"Another letter from Tikrit"

W

Was Fuz

Registered
Hello

I woke up last night to mortar rounds. As I layed there wondering where and when the next one would hit, it made me think about the fragility of life. One moment living and breathing and the next dead. Six people died the other day from a mortar round attack. We've been lucky so far, but I wonder if our luck is going to run out. Our motor pool was hit a few weeks ago. One of our generators was destroyed along with a stack of tires and some shrapnel flew into a sleep tent. It was during the day, so no one was in there. I never really wondered about it before--I always just assumed I was indestructable, but as I lay awake last night, reality hit. The explosions were loud and vibrated my cot. At any moment I could be dead.

Thanks for taking care of Marisa for me while I've been gone. It means a lot to both of us. You have really been great grandparents to the kids too. I really have it in my heart to come up there one day, sooner or later, to stay. I would love to be a cop, but I am ashamed of a couple immature mistakes I made, which could prevent that from happening. You know what I am talking about.

Well, have a good day at work. Talk to you later. Love,

James
 
RE: "Another letter from Tikrit"

I am glad your son is okay.

It is definitely a dangerous mission they are on. I hope that a permanent stable Iraq goverment gets established as soon as possible, so our guys can come home.

Alexander
President
Lincolns of Distinction
 
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Thanks for the update, Jack. Please let your son know he is doing a great thing. The news media doesn’t portray it correctly, but those young men and women over there are helping to make an investment for all of our futures. Establishing a free government for the people of Iraq will help open them up to the pleasures of what freedom and a free market society is all about. It may eventually help to stabilize the Middle East and add some balance.

I know many of our Army personnel over there are helping to rebuild schools and hospitals that were turned into munitions hideout by Saddam. I recently saw a survey taken in Baghdad, the first in more than 30 years in Iraq, that showed 65% of the Iraqi people want the US Troops there and only 17% want them to leave.

It’s a thankless job, but thank your Son for being there for us.





** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
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I have always wondered where you came up with the name "Tikrit". Is it tribal or from your family history or something? Not trying to offend. Just curious.
 
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May G-D watch over James and keep him safe and deliver him back to his family unharmed.
 
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I have always wondered where you came up with the name "Tikrit". Is it tribal or from your family history or something? Not trying to offend. Just curious.
Click to expand...


It is a city in Iraq.
 
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I am such an idiot. That is soooo funny. Guess it's time to pull out a globe. I guess I could have looked at the bottom of the letter to see that he signed it. Now that I think about it I was pronouncing it wrong in my head. We really need to have a longer time where we can edit our posts :)
 
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It's people like him, that make this country great. Tell him to keep his head down, trust his supervisors and pray for guidance, strength and safety.
God Bless the USA and those who serve in harms way.
 
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Something to think about:
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I received this yesterday from a military retiree. It impressed me and made me remember something that I learned many years ago.....that the NCOs and enlisted soldiers are the backbone of the United States Army. We should all be proud of the unselfish service all our military personnel provide to this country.
The original email follows:

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TO MAKE YOU AND I PROUD
The Third Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer has the responsibility for providing ceremonial units and honor guards for state occasions, White House social functions, public celebrations and interments at Arlington National Cemetery....and standing a very formal sentry watch at the Tombs of the Unknowns. The public is familiar with the precision of what is called "walking post" at the Tombs. There are roped off galleries where visitors can form to observe the troopers and their measured step and almost mechanical silent rifle shoulder changes. They are relieved every hour in a very formal drill that has to be seen to believe. Some people think that when the Cemetery is closed to the public in the evening that this show stops. First, to the men who who are dedicated to this work...it is no show...it is a "charge of honor".The formality and precision continues uninterrupted all night. During the nighttime, the drill of relief and the measured step of the on duty sentry remain unchanged from the daylight hours. To these men...these special men, the continuity of this post is the key to the honor and respect shown to these honored dead, symbolic of all American unaccounted for American combat dead.

The steady rhythmic step in rain, sleet, snow, hail, hot,cold...bitter cold...uninterrupted...uninterrupted is the important part of the honor shown. Last night, while you were sleeping, the teeth of hurricane Isabel came through this area and tore hell out of everything... We have thousands of trees down...power outages...traffic signals out...roads filled with down limbs and "gear adrift" debris...We have flooding...and the place looks like it has been the impact area of an off shore bombardment.

The Regimental Commander of the U.S. Third Infantry sent word to the nighttime Sentry Detail to secure the post and seek shelter from the high winds, to ensure their personal safety. THEY DISOBEYED THE ORDER...During winds that turned over vehicles and turned debris into projectiles...the measured step continued.

One fellow said "I've got buddies getting shot at in Iraq who would kick my butt if word got to them that we let them down...I'm sure as hell have no intention of spending my Army career being known as the goddam idiot who couldn't stand a little light breeze and shirked his duty." ....Then he said something in response to a female reporters question regarding silly purposeless personal risk...."I wouldn't expect you to understand. it's an enlisted man's thing." God Bless the rascal...In a time in our nation's history when spin and total BS seems to have become the accepted coin-of-the-realm, there beat hearts...the enlisted hearts we all knew and were so damn proud to be a part of...that fully understand that devotion to duty is not a part time occupation.

While we slept, we were represented by some damn fine men who fully understood their post orders and proudly went about their assigned responsibilities unseen, unrecognized and in the finest tradition of the American Enlisted Man. Folks, there's hope....The gene that George S. Patton...Arliegh Burke and Jimmy Doolittle left us...survives.

...More....
On the ABC evening news, it was reported tonight that, because of the dangers from Hurricane Isabel approaching Washington DC, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They refused. "No way, Sir!"

Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a service person.

The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.


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** Bill **
1995 LSC-R'ed w/Recaro's and Cobra R's
Veteran of Carlisle 2000/01/02/03
[a href=//cardomain.com/member_pages/view_page.pl?page_id=258112]For Pic's and Mods click here[/a]

...Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself....
 
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