just a few thoughts

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

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

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

i make it rain! gangstas rollin with the benjamins!

this is my christmas tree :)

SGT Bustos really loves christmas

christmas pics

merry christmas...

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

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.