A letter from Iraq

[bfree]

I still get a kick when we receive a letter from Iraq. This is a letter from my nephew stationed somewhere in Northern Iraq. It just gives a little insite as to what some the boys go through that are in support roles.

"Well Hello again,

Just wanted to keep everyone that does not regularly email me up on the news from Iraq.

The weather is getting worse, aka too many dust storms to shake a stick at and also climbing temperatures, right now we are averaging 105. We are suppose to reach an average of 115 during the hottest months of the summer and well into August.

Speaking about the month it is now the 7th of June, can you believe that I first arrived in Kuwait on the 28th of August, almost 1 year ago. We are officially celebrating our 9th month of operations in Iraq in a few days, that mean I am now down to 6 months left to go in this little corner of the world. The time really has not flown by, it more or less has dragged on for way too long. I was lucky enough to enjoy my time on leave and see a lot of family. These next 6 months should go by fast, as we wait patiently to hear of our counterparts that will take our place in Iraq. I will be so happy I may pee myself when they get here, well maybe not.

The workload over here is getting really easy, hard to call 6 days a week and 12 hour days easy, but after 9 months of doing it, it really is. I wonder how it will be when I get back to the civilian workforce and hit closing time and be like "what we only doing a partial day today?" About me returning to the civilian side of the house, that is looking very good, I am sure most of you know that my plans are to get out of the Military as I dont feel it necessary to deploy again in less than 2 years if I were to stay in. I officially turned in my Resignation Paperwork, and it has been stamped by my immediate commander and then his boss even stamped it, now I wait for it to go to the last stage where they will process it and give me an official date when I will come off of Active Duty status. I am looking for it to be on or around the 1st of March 2009. So that first weekend in March, you may see me knocking on your door looking for a beer or two. My soldiers and I are doing well, just trying as hard as we can to beat the heat, we drink about 4 liters of water each day, not including our drinks with meals. So we keep the guys that clean the Port o johns in business out here, sorry I hope that did not gross anyone out. I will have to relearn how to talk in the civilian sector, yep that is what we call it in the Army. There is no such place as the "Real World" (not the MTV show), to us it is only a fairy tale, there is only the Military and the Civilian sector. I just look forward to getting out. My other passion of lately has been lifting weights, and very heavy weights. It is the only thing I can really do to keep my mind occupied and not go crazy out here, we have no views except for empty deserts all around us, but we are safe. Today I entered into a Deadlift Competition (you may have to Google it) but I was able to lift 415 pounds off of the ground. I am now working to perfect the Olympic lifts, not trying to compete, but to add to an overall fitness base. There is really not much else to life out here, we eat 3 meals a day, work 12 hours a day that is about all the fun we have out here.

I look forward to emails each day, so you can all reach me at this address. Sometimes things happen out here and I have to shut the network down for a few days but I will usually respond within a day of you sending it.

Love and Miss you all, looking forward to being home again, it has been so long since I have been around my family.

[dattia]

Thank you for sharing that. I thank him for his service and hope his plans turn out exactly as he wishes them to.

[MrGoodBurn]

Thank you for sharing that letter with us bfree...

Tell your nephew I said thank you for everything he is doing for us over there!

[birdbrain]

you need to pm his address over there and we'll send some care packages from my American Legion over to the boys and girls!

[takethecastle57]

I concour , let us send "Care about you" packages to the folks in uniform not only in Iraq but the other places like Afghanistan, and others .

[bfree]

Here's a note from my sister in law about sending a care package to Iraq:

It is already averaging 105 degrees there & it takes about 1 week for
packages to get there so keep this in mind when sending stuff. You
have to fill out a customs form for each box send. There are special
"APO flat rate boxes" (free) from the post office or USPS.com (under
supplies & delivered to you home for free- you can order both the
boxes and custom forms) that cost $10.99 to mail any amount of
weight. I say this after spending hundreds of dollars in postage, it
really makes a difference to use a flat rate box especially if you
have heavy stuff to send. If you don't use these, you will be
charged for the size & weight of the box. It can really add up!

For males & females (there are atleast 20 females in his unit and
they seldom get stuff as most people think about only males being in
the military):
razors
shaving creams -don't tell the post office you packaged this -they
may not let you send the box. I wrap each one with a plastic bag so
they don't bang into each other.
trail mix
beef jerky
white crew socks
protein bars
granola bars
magazines
single "to go" powder drinks Ex: crystal light, wyler, propel,
there's any brands-you put them in a bottle of water.
any kind of single packets of snacks like crackers & cheese, no
chocolate-it's too hot there now
body soaps
lotions
hand sanitizers

They just appreciate anything they get. ... shares everything with
his soldiers (total about 50 in his unit). He has it all set up in
his office and they can come in anytime and get what they need or
want. Make sure you put your return address on it so he can email
you when the box arrives. Sometimes the mail is delayed due to
sandstorms and planes cannot fly in.

[luckydog]

you can use the larger flat rate boxes too--shipping is $10.95 to an APO

My nephew was in desert srorm and he wanted flea powder and flea collars for his ankles.

Product: Priority Mail APO/FPO Flat Rate Box

[mcknli7]

thanks for sharing that with us its really nice to know what our boys get up to out there

its always overwealming when you recieve a letter from them as you know there safe

[new in town]

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

[bfree]

While one of my nephews is nearing the end of his tour, another is just starting his. The newbie is on the far right holding the sign "From Iraq".

[dattia]

My son is under consideration for the US Air Force Academy right now... he will be touring their facility and going to the Air Force vs. BYU game next month.

He goes in front of the review panel for a Congressional Nomination this Tuesday... fingers crossed please!

[johntofva]

We wish your son the best of luck Dawn. The Air Force Academy is a wonderful school.

[dattia]

He is also under consideration for the Naval Academy... I have my fingers crossed that he will make one of them. As a Mom, it scares the crap out of me, but it is what HE wants to do.

[johntofva]

Just remember:

Air Force: and the Air Force has ...


Navy... (enough said)

[bfree]

Dawn, I wish your son the best of luck! My nephew in the picture is a recent grad from the Air Force Academy. He told me a few stories about how difficult it was there and still gets choked up when thinking certain things that happened. He has no regrets and is enjoying his time in Bagdad..so far.

[bfree]

Here's from the my nephew getting ready to leave Iraq:

Hello all,
Just wanted to let you all know that the final 30 day countdown has finally begun. This only for my time left in Iraq, I will be in Kuwait for a few more days after that and I am expecting to be in the states within the first few days of December. I just cant believe that I can finally say there are only 30 days left until I leave Iraq. I have been here far too long, I have seen some civilians that came out here with us, then they went home for a year and now they are back out here, that will tell you that we have been here for way too long.

I will be moving into tents for the better part of a month, in the next few days. So when I get home, I will barely remember what a bed feels like.

As I write this I have come up with some small things that I really look forward to when I get home. The major obvious one is ALCOHOL, and FRESH PRODUCE. The others range in oddity; not having to wear sandals when I take a shower, not having to walk outside at night to use the bathroom, to having "cooked" food, being able to see more than 10 commercials on more than 10 channels, not having to hear aircraft fly within 500 feet or my room each night, not having to worry about crossing a Black snake or scorpion at night, having my car back, having a closet, drinking real milk, seeing the color GREEN and the list can go on and on. I mainly look forward to seeing you all sometime during my block leave period either at home, at a bar, on a ski hill, wherever just to see you all again is what I want most.

You all take care, my time is rapidly coming to an end. Until I see you...

[dattia]

Thank you for sharing something so personal with us!

I can relate to the seeing GREEN comment. Most of you know, I am married to a man from Egypt. We try to spend our summers there and I have to say that I have always been treated with nothing but kindness and generosity there, despite what some might imagine.

When we bought our apartment, I had decorated just about everything inside with the color green... I thought it was odd on my part because the only green I really like is E*A*G*L*E*S green. It took several years, but one day I had a 'lightbulb' moment and realized that is was because I miss the color green when I am there... D'uh!

Egypt has many things of beauty but way too many shades of beige! I wish your nephew safe travels and an overdose of green on his arrival home.