Eric Williams

Hey Folks

2012-01-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Just got back to Afghanistan from my way too fast trip home for R & R. It was a long trip, bouncing through Kuwait, Germany, Dallas and finally home. Walking down the escalator in the airport to see my beautiful wife and mother was possibly the best feeling ever. The entire trip home was rather low key, which is exactly how I wanted it. I wanted to spend time with my wife and mom and just relax. Mission accomplished. Wendi has done an amazing job of choosing and setting up the apartment while I was away. Great location and it is perfect for her. Unfortunately I wont be spending too much time in it haha but that’s ok . She’s been so damn busy with everything from work school and all her photo projects I couldn’t be more proud of her. We had our own little Christmas at moms house, I love the fact that im never home on Christmas but we still manage to have our Christmas day routine. It makes me smile every time. Wendi and I spent some quiet time up in a cabin in Idyllwild, and for those few short days I relaxed in peace and quiet with Wendi. No helicopters buzzing over head, no hustle and bustle of the daily grind. It was amazing. We went to Knotts berry farm on a surprise trip in which im an asshole and had to be constantly guessing where we were going. For some reason I cant just get into a car and be taken somewhere. Something in my head has to know where im going and I will guess and guess until I get it. Up to and including factoring the remaining mileage to what is in range. Im an ass…sorry babes. We had a joint birthday party for her and a buddy Jason Medina who owns Dedicated Tattoo in Temecula. A lot of my friends and hers came out that night. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new ones. Unfortunately the deployment gods didn’t smile on me and I had to leave the day before her Birthday and our one year anniversary is on February third. I wanted to be home so bad for those but luck wasn’t on my side. I wish I wasn’t gone for everything, and it always weighs heavy on me. I haven’t been home for my own mothers birthday in 5 years. I hate missing everything important. that’s the one thing that’s hardest for me. I wish I could be there. But we spent our time together and celebrated while we had the chance. Sooner than I would have liked it was time to board that plane and head back to this shitty country for another six months. I hate saying good byes and I do mean loath but this one was especially hard. It kills me every time I say goodbye to my mother and she starts crying. It damn near destroys me. You think leaving loved ones as many times as we’ve done it would get easier over time, well I wish that was the case. The whole drive down to the airport I was dreading what was coming. Wendi and I had some coffee and it was time to board the plane. I cant stand walking away from her. Its horrible. Then once again I was in flight. Headed back the same way I came. The trip back to Kuwait was rather quick maybe 24 hours or so. Then I got stuck in Kuwait for 5 days. There’s is absolutely nothing special about that little holding area and you can only smoke so many cigarettes before your lungs burn. Luckily I was able to find a couple buddies I came in with so that killed the boredom a little. Now im back in Sharana where everything is covered in snow and its freezing cold. Thank you so much Mom and Wendi for everything you did for me while I was home. It was one of the most memorable yet.

Far Removed

2011-12-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

Its been some time since ive even wanted to write about anything out here. Its hard to find the silver lining out here when all you see is injuries. Sure your helping and all, but the blood and pain lingers in your aircraft for awhile. Ive been pretty damn good about having a very short term memory but it will always stay with you. The 12 year old boy shot in the face, the soldier riddled with shrapnel, another in uncontrollable convulsions. It takes a toll on us all even if we don’t want to admit it. It stays in the back of your mind, like a suppressed animal clawing to get out of a cage. Its strange, Last deployment I had so much to write about, the people we interacted with on a daily basis, the raids we went on. This time we don’t get those interactions, only when we pick someone up. A quick story of what happened and what they did to help, lasting only a few seconds, then running to jump on the aircraft and do what needs to be done. I think its important to interact with the local populace. Only then can you find out if your work is worth it. You can influence your area either one way or another. Here you find yourself entirely detached and isolated from the fight. I feel like my mission is of great importance but it almost feels as though im just going through the motions. There was so much more the last time around. I truly miss it. Although there was so much bad the last time I never felt more connected to who I was, to my own life. You came to terms with everything in your life and were able to rationalize things down to the simplest form; if you didn’t clean your rifle, it could jam causing the volume of fire to subside allowing them to get off one more round to kills your friend. It was simple, do what is required of you, but not only for you but for your team. There was no politics, no career advancement, no hands in the cookie jar, those things weren’t important out there. I don’t want to sound like im dismissing anything that we do here. As I said before I feel extremely proud of what we do and what we continue to do out here. But there’s a certain aspect that I cant necessarily explain with this one. Maybe a feeling of safety or a misunderstanding of ones mortality, its easy to do especially at 140MPH and 1,000 feet your far from roadside bombs and snipers. We have a few short moments or heart pounding and then we go back to our warm beds and relative safety. Those men out there pound mile after mile, with 80lbs of kit or more, facing whatever it is that comes their way, but together as one cohesive unit…Brothers. I can honestly say I miss that.

Greetings from Afghanistan!

2011-10-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Things have been going ok over here on my side of the world. Weve had busy days and days that yield absolutely nothing. Those days are the good days, it means no one is hurt out there. We spend our days bouncing back and forth between our site in Sharana and another in Orgun E. Orgun E is like a vacation for us, things are much closer, there are far fewer people there and we have a fire pit! We’ve been burning pallets almost every night, im not sure what the exact temperature is but its got to be in the 40’s. Its very relaxing out there, not a light for miles and ive never seen stars like I have out there. The Milky Way is completely visible with the naked eye. It really has a way of making you feel very small. Its hard to believe that we have been gone almost 4 months now, Time is already starting to fly by, which is a great thing.

Things here mission wise have presented everything from injuries that one would expect to see like IED explosion injuries to gun shot wounds. Then on the other hand you see all sort of random things that you just weren’t expecting to see. On my first rotation out in orgun E there was a local woman who was pregnant and seen at the local clinic. The afghan doctor at the clinic pronounced the baby as stillborn and sent the family to the FST (forward surgical team) at Orgun E. They preformed a C section and found a perfectly healthy baby boy.

Were gearing up for a long and cold winter (expecting 2 feet of snow) and if anyone knows me they know I hate the cold, So its just going to be constant and unending complaining coming from me for the next few months haha. But don’t worry ive got plenty of cold weather gear. Ill just be dressed up like the kid off of “A Christmas Story” I hope all of you are safe and well. Enjoy your Halloween and ill be posting something soon.

dark days

2011-09-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

Three years is a long time for anything. But its been almost 3 years since I said goodbye to you. I remember everything from that day. Like a curse that will never go away. Every smell, every drop of sweat, every shot heard over and over again in my head. I blamed myself for so long for what happened. In all reality it should have been me like that. There’s so many things that have happened since that day that made my life a better life. I try to do well by others. It was my second chance. You told me to move to a different spot. 45 seconds difference and who knows. I strive to do the best I can every day. For you, for the guys on the ground. Because I know what they’re going through. I miss you brother, more than you know and thank you Bart

Hi everyone from Afghanistan!

2011-09-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Its been some time since ive been able to update anything on here. Ive since deployed on my second tour of duty but now im here in Afghanistan. it’s a hell of a lot different than my trip to Iraq a few years ago now. Im now a member of 82nd combat aviation brigade “DUSTOFF” were a medevac company of flight medics who will go in and get the guys on the ground, provide medical aid and get them to a FST (forward surgical team) as quickly as possible. Everything I remember about Iraq was nice and flat and hot as hell, which is just not the case. Right now im at a base with an elevation of 7,500 feet. And I felt it everyday until I grew accustomed to it. It was like gaining 150lbs and running up hills. The elevation just sucked all the energy right out of you. it’s a nice long hike from where we live here to where we work. Ive gotten used to it now/ were surrounded by 10,000 foot mountains all around us, and from what I hear its going to be a miserable winter. I hate the cold. We have run a few calls and until recently it was nice and quiet, but unfortunately that calm is over now. Within seconds were sprinting to the helicopter and suiting up as quickly as possible to get out to the guys who need us the most. Within minutes were racing to get to them because every second counts when your injured. it’s a very orchestrated response, everyone knows exactly what needs to be done and we work as one hell of a team in order to get there as fast as possible. We push the helicopter hard and its like a roller coaster as were going in. We pick up the wounded and rush as fast as we can to the FST while myself and the crew chief are working on the patients in the back. Doing everything from IV therapy, intubations, and surgical interventions in order to keep them alive until we can get to the doctors. Your heart is pumping a million miles an hour. You just want to get there, get him to the help he needs. We can do a lot in the back of an aircraft but not everything. When its over and done im resetting my equipment talking to my crew chief going over everything that we did and making sure were good for the next one. I smoke a cigarette and push it out of my head as best I can, and wait…
Ill be posting some pictures soon hopefully
Take care everyone

written much better then I ever could

2011-04-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

We are dying. Not in some philosophical, chronological, "the end comes for all of us sooner or later" sense. Just dying. Sure, it's an occupational hazard, and yeah, you can get killed walking down the street in Anytown, USA. But not like this. Not car bombs that leave craters in the road, not jeering crowds that celebrate your destruction. We thought we had turned the tide, turned the corner, beaten the defensive rush and were headed upfield, striding into the home stretch. But they are still here. They still strive for our demise. It's never been a fair fight, and we haven't always played nice.

But not like this. No one leaves the gate looking to kill, or looking to die. No one wakes up in the morning and says, "I sure hope blowing up a whole group of Iraqis goes well today." You may be worn out, hounded by hours on end of patrols, investigations, emergency responses, guard shifts, but you never wake up and think, 'today's the day we'll kill a whole bunch of 'em.' Theres no "kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out." That's for suckers and cowards, people afraid to delve into the melee and fight it out, to sort it out like soldiers.

They've killed my friends. And not in some heroic fight to defend sovereign territory, not on some suicide mission to extract a prisoner or save a family in distress. Just standing out directing traffic. Just driving downtown to a meeting. Just going to work. All I can think is, "Those poor bastards. Those poor, poor bastards."

And the opposition, they've damned anyone with the gall to actually leave their homes in the morning, because they've killed their own, too. Indiscriminate is one word. "Callous" does not even suffice. What battle cry says "Damn the 8-year-old boy and his little sister if they're in the area! Damn them all!?" What do you say to your men after you've scraped up the scalps of an entire Iraqi family off the road, right next to the shattered bodies of your soldiers, held together only by their shoelaces, body armor or helmets? "We're fighting the good fight?" I don't think so. Were just fighting. And now we're dying.

It's nothing new, not really. I know what that look is now, the one on the faces of WWII soldiers coming back from a patrol, Vietnam vets standing at the Wall. But now it's us. You know the little blurb from Connie Chung that says "Two Coalition Soldiers were killed at a checkpoint today after a car bomb exploded while waiting in line?" And you think, "ah, just two. At least it wasn't like 30. At least it wasn't in a movie theater, or the town square.

Yeah...I changed my mind about that one. When you sit at the memorial service, gazing down at the display: a pair of laced tan combat boots, a hastily printed 8″10″photo, their service rifle, barrel down, their Kevlar helmet set on top of the buttstock, and you hear their friends say, "he talked about his son every night. Hes two. He can hardly talk but his Dad just knew he would be a great linebacker." Or, "his wife is currently commanding a platoon elsewhere in Iraq. She will accompany the body home but has chosen to return to her own flock, to see them home safely though her husband will not join her. Our thoughts go out to their families." WHAT THOUGHTS?! What do you think? What good will you do knowing this? What help will you be, blubbering in the stands, snot drizzling from your nose, wishing you could have known beforehand, wishing you could have stopped it, pleading to God you could have taken their place, taken the suffering for them?

What do you say to the fathers of the men responsible, when you find them relaxing in their homes the next day, preparing for a meal? Should you simply strike them down for having birthed such an abomination? Or has the teeth-shattering punch in the face crunch of seeing a fallen comrade laid to rest sated your lust for blood and revenge?

Resolve, resolute, resolution, resoluteness. You feel ... compelled, to respond. To what? On whom? Why? Will your children someday say, "I'm sure glad Dad died to make Iraq safer?" No. They died standing with their friends, doing their jobs, fulfilling some far-flung, nearly non-existent notion called duty. They died because their friends could've died just as easily, and knowing that ... they would never shirk their duties, never call in sick, never give in to fear, never let down. When you've held a conversation with a man, briefed him on his mission, his objective and reminded him of the potential consequences during the actioning of it, only to hear he never returned, and did not die gracefully, though blessedly quickly, prayerfully painlessly ... you do not breathe the same ever after. Breath is sweet. Sleep is sweeter. Friends are priceless. And you cry. Theres no point, no gain, no benefit, but you are human and you must mourn. It is your nature.

It is also now undeniable, irrevocable, that you will see your mission through. You will strive every day, you will live, though you are not ever again sure why. Ideals ... are so ... far, far away from the burnt stink of charred metal. I, we, must see it through to the end. They have seen every instant, every mission, every chore, every day through, not to its end but to theirs. How can you ever deny, degrade, desecrate their sacrifice and loss with anything less than all you have? Their lives are lost, whether as a gift, laid down at the feet of their friends, or a pointless discard of precious life ... I doubt I'll ever know.

I'm OK, Mom. I'm just a little ... shaken, a little sad. I know this isnt any Divine mission. No God, Allah, Jesus, Buddha or other divinity ever decreed "Go get your body ripped to shreds, it's for the better." This is Man's doing. This is Man's War. And War it is. It is not fair, nor right, nor simple ... nor is it over. I wish the presence of those responsible only to dissipate, to transform into average citizens, fathers, sons and brothers. I don't care about bloodlust, justice or revenge. But they ... they ... will not rest until our souls are wiped from this plane of existence, until we no longer exist in their world. Nothing less suffices. And so we will fight. I will not waiver, nor falter. Many of my fellows will cry for no mercy, no compassion. For those responsible, for those whose goal is destruction purely for effect, death only as a message, for whom killing is a means of communication, I cannot promise we, or I, will give pardon. With all, we will be harsh, and strict, but not unjust, not indiscriminate. And we will not give up. We cannot. Our lives are forever tied to those lost, and we cannot leave them now, as we might have were they still living.

We have ... so little time ... to mourn, so little time to sigh, to breathe, to laugh, to remember. To forget. Every day awaits us, impatient, impending. So now we rise, shunning tears, biting back trembling lips and stifling sobs of grief ... and we walk, shoulder to shoulder ... to the Call of Duty, in tribute to the Fallen.

John

This is a letter that Sgt John McCary wrote to his mother during his time in Iraq. I love this letter...

state of the nation

2011-04-09T10:24:00.001-07:00

Im writing this a day after the federal government shutdown was adverted, one hour before the dead line. I felt somewhat compelled to write something about this since it directly effected me. I received a text message from a friend stating to check my LES (leave and earnings statement) because their paycheck had already been cut in half. With the shutdown looming this meant that federal employees and more importantly myself would not be paid. We were to report to work without pay for the duration of the government shutdown. We were told that we would be “back paid ” once the funding of the budget was restored. This could have potentially lasted until September. So my question is this…What the hell would we have done with out pay? Granted im sure there would have been some leeway given to us from our renters however that couldn’t have lasted forever. Eventually one would be evicted from their homes or their houses would have been foreclosed. Debt would have sky rocketed, and providing that life essential needs would have been non existent. If a soldier is unable to provide for his or her family, how are they supposed to live? This obviously set off a lot of panic in people. I heard many times that “if they’re not going to pay me then im not coming to work” and I completely agree with that. You are paid for services rendered, and in some instances they work their asses off in order to get that paycheck, which in reality isn’t that much to begin with. My question is this, what would happen if you really didn’t show up for work in the army. You would risk everything, including dishonorable discharge from the military due to failure to follow a direct order to come to work. Now granted this is a severe punishment but not completely out of the picture. It is possible. That’s a scary thought.
I received a text message from a superior yesterday saying that we should all check our LES because of the half pay problem that I was already aware of. At the end of it, it said “thanks to the democrats this is happening”. Im not exactly sure why I reacted this why but it really set something off inside me. I was unusually upset that with the delivery of this pertinent information they decided to throw in they’re two cents about which party was to blame. Ive given up on the idea of democrat or republican in the power struggle. Both sides are equally to blame for this but not only just the two sides but all politicians are to blame for this. Each side presents their own ideologies and is concrete in the fact that they are right and the other “side” is wrong. The problem lies in this, both sides are no longer serving the people. This class warfare is tearing our country apart. Simple discussions spark enormous rage and lashing out and anyone who thinks differently then they do. This is happening on every level. The line is obviously drawn in the sand. When does a party stop serving the people and start focusing on furthering they’re own agendas. Both sides are doing it. Democrats, Republicans, the Tea Party, George Bush, Sarah Palin, Barrack Obama, they all fucking scare the hell out of me. No one seems to be looking out for the best interest of the country as a whole. Only furthering they’re sides political agenda. This will never bring a country together. I fear we are falling apart, and have been for a long time. There is something in the air now that I never felt a few years ago…its palpable. You can feel the tension. So where do we go from here? Do we continue to pick our sides and ignore the bigger picture? Do we stick to our guns, and screw the rest? Or can we ever work together? The sad thing is, im not sure we can…

a little bit of an update

2011-04-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I know its been some time since I have posted anything, Things have been crazy to say the least. So ill leave you with a little update.

I have finally gotten away from the hell hole known as Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Now don’t get me wrong, ill miss a lot of those people that I met but that place really dragged me down. I was able to increase my knowledge but as I soon found out shortly after I left there could have been a lot more learning going on in that place. Theres no trust in medics there. Everything is run by hospital staff and I fell by the wayside. Medics were not important there. There was no progress being made, in fact it was the opposite. I lost a lot of tactical medical knowledge. But none the less I left, on to bigger and better things. I actually got to go back to being a medic. It was a good experience to show me that I should stay away from those types of postings. I left with no PCS award for my year and a half of hard work there and hardly a thank you from my supervisor…good riddance. Like I said im off to bigger and better things.

I was off to Flight medic school. I packed all of my belongings into a 4 x 8 trailer and off I went for Alabama. That was the furthest I had ever driven by myself. It finally turned out to be a 16 hour drive through thunderstorms, pouring rain and tornados but I made it. I made it to a small base in the middle of no where to learn everything I could about being a flight medic. It was a remote base with very little to do off base. We were staffed in a small run down Econolodge, of course there wasn’t much better in the area so I guess we had to do the best with what we got. As soon as day one started it was “drink through a fire hose”. There was so much information passed to us that it was completely overwhelming. Before I got there I felt I was a pretty damn good medic. That quickly changed as our first day drew to a close. Its not that they made us feel dumb by any means, but it was like going from little league to the majors in about a week. A very sobering experience when your dealing with the reality of a lot of the situations that we will be faced with. Were the only medical authority up there and when everything goes to hell in a handbag you have to know what to do to try to save that persons life. So everyday we started at 0530 and ended at about 5 pm then went back to our rooms and studied in our teams for another few hours. There was so much stress on us but we handled it the best we could. 18 hour days can really get to you after awhile. It was relentless for 26 days. Now 26 days might not sound like a long time to learn the things we learned but it was grueling and challenging but also very rewarding. My job will consist of a lot of different aspects. When a soldier or local national that gets injured on the battle field will be treated by the ground medic by basic medical aid then they call in a “9 line” its basically a call for us to come get him and take him to a higher level of care. We scramble and fly to go get him, often while the fight is still going on. Well fly into a landing zone under fire to get him, package him up and get him on that helicopter and fly him to the right hospital. While in flight we can push medications, and perform medical interventions that normally would only be done by a physician, in hopes that we can save his life. Its high stress but a justified stress if that makes any sense. We graduated with 6 less than we started with, and were awarded our flight wings. Then it was off to North Carolina for my next duty station.

Another 12 hour drive and I arrived in a very different North Carolina then I expected. I knew things were going to be drastically different but little did I know what was ahead of me. I dropped off all my stuff in a storage unit and was met by an old friend from my first duty station. I stayed at his place for the night and was on a plane home the next morning bright and early. I arrived at the airport to see my beautiful fiancé. We were to get married while I was home, nothing big, just small and quick with only a few people. It was absolutely amazing, she looked beautiful and we were married by my best friend at a small winery. I will remember that day for the rest of my life, the way she looked, the way the sun was, the way the wine tasted, the big white flower in her hair. I was on cloud 9.

After my short time at home it was back on a plane and back to Fort Bragg. I started my in processing into the base and my unit. Ill admit I was overwhelmed at first, this place works a lot differently than any other place ive been before. There’s a hell of a lot of pride here. I found an apartment to move into in a nice area away from all the mess of the downtown area, its pretty close to my airfield too. I Started flying not too long later and there’s a lot to know about flying as well. Theres a lot to know and a lot to do, its not just a taxi ride for us, we have to constantly be working while were flying. Soon my wife Wendi arrived here and I couldn’t be happier that she got here.

There’s a road that im on that will be here shortly. In 4 months ill be in Afghanistan for over a year, and its expected to be pretty busy…unfortunately. To be honest I am nervous about this deployment, my last one was a lot different. I lost a great friend on my last one. Now im going to be seeing a lot more…multiple per day. I know its going to be emotionally draining and test everything that I am but I think im up for it. This is what I worked so hard for such a long time. I hope im still as passionate about it toward the end as I am now. I feel awful about leaving my wife but she’s an incredible woman and she will make it through anything.

So there you have it… not too much detail but a lot going on. I hope your all doing well and you should be hearing more from me as the deployment approaches. Time to keep this going for another deployment…

SPC Christopher Akin

2010-09-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

There is something to be said about the loss of a comrade. Regardless of how he fell, there is something that we all went through together the will eternally tie us all together. This is the story of my experiences with taking a fallen soldier home.
Christopher Akin was a fellow soldier, we served in Iraq together and although we didn’t have much contact he was still considered one of our family. A large family that went though hell together. We all suffered together and with most times a smile on our faces. We all carry the scars of our experiences with us for the rest of our lives, it is forever a part of us.
Akins military service was held on Thursday, September 2nd. I was asked to speak with other members of the command. Myself and his team leader printed pictures and framed them to be displayed. We were running around trying to get this ready, but we kept saying that we have to do it right. He has to be represented the right way, and the typical remembrance photo just wasn’t going to cut it. A fellow soldier had taken several great pictures of his platoon, and with Akin being his platoon medic there were several of him during the deployment. The pictures were great and they depicted him in a way that showed that even on a long patrol he could still have a smile on his face. I took those pictures from my friend Soto’s website and had them blown up, we framed them and placed them behind the boots, rifle and helmet that we all hate to see assembled that way. We nodded at each other in approval and began final preparations for the service.
Dress green uniform, polished medals, perfect creases. I just kept saying you can get through it. Hold it together and do it right…for him, for his guys, for his family. His family was going to see a taping of the service. I really didn’t want to break down standing up there in front of people. I started to realize that there were so many people that arrived to show their support. More and more showed until it was a full house in the chapel. The opening words were said by the Chaplin, then our command team, then two fellow soldiers that worked with him. Then it was my turn…nervous, and uneasy, I said this…

“ For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Eric Williams. I served in Iraq with Christopher in a volatile area known as Sadr City. Akin was a line medic in 2nd platoon and I was a line medic in 3rd platoon. We saw each other on a daily basis and worked alongside each other. He could always be found reading a book or listening to music or any of the thousand different thing we try to do to pass the time while deployed. He was always a mild mannered, very laid back kinda guy. Nothing really got him too worked up and he was certainly never high strung. I never saw him bent out of shape even though it would have been so easy for us to become that way. Akin always preformed above and beyond. Sometimes other soldiers don’t understand how hard line medics work, but I do. I know he went on more patrols and worked harder then anyone to make sure the men that were his responsibility never saw any harm come to them. He was supremely dedicated to his mission. Something that I know he felt very passionately about. I know this because we talked about it, we talked about how we would handle a certain situation if it ever came up. And once again he was in the books, studying, learning more so that it could be put to use if ever needed.
We were the only medics in our battalion to receive orders to come to Fort Sill, and although we were both stationed at the same place and in the same command. We rarely saw each other. Opposite schedules made it difficult to see him. I never knew about any of the internal struggles that he was dealing with. I wish that I had, maybe we could have talked. Im reminded of a quote I once heard. “War is waste and chaos, that’s what it is. it’s the most profound waste of life, time, sprit and treasure know to man. War is an obscenity and we say however that it is preferable to subjugation, and it is. The time and place and cause of war however we may characterize it is most times beyond our control and they are most certainty beyond the control of a soldier. All Soldiers suffer in war and their families suffer equally”. SPC Akin lost his war, and we are left to wonder why. We may never know. It is not our place to remember how he fell, but rather to remember how he lived. To remember the memories that we shared with him. Ive talked extensively with members of his platoon, and they are just as shocked as I am. But I am comforted by one thing. The fact that immediately after hearing the news, our brotherhood banded together to remember his life. We shared stories of conversations and adventures we have all had. I can only hope that you too will be able to remember his life and share a story. My thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. From everyone at Meddac, our family at 1-6INF and his platoon, the Hooligans, you will be missed, more than you could know. Gone but never forgotten…”

I had actually gotten through it. I did it right. The final remarks were made and we filed down and rendered our final salute. With a grasp of his hanging dog tags off of his rifle I placed our deployment patch at his boots and finally walked away. It was very hard to keep it together through all of that but I had done it. Little did I know that this would not be the end of my journey.
I had brought it to the attention of the command that I was willing to escort the body home if needed, that it would be my honor. The response I got was that I would have to pay my own way. The reason for this was that there was already an escort and there only needed to be one. We talked about it and I was just not going to be able to afford the flight. The senior NCO, who was the escort, said that he would pay for half of the flight so that I could go. I was in shock. The flight was ultimately paid for by the command so that I could go as well. Right after the service we went to a building and talked to mortuary affairs. We received our briefing about how everything was handled and all the paper work involved. Believe me there was a lot of paper work involved. This was going to be one hell of a process with a lot of moving parts. But somehow everything would work out.
We left Saturday morning at 0730. It was an hour and a half trip up to the funeral home where Akin was staying. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the staff, led into a large area where the casket already was. We had to verify the body, which we had to do several times, its part of the process. His dress uniform was draped over the body and was perfect, everything was where it should be. The casket was closed and was draped with the flag, a salute was rendered and Christopher was loaded into the back of the hearse. From that moment on we never left Akins side. We would be with him for his entire trip home. With the NCO in the front seat and me following in my truck behind we departed for the airport.
Its impossible not to notice the reaction from people as you pass by. They immediately knew what happened. Almost everyone slowed down and did not pass us. They let Christopher go first, Simi trucks flashed their hazards, and for the short time to the airport, Christopher led the way. We were escorted into a back area where cargo hangers were all in line. We unloaded the casket and took him to a waiting area while the plane was prepared for departure. While he was unloaded a salute was rendered, and as we turned around and began walking with the casket I noticed the cargo workers. Not a lot of them maybe 3 or 4, but they were all standing there as we walked into the holding area. One at a time we were led through the back areas of the terminals so that we could check in and then return back to the holding area. One at a time so that Christopher was never alone.
About an hour went by as we were waiting for the plane to arrive and be prepared. The ground crew introduced themselves and explained what was to be expected so that we were never out of the loop. We were told that all the passengers baggage would be loaded but the passengers would be held at the gate. We were taken one by one to the plane down the tarmac, we were positioned to the side of the ramp and met by several southwest workers as well as the Captain of the flight. With the utmost respect the casket was loaded onto the ramp and began to move up toward the plane, again a salute was rendered and the casket was secured in the belly of the plane. As I turned around I noticed that there were several people watching from the terminal windows, standing, no one moved. We were led up the stairs and into the plane, we were the first ones on. After everyone was on board the captain come over the PA system. He introduced himself and told the passengers the typical flight information. Then he said that he was honored to be transporting Christopher Akin home. Ill be honest, I got a little choked up.
As we landed in Kansas City, MO the pilot again came over the PA system and asked that the passengers remain seated so that we may get off the plane. We were led down the stairs again and stood next to the ramp. We rendered our salutes as the casket came down the ramp. As we stepped away you couldn’t help but notice everyone standing there watching. Workers removed their hats and stood in silence. We were escorted to another hanger where we would wait for our connecting flight. We waited for word that the next plane was on the ground. I remember calling my mother, telling her I was in Kansas City. I told her I was blown away by the support and professionalism of the staff here. I told her I better go cause we would be moving soon, and shortly after hanging up we were on our way towards the next plane.
Again a salute was rendered and Akin was loaded into the plane. The Captain was on the ground with us and also saluted. We were soon airborne and in route to Nashville TN. We knew that there was going to be an Honor Guard when we arrived but knew little else. Like I said before there were many moving parts. Several different groups all working together. Once we landed, again everyone remained on the plane and we were escorted down to the ground. TSA had their own honor guard on the ground. The workers climbed into the plane and prepared his casket. They refused to let him come down on the ramp. Six men carried him down. They placed the casket and escorted him to another hanger where the honor guard was waiting. The casket was carried by the honor guard to the center of the hanger and honors were rendered. This was the first time I saw the family. I was really nervous about the reaction of the family to us, but as I watched his mother, Father and Sister walk forward towards that flag draped coffin I started to loose it. I remember thinking “keep it together, don’t do that here” and I bit the inside of my cheek. I watched that family’s pain and agony as they saw their son in a casket. Now I don’t have any children so I can only imagine what they were going through but they’re faces said it all. My heart just broke for them. There was a small ceremony held there with several family and friends. Everyone came up and paid their respects. Then Akin was loaded into the hearse and we started the long trip back to Paducah, KY.
Paducah was about 2 hours away from Nashville. We started up the highway with about 8 cars in a row. It was a long trip up but we got to the funeral home and the honor guard unloaded the casket and headed inside. Once we were inside we again verified the body and made final corrections to the uniform that was draped over the body. No one would see the uniform but we made sure that it was perfect. Once the casket was closed, the family was escorted in and allowed to spend time with him. His Mother and Father approached us and thanked us. The NCO that was with me said some of the kindest words one could possibly say in that situation. I was blown away and for someone who was extremely nervous about that moment handled himself with grace and compassion that I have never seen. I know that must have been very hard for him, but more so for the family. All I could do was offer my condolences, I don’t have the capability that he does. The funeral home was littered with flowers from family and friends. Soon we were headed to our hotel for the night. Akin would be staying in the funeral home over night until the service in the morning. We checked in and changed, soon we were headed to get some food. It was much needed, we hadn’t gotten the chance to eat all day. The day had drawn to a close and I think I feel asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I knew the next day was going to be just as hard.
We woke up and got dressed again for the service. We made our way to the funeral home and opened the viewing hall where the casket had stayed all night. The family had beaten us there and were already inside. I don’t think I could have even left if I was them. I told them that I had served with Akin in Iraq, and told them some stories that I remembered about him. For the first time I saw his father smile. It was a relief to see that, if only for a second.
One by one family and friends funneled into the hall and walked by to pay their respects. We sat in the very back as to let them family pay their respects. It wasn’t important that we were there. But still we never left him. I noticed that the patriot guard riders outside maybe 2 dozen of them or so. For those of you that are not familiar with who the patriot guard riders are, they are a group of riders that escort fallen soldiers and public service members to their final resting place. They also were there for the funeral of my friend Bart who fell in combat. I walked out and thanked them for what they do. I think it is an incredible service they do out of the kindness of their hearts. It was soon time to head over to the church for the mass that they were to hold. The honor guard came and carried the casket and loaded it into the hearse while we saluted. The patriot guard riders were already in place and there was also a police escort. Once we started moving, the police stopped traffic and stepped out of their patrol cars and saluted as Christopher passed. The procession was moving very slowly down the street. And although we didn’t have far to go every vehicle pulled over and stopped as we passed. Some people got out of their cars and stood. As we turned into the church another officer saluted and the patriot guard riders led us into the entrance. The casket was removed by the honor guard and led into the church where mass was held for the family. We stood at attention in the entrance while the service went on. Once the service was over we moved Christopher outside where Taps was played and a 21 gun salute. I tried to keep it together but Taps always gets me. The flag was folded and presented to the mother. Christopher was then carried and loaded into the hearse and taken back to the funeral home.
It was one of the hardest things to go through but it was a very humbling and honoring to be a part of it. But for now it was over, we went back to the hotel and changed and went out for some food. I was joined by 3 guys that were in his platoon. I cant tell you how amazing it was to see these guys after a year of being gone. We drank and smoked and shared stories all night and I can honestly say it was one of the best nights that ive had in a very long time. We all went through war together and no one else can understand what you’ve been through except those that were next to you. I had a Great night, funny how such joy can come from such sorrow. But that’s the way our life is, something tragic can bring brothers back together and remind us of what is important in life.
It was back to Oklahoma for me the next morning and it was a pretty long trip. But I had a lot of time to reflect on what I had been through. Not every Soldier gets the opportunity to go through what I had gone through. Its not something that should be sought out but it is an honor. it’s a horrible thing to know that a Soldier fell but the grace and humility of what I witnessed was far beyond anything I ever expected. I witnessed true human compassion in its purest form. I watched a family that went through the worst experience of their life still smile and embrace the hardship with grace and love and compassion. They are an incredible family and I am still in awe of them. Also if anyone of them reads this I want them to know that if there is anything they need all they need is ask.
In closing I want you to maybe understand what goes into something like this. I wanted to tell a story of travel and human interaction. Were all so busy with our own lives and we grow unconcerned with everyone around us, But I witnessed so much respect and caring from everyone that we encountered. But most of all, This is a story about Christopher Akin and his final trip home. He was our brother and he will never be forgotten….

Eric

something new...

2010-08-18T03:26:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
I cant believe its been over a year since I’ve posted anything. A lot sure has changed, being back from combat for over a year now seems so strange. It seems like yesterday that I was over there walking around in 135 degrees. It feels great to be back in the states once again. Well almost, After leaving Germany in September I was relocated to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It sure is a shock to be here in the mid-west. Life sure does move a lot differently around here. This place really has nothing to do in the surrounding areas, having to travel over an hour to do anything somewhat entertaining. I work in the Emergency room at the hospital on base. I’ve been here for 9 months now and it still takes some getting used to working with civilians. It seems very unorganized, and at times very frustrating. These co- workers of mine are nothing like the soldiers I used to be with. It seems I’ve grown accustomed to working with combat oriented doctrine. And although there are a few that I work with that have experienced similar circumstances, there is something to be said for going through combat with your brothers. There’s a connection there that is unparalleled by anything that I have experienced so far. But on the other hand I’m no longer working with the infantry, so it makes sense that everything has changed. There are so many people that I work with that I truly like and get along with but there’s just that atmosphere that I guess I grew accustomed to and never really adjusted to hospital life. I know I’m not meant to be a hospital medic. I’m meant to be out there, doing my job when its truly needed. I will take what ive learned here to become a better medic and that’s all that I can do. One must learn from every experience in life, otherwise what the hell are we doing here?
I have started a new chapter in the Army life, I’ll be going to Flight Medic School in January. Flying around in a Blackhawk, picking up and treating the most severely wounded Soldiers from the battlefield seems right up my alley. I can finally get back to what’s important to me, get back to doing what really matters. I can’t wait for it to begin, and ive already received orders too. Ill be stationed at Fort Bragg, NC working with the 82nd Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade. I couldn’t think of a better place to be and I am really looking forward to working with that unit.
Living here on this base has felt like a constant duality inside me. I think it was important to come here to learn more and help me come to terms with a lot that happened while I was deployed. I still deal with the loss of Bart on a daily basis, it was such a catalyzing event in my life and it is forever imprinted on my soul. But I think for the first time in my life ive been able to accept what happened. Its torture living with that every day but it’s a torture ive come to embrace. Do I still have nightmares? Of course, I think that’s normal after experiencing some of the things I have. I don’t think its normal to go through anything like that and not be affected. Then I would think one would have a problem. I am human, and at times, as much as I don’t like to admit it, I am weak. I cant have my armor on all the time. And its surprising when you doing some mundane simple task and a memory pops into your head. A good conversation on the balcony sharing a Monster, A fire fight that we laughed about after wards. My friends and family that I have lost both home and overseas will always be with me. Bart, Ryan, Grandpa, Brandon, Gonzalez, Grandma. These memories I have I will never forget, and I will cherish every day spent with you. Its been a tough year, but this is life. And ive come to the conclusion that no matter what life hands you, you can take it. “Scar tissue is thicker than normal tissue, realize the strength and move on” - Henry Rollins.
Ive also met one hell of an amazing woman, Wendi. We started seeing each other when I returned from Iraq and its been incredible ever since. Ill be moving Wendi out to Fort Bragg when I get there, I cant wait to see what happens from here. Unfortunately she lives out in California and with my being stationed in Oklahoma, we don’t get much time together. But we get by with what we have, we make it work, and I couldn’t be happier. Its going to be incredible to be able to see her every day. I cant wait…
So that pretty much catches us up with everything that has happened in the last year, ive been busy and have many changes ahead of me, but I look forward to every change and challenge with an open mind and im really liking where my life is headed. Good bye for now everyone,
Eric

Hello from germany

2009-07-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

I appoligize once again for the latency of my posts. im not back from leave at home and enjoying this beautiful in summertime. Unfortunatly we usally have to travel outside of our base's home town in order to get decent weather. Baumholder resides on a mountian top. We usally get horrible weather all the time. One minute its sunny the next its pouring. I suppose thats more of a reason to go get out of town. Recently we traveled to Bavaria to see a concert. It's such a beautiful countryside to drive through.
Im not longer attached to my platoon of guys, which is depressing because i was returned to the aid station. It's normal procedure for all line medic's. So new people and new rules to come. But its ok. My friends and I are planning to go to all sorts of locations while we have a few months left here in Germany before I head over to Oklahoma. Im going to try to visit Cezch Republic, France and Amsterdam. Hopefully ill get the chance.

well...

2009-06-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

finally an update...youll have to forgive me lately. with redeployment weve been bouncing around and havent had the ability to post anythin gon here for over a month... well weve reached home. were finally back in germany! this place is quite possibly the most beautiful country ive ever seen, either that or ive seen nothing but sand and tan for far too long. Germany has so much green ... everything is green here its increadable here. and great weather to boot. ill be going back to california for some fun in the sun and time with great friends and family within 4 days... i cant believe it. seems like its been s long since ive been home. but i will be posting pictures of germany and friends as soon as i can so bear with me

just a few thoughts

2009-02-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

As we are preparing for our departure from Iraq we all tend to look back and reflect on our time spent here. Weve spenta little over a year away from our familys and loved ones, thousands of miles away from our familar homes and daily lives. Weve experienced quite alot in our relitivly short time here. Weve watched the tides of massivly over populated city turn from extream violence and ruthlessness that i personally neverthought possible, to a relative calm or lul in violence. Buisnesses are flourishing, people have resumed their daily lives, children are attending school. All of which was not possible 1 year ago. I can only hope that our actions here have made a permenentimpact of the social structure of daily life. I can only hope that in some small way i have made a difference. Because then and only then can my actions and experiences become worth my time here. I think that i have...i hope. Ive heard many civilians inthis area say that if it were not for our efforts then they would be dead. I dont know if thats true, but in a city where almost allhope for normalicy has been lost you settle into "the norm". Where death and destruction, violence and barberism are accepted as a part of daily life here. And quite possibly the grasp on your own mortality becomes limited in an enviorment like that. I couldnt imagine living in a country like that much less raising a family. But things have turned around for the people of Sadr City. They still have to deal with alot and its far from a complete transformation but i believe its on its way to making that transformation.

Since the start of my deployment ive delt with quite a bit in my experiences with being in a combat zone. From firefights to distrubuting food the locals. If had to try to deal with the loss of great friends both here and back home. My views on life andsocial issues and different cultures has changed so much. The things i have experienced here will forever shape everything i know from here on out in my life. Knowing that this year has impacted my life so much is alot to take in. But i can use these experiences to shape my life to come.

As this comes to a hopefully very quiet and speedy return home, we all have to come to terms and realize what our experiences meanfor our lives. Ive gained a large group of brothers and weve shared these experiences together and will take these things all differently.But these things will forever shape our lives.

im pretty much rambling now but these are a few of the thoughts on my mind.i hope all of you are well and ill be seeing you soon

food handouts

2009-02-12T04:56:00.000-08:00

well hello everyone,

I know its been some time since ive written last but boy have we been busy. Things have been increased in the last month were still going on 8 hour patrols a day but we stay with our Iraq Army counterparts while were out in sector.

Some good news to come our way... aparently were going to be leaving Sadr City in the next few weeks and moving to another sector a little further south. It has its positives and negatives. Positives = were going home and only have to stay there for about 30 to 40 days. negatives = a whole different enemy.

Today we handed out 9 palets of food to the people in our sectors... its never announced we just show up with it and word spreads so fast that there are a couple hundred people in a matter of minutes. Again working with the Iraqi Army we distrubuted a hell of a lot of food to the people and a little bit of candy to the kids. Everything went very smooth and it was a nice perk to see alot of smiling faces. heres some Pictures from today and some random ones from the last few weeks

Its been awhile

2009-01-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Since ive written anything on here. Alot has happened lately, alot of changes have been made, and things are alot different then when we first got here. But hopefully its the start of us getting the hell out of here. Weve been working with the Iraqi Army everyday, we do patrols with them and live with them too. long days and nights. As we speak we only have 2 medics in the company, so myself and my senior line medic are split between 2 platoons each... long hours with not a whole lot of rest. but things could be worse. Its been about 30 degrees or so durring the nights so pulling guard is really getting to suck. hopefully this bitter bone chilling cold wont last forever.
The day after christmas I lost my good friend Ryan Armstrong. Im 8000 miles away from home and i felt someone punch me in the stomach when i found out. I spoke to him on christmas day, told him i missed him, and he said keep you head up, im proud of you. i have a hard time reading that email. I can remember so many days and nights spent together. It still hasnt fully hit me that hes gone. I dont thnk ive been the same since i found out. I have to wait another few months to say my goodbyes. but mayeb by then ill know what to say.
Unfortunatly we also lost another soldier in our company, a buddy of mine, SPC Gonzales...RIP, youll be missed
So as you can tell this year has really gotten off to a bad start, but im trying to turn it around. Trying to stay positive as much as i can. I miss home, but we wont be here too much longer...almost 11 months down, whats another few.
Take care everybody and ill post some pics hopefully tomorrow

christmas pics

2008-12-24T10:01:00.001-08:00

i make it rain! gangstas rollin with the benjamins!

this is my christmas tree :)

SGT Bustos really loves christmas

christmas pics

2008-12-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

merry christmas...

2008-12-24T02:21:00.000-08:00

well its that time of the year again and its hard to believe that weve been gone for almost a year. im gone from home once again this year. Weve been really busy lately...lots of patrols for lots of time haha. we havent really had much time to think about the holidays which is probally a good thing. The guys in the platoon have high spirits especially when our packages come in. its kinda like christmas every 4 days. Things are still pretty much normal arounds here except for the temprature and the rain. it hasnt rained too much bt when it does everything floods. and in a city with no real sewage system everything runs into the streets and when it floods, well were walking through it. enjoy that visual!

Today as we were patroling, we pushed into a house and discovered a kid with what looked like Psoriasis. It was on every inch of his body, which is a severe case,the father said that he had lost 2 sons to the same symptoms. its heart breaking. With my suplys i couldnt do anything for him so instead we refered him to our bigger aid station in hopes that they can discover his ailment and hopefully recieve an effective treatment.

So ive been writing on this thing for nearly a year now. and i fear that all im doing is repeating the same borring things over and over. So id like to hear form you. what do you want to know about? this country, our lifestyles, the people. ill do my best to answer any questions you might have.

also heres some pics taken. notice the "BARF" laundry detergent. Ive decorated my tree but ill post those soon. Have a merry christmas and enjoy your holidays

happy thanksgiving

2008-11-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Everyone. well another holiday has come and gone while im away. Days like this make me miss my family. As im sure everyone else is sharing my feelings on this day of thanks. I just got back from R and R leave aboout 2 weeks ago. I liked home alot better haha, but it feels good to be back in the swing of things. Patrols are better and overall things are better as well.

The other day on patrol we opened the soccer fields in our area. They were locked down because the city wasnt taking care of them. we went and cut all the locks on the gates. Immeadiatly kids from everywhere started cheering and pouring into the field. They was so damn excited about those fields. We told them "this is yours, now go have fun". It was all smiles and thank yous. It was a pretty cool expierence being able to do that. Soccer is everything to them. Ive seen the kids play soccer with a rock and no shoes on in the dirt streets.

Still day to day life. patrols got on and on. Its part of life out here. But it feels good to be back with my guys.

R and R

2008-11-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

I appoligize to the latency of my postes recently. I left iraq on the 18th of october and started the long road home. It took me about 6 days to finally get home. Way too long. But reguardless im home and spending time with my family and friends. partying and hanging out. its strange being home and seeing all the differences in the places that i grew up and in the people that i left behind. Some good and some very stark differences in people. But i suppose that good that i see these things. it helps me remain grounded and continue the things that ive been doing. My true friends will always be there for me. But as for now im somewhat missing my brothers out there in iraq. Their working their asses off and im drinking haha. Ill be back soon enough. Just trying to enjoy my time left. I go back there in 7 days and spend another 7 months over there.

what a night

2008-10-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

We took heavy contact last night. IED's (imporvised explosive devices) RPG's and small arms. My team leader was on a roof and was hit in the chest, Penatrating chest wound. and a shrappnel injury. He was coughing up blood but moving air through his lungs ok. He was flighted out immeadiatly for surgery and is in stable condition right now. we visited him this morning. He is in good spirits.

Get well soon SGT Constintine

PFC Christopher "Bart" Bartkiewicz

2008-10-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

On Sept 30th I lost one of my best friends here due to sniper fire. I was the medic that treated his injurys. Bart was a great man and a loving father and husband. He was one of our brothers and will be missed. I just wish you could have know him. Rest in peace brother.

well hello again

2008-09-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

well folks its finally cooling off. Night patrols are actually brisk. We've been having power problems latley and mosquitos are crazy around here. I was standing outside for about 20 minutes and was bit about 15 times or so...not so attractive when you have a giant lump on your forehead, not that i have anyone to look good for or anything over here haha.

Id like you to meet Neama, Shes the little girl that feel out of a second story balcony. She was excited to see us on the ground and fell while pointing at us. My team and I were less then 10 feet when she fell. She landed on her head and went into a seizure. She didnt breath for about 30 second or so. I controled bleeding and with the help of a few of my guy's held her neck as we scooped her up and hauled ass to our trucks. We evacuated her to our aid station she was flown out to Balad where she could get a full CAT scan and MRI. This picture was taken about 5 days later. The funny thing is she knew exactly who I was when she saw me again. She is going to make a full recovery. If you look closely she has a black right eye and behind her ears she has bruising, this is indicative of head trauma.

As for me just the same stuff happening around here, more and more patrols. Take care everyone. Coming home in November

wow that really escalated quickly

2008-09-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

We were sitting at a house earlier today and we found a cool little scooter to mess around on. Im Taking the stunting scene international. popping wheelies and running around with my M4 mounted on the handle bars... I felt like Chuck Norris in Delta Force.

Shortly after we left we were waiting on our trucks to pull up and pick us up. We were about 30 to 40 meters away and they hit an IED. The blast was massive. It rocked everything inside you. we all started moving into position to get the guys out of the truck and start treating the injured when the call over the air came in, "were all up, everyone is ok". A huge sigh of relife came out of all of us. We were all ok, nothing damaged, the projectile went right over the hood of the truck. Another 2 feet closer and it would have been a hit on the passenger side. Then we were engaged by small arms fire across the street on top of a roof, a couple guys. One team moved to the roof and another to the other side of the street in order to return fire closer to them. After lots of shooting from our automatic weapons, m4's and 203's there was not a sound to be heard.

Everyone in the streets had dissapeared and there was nothing but silence. Only the sound of the ringing in your ears was heard, And the ringing goes on and on...

The daily grind goes on

2008-09-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

lately our patrols have been increased to 4 hours, so at any given time im outside the wire at least 8 hours a day now. More of the same things going on. Couple IED's heard close by but nothings hit any of us. sporadic gunfire heard almost daily but still we find no enemy. heres a few patrol pictures that Bons took recently

what kind of man?

2008-09-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

So today was probally one of the hardest days ive had here in this country so far. I was about to go work out and was approached by our company commander to take a look at a little girl with another fellow medic. We were told limited information about the situation and only told that her father had beaten her yesterday, and she was pretty roughed up. So we grabbed our aid bags and went next door to take a look at her. She was ushered into the room by the iraqi Army that lives next to us and we knew it was pretty serious. Her lips and hands had been badly burned by a strong chemical. we quickly broght her back to our aid station and started our eval. Her lips and hands had severe burns and she was in a lot of pain. we were told through rough translation that it happened yesterday some time. Her arms and legs were bound and she was beaten and dumped on the side of the road by her drunken father. She had bruising to her legs and hands. She fainted at one time while we were cleaning her up... trying to make it as painless as possible she just passed out from the pain. we later found out that it had happened 5 days ago and she hasnt been able to eat or drink anything since. We called for Evac and started an IV. loaded her up and she was gone within 15min. The father was found by the brother in law and turned into the Iraqi Army...i never saw the man but i was told that swift justice would be in effect... remember where we are. How can a man do something like this to a child. The reason he did it was that he gave her money to go buy him cigaretts but it was after 1100 pm which is curfew, she refused and this was the result. I dont understand this place anymore... this country is filled with such extreams. Weather, poverity and violence, but today I saw the result of true evil.

ssdd

2008-09-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

i know i know, its been almost a month since ive posted anything. sorry. nothng much to report in our neck of the woods. weve done a few raids and such but mostly just recon patrols and finding out what the population is doing durring ramahdan. violence is expected to pick up durring this month. the religious month requires you not to eat smoke drink any fluids durring the day. your required to pray 5 times a day. so if i couldnt eat or drink all day id probally be a little aggitated to and want to fight some body...and who better than the americans! unforunatlly weve lost 2 soldiers in the last week to EFP's (Explosive Formed Penatrators) they peirce through the armor of our vehicles and explode inside. extreamly powerful and very deadly. these people are resourseful... placing these ieds in open areas but making them look just like a rock or hunk of concrete. your just always looking, your mind is racing, wondering if that chunk of concrete could actually blow up.

well here are some pics from some of our adventures in sector lately. i hope you all enjoy

a little something

2008-08-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

The streets are where we come alive. Your blood pumps harder and courses through your veins as you walk street to street. Block to block your eyes always scanning. Your mind races as you run possibilities through your head. It can come from anywhere, at anytime from anyone. The eyes pierce through you and peer through cracked and broken windows. Cell phones light up the night as you pass through the darkness. Small slivers of movement are the only thing that gives you away. You jump from shadow to shadow moving through the darkness. Total darkness is lit up in a fury of green haze, a haze where we can see everything and they can see nothing. We own the night, silently we move and watch every back alley street with muzzles raised and thumbs on the safety. A fraction of a second and the thumb switches the lever to fire and the finger is on the trigger. Your clothes haven’t been washed in over a week but you rifle is spotless, Its your lifeline. The squad moves down either side of the street, spaced, scanning sectors. We reach our target house silently and in one thunderous smash the door is kicked open and we have every room of the house secured before most people can even pull back the covers. But who are these people that we hunt. They are shop owners, merchants, construction workers, police officers, religious figures, and the families that lie in between. Mothers and children are separated and watched with vigilant eyes, theirs are full of fear. Are they members of a militant militia bent on the ousting and destruction of coalition forces or simple families caught in the middle? Victims of false intelligence? There is a new enemy among us, this enemy is the unknown. The unknown keeps your sharp, keeps your senses keen. We’ve been shot at on these same streets. And the next day I’ve seen children smiling. This constant embodiment of the unknown keeps us vigilant, always watching and waiting for the brief few seconds when the silence is shattered. This city is alive, and these streets are where we come alive.

finally an update right?

2008-08-05T03:01:00.000-07:00

well things have been going ok here. lots of VIP's comming through the area which means that we have to secure all sorts of different sites so that they can look around. sometimes they show up and sometimes they dont. its a real pain in the ass. but I got to meet a lieutent general of the colition forces in iraq. Right below General Petraus. he was brittish and wore a funny hat...silly brits haha. patrols go on and on. several a day usally. its getting to be about 120 on average now sometimes higher. but it is august right? all my days seem to bleed into one. the only reason i know what the date is, is because i just got a watch 3 days ago that says it. usally i dont know what day of the week it is... its all irrelivent, untill you forget something, or someone important. its hard to explain but theres really no point in keeping track of days anymore. i forgot My best friend Christies birthday and i feel horrible about that...sorry Christie.

i found out this morning that my grandmother recently slipped and fell and broke her hip. she goes in for surgery on wed. my mother is one hell of a strong woman thats for sure.

in other news i got my computer finally. a few days ago and was finally able to load some pics up. im kinda in some sort of black and white phase now so youll have to excuse that haha. as for now talk to ya all later.

bye

hey all

2008-07-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

life here got a littl ebit more interesting over the past few days. last week an IED went off right outside our building injuring 4 soldiers. They went part of our company, military police from another base. Our platoon was on a patrol right in the area of the blast. They ran towards the blast site and assisted with security and first aid to the wounded soldiers, one of which had massive blast injuries to the right foot and another with shrapnel injuries to the nose and face. The men were evacuated to our treatment facility about 2 miles away and were flighted out to recieve surgery in the green zone in baghdad. My platoon did an amazing job. I wasnt there due to other missions, but they all stepped up and acted very swiftly and did exactly what they were trained to do.

The other night at about 430 am we were all woken up by explosions...and they were close. no one knew what was going on. we thought we were being attacked by rockets, which is common as well as very destructive to the other bases in our area. we threw our gear on and maned the different guard posts for our base, increasing security. I prepared for causalitys comming in but there were none. turnes out the enemy had fired several morters at our building but their aim sucks so they fire one wait for to hit then make adjustments. well either satalites or someone in the area knew where they were firing from and called in apaches and an AC130 gun ship. the AC 130 is a cargo plane loaded with advanced weaponary and imaging equipment. 2 30mm gatling guns, 40 mm cannon and a 105mm howitzer cannon. its been described as "the closet thing man has created to the fist of god" we heard explosions all around us we had no idea what was happening. it delievered somewhere between 50-75 105mm shells to the ground destroying alot on a neighborhood across the street. The airforce saved our asses.

daily life is normal lots of patrols with a hightened sence of awareness...we know their out there now. theyve just been waiting. on another note my computer died so i havent been able to post any pics but heres one off my buddies site and a picture of the AC130. enjoy!

some time off in the green zone

2008-07-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

yesterday we were able to go to the green zone, a secure part of bagdad and the heart of iraq. we were able to get a decent haircut, eat good food and yes we even went swimming. 2 years ago if you would have told me i would be swimming in a war zone much less be in a war zone i would have laughed at you. evrything in this palace was amazing...huge 60 foot vualted ceilings with amazing designs, gold and marble everywhere. one of the pics is us in one of his rooms. gold couches and a copper like mirror room. i felt like i was at a disco haha.

I saw a poster on a wall about an art exhibt in new york where local iraqi artist's painted their version of the "shock and awe" in the kick off of the war in iraq. it would have been kinda cool to see that. i thought about christie, she would have liked to see that, but shes too busy saving the world in burma haha.

passing time around these parts

2008-07-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

4th of july was pretty borring. nothing exciting happened except for our interprater slaughtered and cooked lamb for us all and i helped... 3 hours in 115 degrees cooking over a grill is not fun at all. this terp is the same one that we cut the infection out of when we were still at camp taji.

We recently just went out to forward operating base Shield for our range day to zero our weapons and make sure they are still accurate. Bouncing around in Bradleys and constantly bumping and banging can sometimes throw out sight systems off a little bit. Its funny but this platoon will just about make anything fun. you have to find the bright side of things when theres nothing to be excited about. thank god for awesome sences of humor! this is Breazeal or blue as every one calls him. and i swear to you i dont have any pictures of him not flipping off the camera. And Mancini is a riot always making us laugh. right up untill the point where he got knocked out. im just kidding about that actually

Things are good out here lately. now that its not enough that we have to worry about the madahi army which in approx 60,000 strong now we have gangs to worry about... the leader is some 20 year old punk bitch that likes to terrorize people and really makes alot of civilians fearful for their life. so that really our mission right now. once the wall in Sadr City went up the Milisha became scarce but now we have this punk kid to deal with. Makes you wonder how much of an impact your making out here. ?

Grandpa

2008-06-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

you are very missed

thanks are in order

2008-06-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

last night i recieved some mail from my cousin Bryan and his huge family in Indiana. thank you so much for all the goodies. The pictures and cards that the kids wrote and drew are now hanging on my wall above my bed. The coffee is wonderful and had a cup this morning. Let all the kids know that my Platoon and the children of Iraq say thanks for the candy.
The other day we were out on patrol and stopping by different houses to drop off generators. The mother of a child asked if i could look and see if i could help at all. i dont think i was prepared for what i was about to see. The child was brought out and set on the floor laying down, completely limp, i was told that the little girl was 10 years old and doesnt eat anything just liquids. It looked as if the little girl had spinal meningitis, the girls muscles were in complete atrophy because of the complete inability to grow muscle and inability to move. Malnourishment and a hard working heart was all that this child had. there was nothing i could do. it was absolutly heart breaking. The little girl had been living like that for 10 years now...im not sure if it was spinal meningitis but it looked similar. im no doctor. then the Iraqi commander asked if i could look at two other children 3 houses down as a favor to them. i agreed and walked in on a brother and sister with what looked like severe Autism. the little girl was completly incapasatated and the brother showed little movement. again i could not do anything to help. This is a bi-product from cross breeding of the families...a tradition from the olden days when it was common place for incest. just the way they did things back in the day... we left and i didnt say much for the rest of the day. It took a toll on me seeing kids like that... its never easy.
We went on patrol a few hours ago in incredable heat. If you want to know what Iraq feels like put a blow dryer in front of your face or open the oven when its cooking...its horrible heat and it really hasnt gotten to its full potential yet. Temps are expected to hit mid to high 130's...crazy i know. we took a quick rest in a house today to get out of the heat and the temp inside this house was 121 degrees. i never knew i could sweat that much.
Things are going ok here not too much to talk about. lots of patrols a day for me lately about 3 or 4 is average...not too much to report ill have some pics up here soon. Take care everyone

It was a weird feeling from the start

2008-06-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

before you start reading...a warning, this is our life...this is the beast of iraq...some days nothing, one day...something.

As we started our patrol at 0100 or 1am we walked though our area of operation and things seemed out of place. I couldnt tell you exactly what it was but it just didnt feel right. we moved down alley after alley hinding and moving in the shadows. there was a strange feeling of being watched. We moved down another alley way and stoped at a main road. one team had to run across and pull overwatch as the next team moved across the road. the first team went and when they were in position across the road i looked back and saw that the following team was looking at something. on the second story there were two men looking at us and then ducking their heads down. night vision is an amazing thing...we were able to see every movement. they poked their heads out again and were met with a red laser pointed at their heads. needless to say we didnt see them again. our team scrambled across the street and pulled over watch for the third and final team to cross. the first team then started moving down another alley, we were going home. As soon as i got up and started moving shots rang out. we all quickly found cover and returned fire. Then we moved up a parallel wall and bounded as teams of two ran to a bigger building by the main road. as soon as they were set the other two went. When i got over to the bigger building there were only 4 more guys to get over to us. And as soon as they did we saw men in the alleyway facing us with weapons. An entire Gun team opened fire on this alley way, destroying cars and buildings with high volumes of fire and high explosive 40mm grenades. 6 grenades were fired almost instantly and men were running through mag after mag. our vehicles were at the scene now and were opening fire with large caliber machine guns supressing fire while we mounted up. the whole ordeal lasted only about 10 minutes but we managed to go through nearly 1000 rounds of rifle ammo and 6 High explosive grenades. muzzle flashes were seen from several different locations and lead each one of us to believe that they were waiting for us. Those two men on the rooftop...did they give us away, did they call ahead? gunships were on standby and in the area looking for targets for their hellfire missles to strike. There was no more movement. we moved back through the area twice since a few hours ago and found nothing...just mangled cars and buildings. this city has its high points and low points... the children are smiling durring the day but at any moment things can change. i write this here because its important you understand what were doing here. its important to know that were still here. I started this to give friends and family an accurate portrayel of what its really like over here.

hey everybody

2008-06-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,

things have been ok out here lately. its getting really hot now...i dont even care to look at a thermomater. Not too much going on here. a few updates though... my december leave is now up in the air...because of the dust storms no birds can fly...therefore those people dont leave on time for their leave so it pushes everyone back one day...we have had 10 days of red air. so that would push me back to december 18th now...bullshit i know. so we will have to wait and see if this gets moved around to try to fix the problem... im as lost as you are in this situation. in other news ive heard that we push past the wall in december so that should be fun haha. Ive decided on becoming a flight medic when i get out of iraq. its something that i can make alot of money with in the private sector and something that i would be very happy with... ill drop my packet and go to school for 4 weeks then be a medic on a medivac blackhawk....how cool. i feel a little relieved that i finally made up my mind. This way ill be able to have some sort of life back home...well heres some random pics from our patrols...not too much going on so ill give some background on the pics.

This is Stalher. hes our grenadier, and AG (assistant gunner) he carrys all the ammo for our big gun that another guy carrys. the little kid in the forground is Lenny...well we actually dont know his name so we just called him Lenny. he didnt say much but for about 15 minutes he was Staff Sgt Richwien's best friend (pic above Stalher)

The girl in the green dress was so intrigued by my camera... she didnt move or anything. usally the women in this country arnt as welcoming of photography as the boys are. but i thought this turned out pretty good

As we were questioning some people on the street SGT Consintine was moving around to get a better position for security. SGT Consintine is one of our team leaders

And well this was me crammed into the bradley while delivering 3 generators to people's business' that were affected by the combat going on

lost in thoughts

2008-06-08T06:56:00.001-07:00

The days at cop Comanche leave a lot of time to think about the coming days and years. A lot of us here have been questioning the things that we want to do with the rest of our lives and careers. Its started to play a lot in my head as well. Where do I go from here? There’s a few options for me and each one seems great but I just don’t know which way I want to go. I had a conversation with my best friend Christie not too long ago about similar problems while facing decisions in the pathways of life. I think she said It best. When there are so many different ways that you can go I wish someone would just choose for me. I have 2 years left in my contract with the army. My dream has always been to become an 18delta or special forces medic. That has been my aspiration since day one but there’s so many factors that play into the special forces career. If I work my ass off and am selected then that will be my career until I retire. I know I wouldn’t want to do anything else. it’s a lot of work but that’s not what makes me apprehensive in the matter. I know that if I put my mind to something I wont fail. But it also means that I wont be able to have a stable life for quite some time. The operational tempo is on the higher end. Having that “special someone” is pretty much out of the question. I would want to focus on everything that I needed to learn. I’m already missing my friends and family a lot. I don’t know if I want to commit my life to the army just yet. I’m only 23 years old. I got a lot ahead of me. Then there’s the opportunity of becoming a flight medic for a medivac helicopter. Its something that has interested me ever since I saw mercy air (flight medics) land at a car crash we responded to. It fascinates me. Every time I see a helicopter in the sky I act like some damn 6 year old at an air show. The opportunity that I could work as a civilian on a medivac bird after I got out of the military is very high. And they make very good money. Or there’s the option of getting out and going to paramedic school with my G.I. bill money. And continuing with the firefighter/paramedic route. I’m already a certified firefighter. And with 4 years as infantry line medic with wartime experience counts for something. But with such a competitive job market who knows what that counts for anymore. Being hired on as a firefighter/paramedic has been a goal of mine since I was young. My only problem is feeling accomplished in everything I complete. I’ve worked my ass off for the things that I have to show. I’m proud of all I’ve accomplished but I never feel like its enough. I never truly feel accomplished. I’m always looking forward and looking for the next challenge

but oh well heres some more pics for your enjoyment...my new gear come in the other day and i got my bedding finally...I have a pillow! whoot! no more sleeping on my laundry bag

today i mounted a bayonet on my rifle haha completely pointless but it still looks cool ahhaa

the kids in sadr city

2008-06-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

I swear there has got to be more kids than in this city then ive ever seen before in my life...today on patrol we made the best of out time by playing around and chasing the kids. it was a blast. thought id share some pics. daily life around here is not so bad besides the heat. 122 degrees in full gear is begining to suck...just waiting till 135degrees. We BBQ'd tonight. it was awesome. we had a first platoon cookout.

pics and more!

2008-06-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

well heres some pics of the trash stash... and our good friend the barret .50 cal sniper rifle...at 1500 yards it will punch a softball size hole in you... good stuff... and the other image is the view through our acog scope. Things are slow here and days are passing by quickly. have fun everyone and ill talk to ya soon

yes the stash is alive!

2008-05-29T05:00:00.002-07:00

the molest-stash is growing in great...ive decided to grow one simply out of bordom. i swear to god its the most horrible stash ive ever seen in my life. but im going to continue to grow it untill i cant take it anymore. life here is good. im down to 163 pounds now due to all the sweating while on patrol. starting to get a little ripped haha i dont mean to toot my own horn but beep beep! either that or im just stupid skinny. passing the bordom here with lots of movies and magazines. im in the process of plastering my walls with surfing posters. well all is good here and im just waiting on the next patrol. ill post some more pics soon. take care all!

update in sadr city

2008-05-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

hi all! i hope all is well back in the states...here is pretty good but its starting to get really hot! weve been doing patrols in the heat of the day which is about 115 degrees give or take. lots of kids everywhere...i dont know how they can stand the heat. the 60- 70 pounds of gear i wear is starting to take a toll on my back. but things will be better...better life through modern pharmacuticals! i just got done watching the new indiana jones movie....i was dissapointed. whats up with steven speilburg and aliens! damn give it a rest! well life is damn hot here and things are quiet...heres some pics from our patrols

bored to death

2008-05-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

nothings happening here lately. hardly any gunshots anymore, one might think thats a good thing but i tend to think of the calm before the storm. we havent gone out in 3 days now. all weve been doing is pulling guard while they put up this fucking wall. if i see another concrete barrier in the next 15 months ill just randomly start shooting...really i wont but ill be upset to say the least. i was pulling guard yesterday and got to hang out with a iraqi army special forces soldier. it was pretty interesting to find out what kind of training their getting. we had an arabic lesson for about 3 hours... that is one hard ass language to learn. For the most part i havent really done much except read and listen to music. i watched a movie called battle for haditha which won all sorts of awards and it was the biggest piece of shit ive ever seen. it really showed the military in a horrible light. the haditha incident was horrible but its almost like they made the marines sound like blood thirsty killers in this movie...i had to turn it off. the down time makes me think alot about home and the people i left behind. Ryan and Robby and Nate.my mom and all my friends who have been there for me through alot of shit. i feel like im missing out on alot. i cant believe ill be gone for over a year. it already seems so long since ive seen them. Ryan's my best friend and i hardly talk to him...its horrible. hes not to much into the whole internet thing so its rare that i get to talk to him as much as i should. All my friends keep sending positive vibes my way and i cant thank them enough for that. i guess when im away and have down time i think about home too much. i just gotta get back into the things that eat up my time. But on a positive side i had a good dinner finally and i actually got to drink a monster that was room temp...it didnt matter, for that few minutes i was in heaven. I also got my first letter from my grandma. She writes me every week. i look forward to her letters. time to go read "lone survivior" Its a book about a navy seal and how his entire team died...its a good read if yu ever pic it up...im just rambling now. bye all

Another adventure into Sadr City

2008-05-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

We went on a 3 hour patrol today and knocked on some doors. meet alot of people in this horribly crowded city. The strange thing was every single person we passed had a smile of their face and waved and greeted us. As i walked past the run down neighborhoods i saw so many children smiling and waving. it really hits you hard. a couple other guys and myself handed out some candy to the little kids. As i walked past a small child and waved he got scared and hid behind his father. The father explained to me that it was the most contact the child had with an American thus far. Almost the entire city was very welcoming of us. Then we walked down another street and the children stopped following us and ran back...they wouldnt go down that street. People were no longer in the streets and it turned into a ghost town very quickly. The block was only a few hundred meters but all your sences turn on high. you remember your not in a country where everyone likes you...there are people that want to kill you. Its a very sobering feeling. smiles on the guys immeadiatly turned into gritted teeth. We all prepared for hell to unleash...but nothing happened. Those children told us alot just by not walking with us anymore. this country is filled with so much good but no one ever hears about it. This country is also filled with a hell of alot of bad too. you just gotta learn to roll with the punches...
On a much lighter note, Its my moms birthday today! Happy B-day mom! ive miss 2 birthdays of hers now. I feel horrinble about it but i dont have much choice in the matter. i hope you have a great day and know that im thinking of ya
Good bye for now all

some pics of oblivion

2008-05-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

heres some random pics of sadr city and a few i found of our trip into baghdad

and i like to snort gunpowder before i go into battle haha

a view of carnage

2008-05-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

went to a different district today... farther into the city. we took contact a couple of times in the morning and again in the afternoon. I had to start an I.V. on my driver because of heat exaustion but hes all good. About 30 min later a morter landed so close it blew all the windows out of the building we were in. Needless to say that got my attention. luckly no one was hurt the entire day. Things went very smooth and the shooters in the towers went through about 700 rounds of ammo today. The interesting thing is this happened to be a location where iraqi police control, as we were running from point to point and had full body armor on, the Iraqi police were just standing out there in t-shirts and pants like they had been through it a thousand times. why would one live in a country where it becomes so common place to hear gunshots and explosions that you simply dont care anymore. I dont react that strongly to gunfire or explosions because i expect it...im here to experience that but i dont live here. And i could never raise a family here. As for those who might read this and stress out becuase they dont want to hear it or their scared well its important that you know what were all going through out here. i think its important that you hear truth instead of just listening to the news. so long for now... ive got some pictures comming very soon of a destroyed neighborhood...it looks like dresden

the children of iraq

2008-05-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

if you could take the worst enviroment imaginable and add heat, famine, bugs, malaria, poverty beyond anything you could imagine, add a shit load of trash and human shit everywhere and you have the slums of Sadr City... now imagine small children running and waving. smiles on their faces even in the worst possible living conditions. that hit me pretty hard. I guess i didnt know I had a soft spot for kids that much. The adolecents just try to sell you shit but the little kids brighten your day when your wearing 60 pounds of gear, sweating your ass off and havent showered in 4 days. its the little things i guess.

pics from Sadr City

2008-05-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

heres some pics from the last 2 days

out here in sadr city

2008-05-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

things are pretty good... with the exception of being in the most dangerous city in the world right now haha. (damn i have a horrible sence of humor) things are good we got mail today! thanks mom the ear plugs fit great. thanks for all the little odds and ends they will come in handy. our living space its crazy close right now. Bons and I are practically cuddling. i pulled guard last night for 3 hours and watch 5 IED's go off and lots of gun fire. its a crazy city... the internet is really slow tonight ill try to jump on in the morning and upload some more

proud of my friend

2008-05-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Im so very proud of my best friend Robby Hagar. He just graduated from his fire acadmey. He went through hell for 13 weeks and endured it with great honor. Robby is one of the best people I know and im so glad I have friends like him back home. One of the very few that i call my brothers. I love ya buddy and congrats. Im so sorry i couldnt be there.

small update

2008-05-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

I havent really been doing much lately, except making sure my guys are all good. i had to take my interpreter to the aid station because he had a pretty bad infection in his finger. so i got to watch and assist with the surgery of opening his finger and clearing out all the infection. it was pretty interesting. Then later in the night i got to remove a finger nail from one of my SGT's fingers. Injecting the finger to numb it and cutting the fingernail away from the nail bed. just glad it wasnt my finger. Things have been pretty relaxed here for the most part. just trying to keep busy and working out mostly. finally the internet is back up so i have my mode of commo back! we keep hearing outgoing mortars throughout the night but outgoing is a hell of alot better then incomming haha. i was able to talk to some of my friends earlier and they were all going to see Iron Man. bummed me out. im missing out on all sorts of cool stuff back home. just crossing my fingers for the new alkaline trio album to come out so it can be sent to me...its the little things haha. yesterday i was able to talk to our interpreter for alittle bit, it was facinating to find out the way he lived while under sadams regime. He said he wanted a better life for his family and he wanted to make a difference. maybe in some aspects were not so different after all... in a world where were forced to believe that this country is filled with such horrible people, its nice to find common ground. i love you guys and ill be talking to you very soon...love ya

decimating some time

2008-05-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

things here have been pretty borring. were all just waiting on the word to go. clean weapon,work out, eat, reorginize medical supplies, eat again, watch movies, and clean weapon some more. pretty dull life right now. weve been in communications black out for a few days due to the dust storms... but all is well. heres a few pics from the last few days of me pretty much just goofing off

midday heat

2008-04-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

today was pretty hot here. our base is right next to the tigris river. Its a crazy feeling being 23 and seeing the tigris river. Out base sits amongst rubble and ruin of the push for bagdad. tank grave yards, destroyed buildings and a barron landscape. we got stuck in a sand storm yesterday and it turned day to night. I felt like i was in the twilight zone. Things here are good. we practiced so drills of getting patients out of our bradley fighting vehicle which proved to be one hell of a task. The daily grind goes on and on...

pics from the trip in

2008-04-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

heres a few pics from our trip into iraq

we flew in on a C130 that felt like 150 degrees and then waited for long periods of time and now were in iraq. more and more pics to come soon bear with me people!

oh and were caught in a sand storm right now... fantastic closing your mouth and crunching sand between your teeth! the guy

beside me in the pic is bons hes from carlsbad too. the guy with the glasses is stalher. the guy flipping off the camera is SGT huges our squad leader. there also a old tank grave yard full of soviet tanks that are blown to shit

intro

2008-04-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

im a line medic for 1-6 inf out of Germany. recently deployed to iraq. just here to post some pics for family and friends