28th Birthday (3rd Deployment Journal - 6/5/07)

Well, it was my 28th b-day yesterday but it was basically the same kind of day we are used to out here. A few people said happy birthday, Sims got me some cookies from the chowhall and one of Amy's packages arrived. Not really much difference between 25-29 except for 50 pounds or so. Found out about a week ago that I am a few lbs. over my max weight of 181lbs. I have gotten a little stronger w/ weight lifting and I am hoping I can get a nice bench w/ some dumbbells when I get back. I don't much like lifting but I think I can at least try. I do still need to start running but I haven't decided how I am going to fit it in my schedule. Since we have been going to lift during work lately I might be able to make myself get up and run before work.

I really miss the kids and hate that I have to be out here for the entire summer. I was really looking forward to camping w/ the family. I guess I can hope that the weather stays good enough for us to go when I get back. Sean and Ryan really need to get some outside time. The three things I want to do is teach (or get lessons) them how to swim, how to ride bikes and get them out camping for a couple nights. I think I'd also like to get Sean into Karate or at the very least get him a baseball glove and we can practice catching in the backyard. He needs to get into something besides video games. I think we'd be good staring w/ a tennis ball or racket ball. I just need to find a decent glove and break that sucker in. Seems so long when I think we only have 3 months left, sounds better saying 90 days actually. I will say again, I think this deployment has been the most difficult for me. I don't feel like I am working as hard and quality of life is much better. But, w/ the kids older, such a short time to get ready for the deployment and not feeling the camraderie I usually feel when deployed...it has made it a "different" deployment.

It really is ridiculous over here compared to the first time. Where, for two weeks, we lived in a landfill and the bugs were absolutely crazy. We had to either sleep in vehicles or w/ blankets over our heads in 100-120 degree weather. For awhile I didn't even change my socks because we couldn't take our boots off when we slept. I have to just sit back and laugh when I hear people complain about their A/C breaking. When we first came over we wore MOPP suits w/ helmet, flak, full combat load of rounds and weapon all the time. We had no internet, TV, A/C, hot chow (unless you count cooking MREs), etc. There was even a time when they started rationing water because of a shortage. BTW, the place w/ the landfill was called An Nasariyah (where Jessica Lynch was abducted while we were there). I wish I could remember the next town we went to but I believe it was called Numiniyah. Once in Numiniyah, we took a "field trip" to the city of Babylon and toured the museum. I forgot to mention that I received my Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) while in Nasariyah. I was on guard duty, when something exploded on the street about 100-150 yards away. The rest of the Marines ran to the barrier (berm) just in case suppressing fire was needed. It was pretty intense but I was actually laughing because we finally got to do something that Marines join for.

Anyway, thought I'd add some of my thoughts from previous deployments since I didn't have a journal then. I guess I might have some letters I sent Amy that could help w/ recollections but not sure how many, if any, we kept. This journal thing has been a great idea.

3rd Deployment Journal - 5/25/2007

5/25/07

Holy crap! I can't believe how long it has been since I'e wrote in here. It probably has a lot to do with how monotonous the days are. I gotta say, in some aspects, this is the worst deployment I've been on. Sure, this deployment is safer, more ammenities but there are more cons to this deployment. For one, I only get to see all of my Marines once a day, at lunch. I feel the Marines I've been to war with are like my brothers, the only one I can feel the same about this time is Sims. Also, it seemed on the last deployment we had more of a brotherhood w/ the infantry unit we supported. I still have a great love and respect for 2/24 (2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment) out of Chicago. Those guys were awesome and I still feel great pride when I hear of their efforts.

Although, this is my first deployment where I've been right w/ God. I can only thank Amy for putting me on the right path to Jesus. I have prayed every night (actually, afternoon) before I go to sleep. I have even prayed for terrorist on occasion. I pray that just one will come to Jesus and accept His love. I haven't done as well reading the Bible this month as last month but I plan on fixing that. I really love the book of John and I think I'll read it again so I can get back into it.

I've received a few cards from my Dad. Of course, they've been kind of random, as usual, but at least he is making an effort unlike me. I really need to take the time and write him something. he said he has now been working at the olive oil company for 2 years which is a huge accomplishment. I hope he is doing well and can stay on his feet for good. I've really thought about how I can take care of him when he gets too old to work. Hopefully he still has a couple decades left but I do worry about him. My mom and Rich have Pam, Katie and I but my Dad only has me and I feel obligated to take care of him. I haven't talked to Amy about all of this but I don't know how she would take the idea of me wanting to take care of my father by bringing him under our roof, if necessary. I just don't know if he could take care of himself just on social security. One of these days, Amy and I will have to discuss it but I believe it will be awhile before we have the take action on it.

3rd Deployment Journal - April 22, 2007

4/22/2007

We've been hit with rockets/mortars quite a few times since getting here on the 23rd of March (I believe). Just a few days ago a barrage of probably 15-20 rockets screamed in, killing a DoD civilian that was in a bunker. There are slots (like windows) in all the bunkers which are filled with sandbags. There was one slot on this bunker that was empty...the shrapnel went through it and caught him in at least the chest. The day after we saw the bloody handprint where he probably spent his last moments on Earth, God Bless him and his family. Just this morning Sims and I were watching Family Guy in the SCIF when a blast shook the whole trailer. Was only one round, but damn, it was loud.

I've been thinking a lot on setting up a nice vacation for Amy and I. Maybe drop the kids off at Oma and Opa's house and get Copper in a kennel, then hit the road. I don't want to give too much away just in case Amy reads this before we go. I am really looking at taking a full month off when I get back.

So, I have been working out with Sims to the tune of 5 times a week or so. My lifting weight has improved I still hate going to the gym. It's just not me, and I don't like lifting. At some point, I'm gonna have to incorporate some sort of cardio into my workout so I don't get any slower. I can feel my pullups getting stronger but I need to work on the running at the very least a month before I leave.

Being on the night shift now, I have been able to talk to Amy quite a bit more than previously. To tell you the truth, I miss my family much more this time. I can't really explain it but I am guessing it's because Sean and Ryan are getting older and more aware of what is going on. It hurts that I have to miss the entire Summer, I hope I can some time where school is out and take previously mentioned vacation.

3rd Deployment Journal - April 19, 2007

4/19/2007

Camp Victory (which is also connected to Slayer and Liberty) is a joke. People talk about this road called "Sniper Alley" because it is overlooked by the Baghdad slums. The houses that overlook it are probably a 1/2 mile away. Some guy wanted to drive us down the road because it was an "intense" experience (he was Air Force if I remember correctly). I've had more intense experiences sitting on the toilet. But, we did see some cool sites in Saddam's majestic city. I could really tell Baghdad used to be gorgeous. It is now falling apart, all plant life is pretty much gone and there is a ton of graffiti. I really hope they can one day rebuild the area and landscape it the way it used to look.

This is where we stayed at Camp Victory:





Here are some pictures of the base and buildings of the old Saddam regime:















Marines really are perverted (we had time to joke around amongst the rubble):



Camp Liberty probably has the most useless array of items (and the best stuff) in its PX. yeah, they have a lot of stuff that could be useful to you but they also have dumb stuff like 47" Plasma TV's. I mean, honestly, can't you spend the money it takes to have those things shipped and use it on getting items we actually need.

Anyway, after a very uneventful stay at Victory for a few days, we headed down to FOB Kalsu. I had been here before but I didn't recognize the base. We flew a CH-47 and it was loud as hell, I didn't have earplugs either.

After taking a few days to walk around, I did start to recognize some things but most everything had a new area. The medical area was the only thing I could recall being in the same spot.

3rd Deployment Journal: 4/10/2007

From my written journal in Iraq during third deployment (March - September 2007):

4/10/2007

1800 Local Time - Well, I've been meaning to write in this thing for a couple of weeks now and am finally getting around to it. What's sad, is we live in such a technical age now, that it is almost foreign to write in cursive when I began this. A lot of things have happened since I've began my third journey to this hellhole called Iraq. I'll start at the beginning. After leaving my family at the airport I realized I forgot to leave my jacket. Even though I've had that jacket (Black w/ white stripes down the arms) for about 8 years and it is my favorite jacket...I tossed it in the garbage because I had no room for it.

The night started off pretty good, we bought some whiskey and mixed it w/ our sodas. You just never know when your last drink will be, fortunately, that wasn't our last drink.

The plane was a MILAIR flight, which just means, it's all coach. Luckily, I had three seats to myself and asked Sims if he wanted to sit in one since he was crushed between two girls.



Pretty uneventful flight but there was some turbulence. Ever since that day Amy, Sean and I came from England on that terrible flight w/ terrible turbulence, I have been very nervous whenever we encounter turbulence. Once we got to Germany, we played the wait game and finally boarded (the same plane) about 2 hours after we got there. I have yet to see more then an airport in Germany.

1810 Local - After Germany, we stopped in Cyprus I think. Not much to say about that since we weren't allowed off the plane and headed to Al Udeid Air base in Qatar. After going through the part I hate most, getting all of our gear and carrying it everywhere, we finally were brought to Camp As Sayliyah. If anyone every says there were "deployed" to this place, you must point and laugh at them. You were allowed 3 beers a night (if the computers went down it would be much more). They also wore civilian clothes on the weekends (if they even worked), massage parlor, Chilis, swimming pool and hot tub on base. The base was a joke, and doesn't even need to be there. It's a resort, and a waste of money. It is so funny how a lowly enlisted man can see so many areas where we could save money. It was here though, we would have our last beers before we really deployed. Fortunately, the computers went down the last night we were there.









I did get to go to Doha while in Qatar, that's where I got the camel bone boxes I sent to Amy, for her and my Mom. The city was in stages of construction but I could tell they were really trying and some day, might even be a very large metropolis area.






After staying in Qatar for about a week, it was time to take a military aircraft to Baghdad. Three hour flight is not something you want to do, but it had to be done. Once there, we went through the whole loading our gear and carrying it everywhere so we could be transported from the airport (BIAP) to Camp Victory.

Second Deployment - The Middle and End

As I had stated in the last part of my post, I was going to be prepared for this deployment. Man, it was great to have my own team and guys to this day I still love.

As odd as it is...we flew over in a plane even though we were a "MEU" and should have been on ships (I alluded to this earlier). But, this wasn't a huge deal although it was extremely hot on those planes especially wearing our gear and I think we even had our weapons with us. Just a little odd bunch of Marines on a commercial plane with our gear and the like.

I can't remember a whole lot about Kuwait except that I just can't believe people can live in that environment, it's inhospitable.

Our command element was put in place (as we all were for the time being) at FOB Kalsu (I would later come back to this base in my 3rd deployment to Iraq). It's a little south of Baghdad and I want to say maybe east of Iskandariyah. It did seem like we were there too long instead of being pushed up with 2/2 (2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines) Infantry Battalion in Mahmudiyah. As always, when you get bored Marines altogether...bad things happen. I was messing around with our Gunny and grabbed his knife from the sheath...he reached down and instead of grabbing my hand he enclosed his hand on the blade and I took it out of his grip. Left him with a huge gash in his palm and he had to get a bunch of stitches...my team and I were on a convoy to a new base within the day.

As we arrived in Mahmudiyah to take over from one of the west coast MEU team it was clear there wasn't a whole lot to the base. We had the normal things like showers, chowhall, haji mart (local Iraqi selling goods), MWR tent. But, just because we had those things didn't necessarily mean they were open all the time but hey...I loved living this way, it always excited me.

We lived and worked in a tiny shack away from a lot of the command things but close to the chowhall, computer tent and heads. As we first arrived, as was custom with my team, Frese went out to learn about the base and make contacts with people (he was my Assistant Team Leader and our people person). He never ceased to amaze me the people he would get in good with to help us out later on (fine example was with the supply chief who gave us brand new sunglasses). We worked with 2/2 for only a month or two and that part of the deployment is hard to remember (except the Commanding Officer coming to me and telling me my guys weren't wearing all the body armor gear they were supposed to be...).

A reserve infantry battalion out of Chicago, 2/24 (2nd battalion, 24th Marines) came to relieve 2/2. We were a little worried about having a reserve unit there with us, you have these pre-conceived notions about reservists that they are fat and lazy and not "real Marines". I tell you what, I've never worked with a better group of professionals in my life. A lot of them had done active time but what really made this group more professional and mature than most Marines is you would have Corporals who were maybe 35 years old and worked as Sheriffs or Deputy Sheriffs back home. So, they had the experience, the maturity, just the "right stuff" to be successful in what they did in the battlefield.

We didn't get hit much by indirect fire on Mahmudiyah, I think the terrorists in that area were just stupid really. They couldn't hit crap even though we were right there in the city pretty much. The reserve unit there decided to take a couple other towns where units had tried but failed continuously. Those towns were Lutifiyah and Yusifiyah, I believe it was Fox company that went to Yusifiyah and we weren't far behind to provide support. We spent a little time there at first only with our Humvee and a tarp as cover. They mortared us multiple times daily and these guys were very good. I know as we were there the first day or so an Iraqi police (maybe military) was hit as well as a Marine. They had to be medevac'd out. Not sure how much time we spent there the first day but it wasn't very fun.

As Fallujah 2 was about to start up we went back out to Yusifiyah, it was in November of 2004 and we celebrated the Marine Corps birthday ball out there. Still got mortared some but wasn't nearly as bad. We ate steak and crab legs for the birthday ball even though we were in a craphole of a place, they did that for us. As we were out there, a long firefight took place and some of guys acted as spotters for the snipers. I think we ended up spending a couple weeks out there or maybe a week, it went by pretty fast.

I spent the rest of the time back in Mahmudiyah and let me tell you about Iraqi winters...it's not warm. We'd wake up in the morning and our bottles of water outside would be partially frozen, we'd have to sit in sleeping bags while working because the heaters wouldn't work. It was much colder than many might think.

I loved this deployment but there were obviously some things that weren't so hot. I remember they closed the chowhall down on Thanksgiving so I had a Turkey MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) to celebrate. A lot of Marines got killed, the place wasn't called the "Triangle of Death" for kicks. We were all there during some of the most important holidays that families get together for.

I do miss the guys I was with, I don't get to see them very often if at all anymore. I'm glad some of them are still in the Marines so I have a better chance of running into them again.

We came back in February 2005, worked out well we went with the MEU instead of with Radbn since we would have been there for a year. That deployment prepared me for leadership more than I ever knew it would and it makes me yearn for more leadership roles.

That was also the deployment Amy became a born again Christian, I resented her at the time for it and didn't want to have anything to do with it. I'm glad God gave me another chance though and she helped lead me to the Lord. Praise God.

Very busy

So, after that last post I stopped drinking. I found my faults in that verse and have really come to think drinking alcohol is wrong. I have this new craving and eagerness to get into God's word. To have a good testimony and live more for Him. I've been alcohol free for probably 2 months or a little short of it. I don't plan on going back and feel like I have more energy, remembering more and more every day and can get my thoughts across to people in a more professional manner.

This time, I hope I really am ready to start this blog back up.