Happy Veteran's Day

Don't have much to write about today. I got an e-mail this morning from a Fraternity Brother who is stationed in Iraq.

I'll leave you with that, but with a little rant. Every politician out there is saying support your troops.

Well, how about making some sacrifices to support your troops?

Those soldiers coming back and to war shouldn't have to worry about not getting the proper medical treatment, proper equipment and rehabilatative support.

 

 

All, hope this e-mail finds everyone doing well.  Not sure where I
left off, so hopefully this brings everyone up to speed.  I have
finally figured out how to send pictures, but unfortunately now I am a
bit too busy to do it.  Maybe in a couple days...

My platoon is moving out to COP Ellis tomorrow morning.  Finally.
Looking forward to getting there and starting our mission.  Time
hasn't necessarily been dragging, but it will start going much faster
once we get busy.

I am complete with my "Right-seat" rides, for those in the military.
For the majority of everyone else, that means I'm done driving around
in the backseat of my counterpart's HMMWV reconning my AO and the
routes in and out of Baghdad, barely being able to see out of a tiny
porthole of a 6 inch thick window.  So far I have seen most of the
FOBs and camps on BIAP (Baghdad International Airport)...man do those
people live the sweet life (ahem...Kathleen, Katrina, Jeff).  You
wouldn't even know you were in a warzone in those places...The east
side of BIAP used to be some of Sadaam's palaces or something and they
have these great sculptured resevoirs...anyway...

I have been all over my AO, known as Radwaniyah (also known as West
Rashid, Ghartan, southwest Baghdad, etc.)  If you google earth
Baghdad, look for the airport on the western side of the city (its
huge you cant miss it.  Then draw a line due south, and another
southeast...you'll notice it forms a rough triangle of
farmland...thats my AO...its rather large.

Today, we ran the gauntlet through most of Baghdad taking some of the
major routes (for those who have been here you know them) that lead in
and out of the International Zone.  In case anyone was wondering,
there are no traffic laws in Iraq that I have been able to discern as
of yet.  Especially for Coalition Forces... we stopped in the
eastbound lane because of a suspicious object in the road, called it
up to EOD, they came, and then we crossed the median and kept
travelling east in the westbound lane against traffic.  The Iraqis
just dive over to the right side of the road and stop to let your
patrol pass by.  Its like being Magneto from X-men and just tossing
anything metallic away from you.

The International Zone is the super, duper secure sector of Baghdad
also known as the Green Zone (because its the only "safe" place in
Baghdad and you have to travel inside it at a "green" level - weapons
cleared).  Its the main downtown part of the city that houses the US
Embassy, a bunch of Sadaam's old palaces, his parade grounds with the
large arched sabres, etc, etc, etc.  When I said that BIAP was nice, I
was partly lying b/c the IZ is where its at.  The U.S. embassy had the
nicest manicured lawn and gardens I have seen in a very long time, and
right next door was "Freedom Rest" (a place for soldiers to go for a
local R&R) with its 3 LARGE swimming pools.  Sadly for the guys from
1-18's RECON platoon, the embassy was closed for a holiday today.  I
guess someone forgot to tell the rest of us...and the insurgents.

I'll close it up with this...I finally figured out what to ask for in
those care packages.  First of all, my church youthgroup sent
homebaked cookies and those guys ate up 3 boxes worth in a matter of
hours.  They loved them and it made them all smile even though they
like to act like a bunch of tough guys.  I think since we will be
living out at the COP it would be great if you all could send simple
things like magazines (Maxims, US News and world report, sports
illustrated, etc.) and some papers from wherever you are (i have guys
from all over the states).  Also, candy is always nice.  Partly for us
and partly because they like tossing it out to the Iraqi children (who
like pigeons in NYC are trained to expect it everytime your patrol
goes by).  Anything else just use your imagination, we are living 60
dudes in a small compound with 2 houses and maybe only 1 or 2 days
back at FOB Falcon per 2 weeks.  Anything that can make a place feel
like home or a snack or something to remind them of something other
than Iraq.  Thats it.  Long email and gotta run.

Best,
Paul