Hard Times

We have been EXTREMELY BUSY. It takes about a week of work before you are rotated to where you get a day off. So, I cannot post for almost an entire week. I am doing ok. I lost another good friend recently. He will be sorrowly missed. However, no time to dwell on that, we have to keep our heads in the game and stay focused. There will be time to mourn the loss of another brother later. Before, we were relocated to a different place when we were so busy. So, we could not take showers for days and days, even though we were sweating bullets during the day. So morale was kinda low. However, now it is different, we have showers close by and so no one really complains about it anymore.

Our time over here is drawing to a near end. In the short time I have been here. I am so excited to go home and see my girlfriend. To get out of the Army and start moving on with my life. I hope I will never be one of those people who get so accustomed to American life again that I will forget all the sacrifices we have made over here. We all gave some, some gave all.

We have been EXTREMELY BUSY. It takes about a week of work before you are rotated to where you get a day off. So, I cannot post for almost an entire week. I am doing ok. I lost another good friend recently. He will be sorrowly missed. However, no time to dwell on that, we have to keep our heads in the game and stay focused. There will be time to mourn the loss of another brother later. Before, we were relocated to a different place when we were so busy. So, we could not take showers for days and days, even though we were sweating bullets during the day. So morale was kinda low. However, now it is different, we have showers close by and so no one really complains about it anymore.

Our time over here is drawing to a near end. In the short time I have been here. I am so excited to go home and see my girlfriend. To get out of the Army and start moving on with my life. I hope I will never be one of those people who get so accustomed to American life again that I will forget all the sacrifices we have made over here. We all gave some, some gave all.

Moved To Another Place

Besides the fact that I have been very very busy patrolling the streets of Iraq. Our unit also moved to another location, so only now have I got the chance to write in my blog. Not much has been going on, although some Iraqis grew some big balls and were shooting mortars off in a location just a few blocks from us. Their target was a nearby American base. We took off after them, but they got away before we saw them. It was a tough break. Hopefully we will get them next time.

I love rolling around in the Hmmwv with a .50 cal machine gun in the turret. It is the most satisfying sound in the world to hear that thing going off in a fire fight. Just because there is no place for the enemy to hide from that gun. I really like the M240 too, but the I think the .50 cal should be set as the standard weapon every patrol has to have. One thing guerilla warfare taught us in Vietnam is when you bump into the enemy or get caught in an ambush, firepower is key to getting out alive.

500+ Iraqis are dead at the hands of insurgents and terrorists. All deliberately targeted, trying to destabilize the country. It is sad to see this, when I know in my own country. Americans would NOT stand for this type of thing happening in our own country.

Back Into The Shit

Well, my free time has been completely obliterated. I'm not working 12 hours, I'm working about 14 hours average, and there is no day off. Our whole platoon is pretty much tasked out, so only a few guys get a day off, and so you can imagine the rotation is long before you get a break. The funny thing about it is, this isn't even bad. I can't complain at all. I've gotten used to this work schedule, though I am sure in 20 years I will pay for it in some manner of post traumatic stress syndrome or something. I read in a magazine somewhere that the average grunt in Iraq spends more time in combat than World War 2 vets and Vietnam veterans.

Not much has been going on. Things have been pretty quiet lately. Which is awesome I think. Any day we don't take direct fire or indirect is a great day. Though the other day we almost got into a fire fight, luckily we found out before engaging them. We thought they were firing at us because one of our reported hearing bullets whiz by their head. Who knows, maybe someone in the group was shooting at us. Another unit quickly responded and told the assholes to cut it out.

Innocent Victims of Insurgents

Yesterday an car bomb went off in our area. The target was one of the Bradley's patrolling around the area. Unfortunately, this was an indiscriminate attack. 4 innocent bystanders were hurt and another guy was practically vaporized. Somehow Al-Jazeera was in the area before it happened. I wonder how that could have happened? Fucking terrorists are giving tips to these assholes, so they can be on the spot when it happens.

Not much has been going on. The work schedule has become ALOT less crazy. I am not getting about 1 day on, and 1 day off. We still work longer hours then we were originally told we would be working. We joke about that sometimes. It's funny how you can get used to working 12 hours everyday of the week no break. Thankfully, I finally got time to get to post once in awhile and to talk to my family. They worry about me all the time, especially when something bad happens and they hear about it on the news.

Gun Fight at the OK Corral

Lately not much has happened. Except, some of our guys in a different platoon who were on patrol got into a hairy fire fight. No Americans were hurt, but a ING soldier got lightly wounded. One thing is for sure, the ING are NOT afraid to pull the trigger. At least we know we can trust these guys, hopefully. They keep insisting and their trainers tell us they are all good men.

We recently had the memorial held for our brothers in arms that had recently passed away. It was a really good service. It brought alot of emotions out. I came very near to crying myself. Which is kinda strange, because I have never even cried at a funeral for one of my own family members. I guess it's true what they say, that the bond of men fighting along side one another is stronger than any bond you will ever find in civilian life. I think it was very important to have this so we could all have closer and move on. We have to focus on the task at hand and bring everyone else home alive.

Very Busy and Bad and Good News

I finally got some time to write in my blog. We have been extremely busy over here. Sometimes working 36 hours at a time. So, there is no way I could have wrote before on here. Hopefully this will end soon, but now it looks like no one knows what the fuck is going on. Some speculate we will be working like this till our unit leaves. I have gotten used to it now, so I don't even complain anymore.

Recently our Company took a hard blow. We lost 2 guys. One of them was a good friend of mine. It was hard on all of us to loose him, but he was pretty much loved by all. Sadly, the other guy, I didn't know too much about. We were all right out in the area when it happened. We showed up to give help look around for the perpetrators. The had already been taken out by medical helicopter. About an hour later, we learned they did not make it. As soon as the word got around, people started crying and consoling each other right there. I had a hard time being in the turret having to pull security and try not to think about what just happened. It has been a really rough time for us. Rest in peace guys, we sure as hell miss you.

We have finally started working with the Iraqi Army. Which is awesome, because our numbers are now like doubled when we go out. So, if shit hits the fan, we have the firepower and manpower to win the day. One of the soldiers, who is pretty old, can drive his BMP like a person can use a part of their body. He knows that thing so well. He can drive it better then we can drive our Hmmwvs. They are tracked armored personal carriers, so that makes it even more impressive. The guy can power slide at intersections perfectly to turn down the other street, it is real bad ass. I wish we had drivers that talented in our vehicles. Alot of the Iraqi soldiers had their own cameras and want to take pictures with us as if we were like their heroes. It was odd and cool at the same time. They still have alot to learn though from seeing them in action. Their leader insisted these were all good men and we could trust them with our lives.