Over Here – Day 369

It's been one year since I left Arizona. What a year. I still have around two months left... but still, that's two compared to fourteen! My last day in Phoenix is still fresh in my mind. It was one of the most heart-wrenching experiences I have ever been through. It seems like it happened aeons ago, and at the same time, like it happened yesterday. I remember thinking how much time there was ahead of me before I could be back home again, and see my family and friends. And now... salvation is in sight! Back then, I didn't have the words to describe my emotions at leaving... and now I find that I am at a loss for words to describe my emotions about coming home, except that I can only say that it will be a feeling of joy in its most distilled and purest form. I want to thank you all for making me feel that I am not forgotten and that I am loved. Thank you for all the emails, letters, and care packages! Nothing makes a soldier happier than a little something from his loved ones. Thank you once again.

As far as things that have been going on here, there hasn't been much. Everyday is pretty much the same and we've gotten into such a rut that we really don't notice the days flying past, which is A Good Thing. I don't even know where August went. The only exciting things happened a few weeks ago. First, we had a company organizational day where we had a treasure hunt. The team with the most points got to throw pies in the Commander's face. It was pretty cool! We had him locked up in a stock that SPC Palmer made. Then the winning team threw pies at him and then doused him in water!

A week or two later, we went to the IZ for our organizational day. 1^st platoon took us there, and I got to drive! Ok, now it was my first time, so I was less than exemplary at getting there, but hey... it was my first time, alright? We first stopped over at the Crossed Sabres. I had already been there before, but it was nice seeing it again. I took a few more pictures, and also climbed up one of the hands and took had picure taken of me peeking out of the top. I also climbed up this tower and took pictures from the top. We also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which honours the Iraqi Soldiers who died during the Iran-Iraq War. There is nothing inside now - all the exhibits are empty and there is a thick layer of dust over everything. It lives up to its name. After that, we visited the American Embassy in Iraq. The Embassy is housed in Saddam's palace. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, which is truly unfortunate, because the architecture is simply breathtaking. All the flooring is in marble, and there are all sorts of carvings on the door and on the ceiling. The furniture is absolutely gorgeous. It's also extremely easy to get lost in there, because the whole place is so huge! Most of the rooms have been converted into offices and operations centers. Also a lot of the larger rooms have been made into chow halls or MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) centers. At the back of the embassy, there is a pool. That was our next destination. We spent the rest of the day chilling out by the poolside, and playing volleyball in the water. It was nice to just unwind and have a day that is completely different from our usual days. When we were done at the pool, we went to this place called Blackhawk where we bought (pirated) DVD's from the Iraqis. After that, it was time for us to go back.

Oh, I almost forgot. Before we had our organization day, I took a trip to Ramadi. This was a week or so before our organizational day. The drive to Ramadi is two hours long, and really boring. The landscape looks like the one between Tucson and Phoenix, except for the fact that here, you have the occasional bombed-out building. The camp I went to in Ramadi can be summed up in one word - dusty. It must suck when it rains there. Everywhere you have inches and inches of moondust - fine dust that gets everywhere and in everything. The place also gets hit by a lot of mortars and RPG's, but when I was there, it was strangely quiet. Nothing much happened over there, I just hung out with my buddies there and also with SSG Lopez. That was pretty much it.

I wish had more exciting things to say, but unfortunately, this is about it. As far as my family is concerned, they want it to stay that way and I understand!

One more thing, I ran into this blog. It's a blog by a girl (who use to be) in Baghdad. Her posts are very touching. You'll find a lot of pictures of kittens and cats there, because she likes them a lot, but there are actual posts where she talks about her experiences also. So go ahead and take a look.

That's about it for now. Enjoy the pictures:

The Commander in the stock, and the First Sergeant with a cattleprod.

The commander with pie on his face!

That's me in the humvee, on the way to the IZ.

SGT Perez and I in Ramadi.

In the humvee, again.

SGT Dahlseid and I on a tower overlooking Baghdad.

Over Baghdad.

Our humvees as seen from the top of the tower.

Closeup of our humvees.

Peeking out of one of the hands at the Crossed Sabres.

An Iraqi Soldier and I at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

All of us at the tomb.

Another Iraqi Soldier and I.

Mmmmm.... BBQ...

We can see these blimps over the camp. I don't know what they do.

This is the stock that SPC Palmer made. Pretty awesome craftsmanship.

I saw this pretty sweet looking jeep at the PX.

SGT Laning and I.

SGT Laning and SPC Greene.

Update:

I made an "Army Of One" poster using a group picture of all of us in the Motors Section. Here it is. It links to a larger version:

Army Of One!

I also wrote a script that archives all my journal entries. It will archive everything except the latest entry, into an actual file. You can still submit comments to the archived entries, but you may not see your comments immediately. The script is run hourly so it may take up to an hour for your comments to show.