us for anything, but I believe this task is just and it is good to see that so many agree, because if the parents didn’t like us the children wouldn’t like us. So the next time you hear some one say how these people don’t want the U.S. here, ask them, “When was the last time was you talked to the people of Iraq, or even just simply drove though the towns?” Because I have talked to them (I have had two say they love my America and wish to come to my country…as if it were mine or something), I have seen them, and they like the Americans and are grateful for what we are doing. Yeah, they are ready for us to leave and for them to take over of their own county, but they know why we are here and are glad we are here. It is like everything though, a few bad apples will ruin the bunch, and that is all it is—just a few who don’t like us and all the media does is glorify them.
So pray for these people. Pray that God will bless them in their government and if it be His good pleasure that He might give to them the salvation He offers to all. God be with all of you; your brother in HIM.
One thing that is important to understand about Brassfield-Mora and even here at Bernstein is that even though I am never in much danger, except for the mortar occasionally, there are men who daily are going out on missions risking their lives for our safety. They go out and don’t receive any glory for what they do, but it is them who deserve the praise. One would constantly here stories about convoys that would go out and they would constantly get attacked by small arms (AK 47), RPG’s (Rocket Propelled Grenades), and IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices).
I remember one day sitting in line for the MWR, were we use the phone and computers, and a young soldier, 19, was talking about what has happened in his short time in country. Here is a kid, only out of basic for a few months, placed in a unit headed to Iraq (3rd Infantry Division), placed on a Colt team to perform a mission which he wasn’t trained for specifically, given a ROE (Rules of Engagement) that benefits the enemy more then the soldier, and he spoke of being shot at more then he could count. That is simply amazing to me and I look up to him for his service.
I’m much like a cook or the guy at the gate pulling guard. My mission as artillery is to support the guys doing the missions out on the streets. They are the true heroes. The only thing I do that is hard is being away from my loved ones, but even the business man has to do that. So don’t become complacent to the combat that is happening over here because of my writing. I can only write about what I see and for some reason God has given me a pretty easy trip.
While I was at Brassfield-Mora I didn’t get to see much. I sat in a tower that over watched the city but the people were pretty normal to us. Not in what they did, but how they lived. They woke up in the morning around 5 to 6 and were heading off to their jobs shortly after. Some drove out of the city to there employer, others stayed in the large city of Samarra. There was a large oil refinery that employed a lot of people, many were farmers, and many were shepherds (a career that I really enjoyed watching and seeing work), and others had jobs in service I’m sure. But other than the general not much was seen that was so amazing to talk about, except the religious building.
In Samarra there are two main religious buildings: Stairway to Heaven and Golden Mosk. Both are important to the religious people of the city but the Stairway to Heaven is one that is important to the whole Muslim community. I have noticed that the Muslims are much like the Christian community of the world. They have one core beliefs that they hold to that makes them all one faith, but they have a huge amount of doctrinal differences that cause them to separate. For some reason the Sunni people were the ones who found favor in the former dictator Sadam Hussein and they have the more astounding mosk such as the Golden Mosk. The Stairway to Heaven (common name given among U.S. soldiers) is a far more important religious object that is important to all of the denotations of the Muslims. It is believed to be the Tower of Babel, which is talked about in the post-Flood chapters of Genesis. Of course they know as well as everyone that it isn’t the original tower, but it is one of the most cherished buildings in the Muslim Faith.
Since I've been to Bernstein, which is out side of the city Tues (not sure on proper spelling) and roughly 75 miles away from Iran, I haven’t seen as much in structural objects, even though there is a very nice mosk in the city but nothing compared to the mosk of Samarra, but I have been blessed to see many more of the people and even able to speak so some of them.
One of the nice things about being at Bernstein in that we are with 278th people and that basically factors down to the fact that they are good country people for the most part. At Brassfield-Mora the interpreters were treated as outsiders by both the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions. Here they are accepted. They eat chow with us and talk to us like we are one of them and them one of us. The coolest thing is that when I went to the Chaplin’s service I got to actually meet my first Iraqi’s. They are Christians and they told us that there are many Christian churches in Tues. I was shocked at first but they said that Sadam didn’t have a problem with the Christians because they are a peaceable people who didn’t cause problems, unlike the other Muslim sects: Kurds and Shiites. I saw how that fit well with what Paul and Peter taught about obeying the government and why it was that Sadam wouldn’t worry to much with such a small group of people.
Then a mission came down and a few men were requested from my battery. I was chosen for the mission and I was ready to go. I had long waited for my chance to get out and see something. Our mission was a simple one of escorting personal from this FOB to another. It was an amazing trip that I hope not to soon forget. Driving though Tues was a blast. People filled the streets and sidewalks. One thing I found odd was that along the street hundreds of cars were lined up for some reason. I came to find out that they were waiting of gas. Crazy that a country that has so much petroleum would have a problem with fuel but there must have only been one gas station in the whole town. The price for fuel was about 50 cents, American money, pre a gallon. But due to the lack of stations people might have to wait in line for hours upon hours and sometimes the station would close for the night and you might find your spending the night on the street waiting for it to open the next day. The sad thing is that there are these men who go to the gas station and buy a bunch of gas and put it into these plastic jugs and then sell it on the side of the road. They sell a gallon, which should be 50 cents, for around $3. In the states one might find that good business practice but here it is just a devilish method of ripping people off because they don’t have much of a choice; wait in line the whole day or get ripped off horribly. Another thing that makes it so repulsive is that it is clearly against the law and yet they do it right along the street. There is no law enforcement in the country so people do as they wish.
As we continued along to the destination we went though many small little villages. One of the most amazing things I saw as I journeyed though these towns was children running to the road to give is thumbs up. Children playing games would stop, children riding there bikes would lay them down, children a hundred meters off the road would come running just go give us a thumbs up. I think that says a lot. This is the future of this country and by some grace of God they have found favor in us. I'm not saying that we are some great people and that the world deserves to praise us for anything, but I believe this task is just and it is good to see that so many agree, because if the parents didn’t like us the children wouldn’t like us. So the next time you hear some one say how these people don’t want the U.S. here, ask them, “When was the last time was you talked to the people of Iraq, or even just simply drove though the towns?” Because I have talked to them (I have had two say they love my America and wish to come to my country…as if it were mine or something), I have seen them, and they like the Americans and are grateful for what we are doing. Yeah, they are ready for us to leave and for them to take over of their own county, but they know why we are here and are glad we are here. It is like everything though, a few bad apples will ruin the bunch, and that is all it is—just a few who don’t like us and all the media does is glorify them.
So pray for these people. Pray that God will bless them in their government and if it be His good pleasure that He might give to them the salvation He offers to all. God be with all of you; your brother in HIM.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Moving on
This is now my second message and I have contacts and everything. I want to give a special thanks to Jojo who has gotten me started and helped me with the tuning of this new blog.
First one, well see how this turns out
Well, I'm not much of a pro at this sort of thing. But I thought it might be cool to have something to look at for those who don't get to see me much back home and I can put stuff in here about things I do and see. Cant tell to much though because of security. But ill tell a little here and there. Hope you guys enjoy and give comments as you wish.
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