Four years ago today in Monterey California a girl was born who would change my life forever. That girl is my daughter.
When I saw her for the first time I couldn't help it, I cried. She was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
Linnea, I promise to always be there for you through love, guidance, and care. You are my dear one, my daughter. To watch you and your brother Jacob grow has been so very wonderful.
There is no way for you to fully understand right now why I have been gone so many times and for so long, but when you get older I will tell you all about it.
I love you my beautiful daughter Linnea, Happy Birthday
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
A Year to Remember
Well, this is it. This is what the war has come to. I have heard that at other bases (Baghdad to be specific) they were doing this as well, but I guess I hoped for the best and was sadly disappointed. The unit I am attached to has decided to make a yearbook for this deployment.
I spoke with the soldier who had been put in charge of getting a picture of everyone for the yearbook and the soldier said that they (the person who assigned that soldier the task, just think of someone who may have too much time on their hands and who is in charge of soldiers) wanted to have a color yearbook, but that nobody wanted to pay $10 for it (nobody really wants a free one either to be honest) so they are doing a black and white one.
I thought my ears had heard wrong as I stared in amazement to the words coming out of that soldier's mouth. So this is it? This is how we are spending your tax dollars? I suppose there is something I just don't understand here... Like maybe this will help us in the 'War on Terror' somehow. Who really knows.
Days here seem to read right out of Joseph Heller's book Catch-22. I wish I could laugh at it all but I just don't have it in me.
I spoke with the soldier who had been put in charge of getting a picture of everyone for the yearbook and the soldier said that they (the person who assigned that soldier the task, just think of someone who may have too much time on their hands and who is in charge of soldiers) wanted to have a color yearbook, but that nobody wanted to pay $10 for it (nobody really wants a free one either to be honest) so they are doing a black and white one.
I thought my ears had heard wrong as I stared in amazement to the words coming out of that soldier's mouth. So this is it? This is how we are spending your tax dollars? I suppose there is something I just don't understand here... Like maybe this will help us in the 'War on Terror' somehow. Who really knows.
Days here seem to read right out of Joseph Heller's book Catch-22. I wish I could laugh at it all but I just don't have it in me.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Second Oldest Christian Church in the World
Friday, August 26, 2005
Take it for what it's worth
Eternal Damnation you swear on me.
Your eyes show the hate you harbor.
Here is my neck, I say to you,
Your hands are cold as they begin to squeeze.
It is a diamond you hold, you know?
As imperfect as it is it is still a soul.
Your eyes show the hate you harbor.
Here is my neck, I say to you,
Your hands are cold as they begin to squeeze.
It is a diamond you hold, you know?
As imperfect as it is it is still a soul.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Birdie Birdie in the Sky....
Birdie in the sky
Hey! Wait! That's not a birdie
Good thing they missed me
A haiku about mortars
We got hit with mortars 2 days ago and I almost lost a few buddies. The mortars hit on the walking path from the chow hall to my house and my friends were on their way when one asked the others to wait up for him he ran back into the house to get something then they started walking again. Well, when the mortars hit they would have been in the kill zone if they hadn't waited, instead they just felt the blast of air and the thunderous boom from the impact of 3 or 4 mortars...
Hey! Wait! That's not a birdie
Good thing they missed me
A haiku about mortars
We got hit with mortars 2 days ago and I almost lost a few buddies. The mortars hit on the walking path from the chow hall to my house and my friends were on their way when one asked the others to wait up for him he ran back into the house to get something then they started walking again. Well, when the mortars hit they would have been in the kill zone if they hadn't waited, instead they just felt the blast of air and the thunderous boom from the impact of 3 or 4 mortars...
Friday, August 19, 2005
Special Forces
A couple of days ago I was talking to 2 U.S. Special Forces Soldiers and I was very surprised to find that they thought that we were loosing over here in Iraq and that it would take, "10, 20, 30 years until we are done here."
One of the SF soldiers told me that he is so sick of coming over here that he will do anything when he gets home just so he doesn't have to come back over here.
Even our most elite troops are seeing the grim reality that we have here in Iraq. Why can't you see it too America?
One of the SF soldiers told me that he is so sick of coming over here that he will do anything when he gets home just so he doesn't have to come back over here.
Even our most elite troops are seeing the grim reality that we have here in Iraq. Why can't you see it too America?
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Black Hawk Ride
Black Hawk Ride
Originally uploaded by nevadog.
A Black Hawk ride between Foward Operation Bases (FOBs)
Lessons Learned
What a place Iraq is. You go to bed to the sound of .50 caliber machine gun fire and wake up to 120 degree F (or hotter) temperatures. You get bombed and shot at and you carry a gun and body armor. You get to shoot and kill people too.
In Iraq I found out many things. I learned what pieces of glistening bone look like when they are still fresh. I found out what the inside of a brain looks like, and how much blood leaks out of dead human beings. There are other things too that I have learned over here, like what Depleted Uranium rounds look like and what a person smells like when they have burned to death. I learned a lot about death here, like all the different ways bullets can rip through a person and turn them into so much meat.
One lesson that I still remember like it was yesterday was what a dead child looks like when they have been shot in the head.
I learned that you can cry until tears won't come anymore and I learned what poverty really is. I also found out here in Iraq that I know how to make people die, and I learned what true desperation is.
You won't find these lessons in the school house. Most people won't even learn these things through life experiences. I wonder if they count for anything? I wish that I learned these lessons so that my son and daughter would never have to, but my father hoped for that same thing back in Vietnam and my grandfather had similar wishes while serving in World War II.
These lessons and more I learned in Iraq. A fellow soldier told me the other day, "show me a terrorist nowadays that we didn't help create here in Iraq." Perhaps you think we are making lives better here? Maybe you haven't seen the same things I have.
Welcome to the Iraq School of Hard Knocks where you can learn a lesson in futility. All these lessons I have learned... I just haven't learned how to stop the nightmares.
In Iraq I found out many things. I learned what pieces of glistening bone look like when they are still fresh. I found out what the inside of a brain looks like, and how much blood leaks out of dead human beings. There are other things too that I have learned over here, like what Depleted Uranium rounds look like and what a person smells like when they have burned to death. I learned a lot about death here, like all the different ways bullets can rip through a person and turn them into so much meat.
One lesson that I still remember like it was yesterday was what a dead child looks like when they have been shot in the head.
I learned that you can cry until tears won't come anymore and I learned what poverty really is. I also found out here in Iraq that I know how to make people die, and I learned what true desperation is.
You won't find these lessons in the school house. Most people won't even learn these things through life experiences. I wonder if they count for anything? I wish that I learned these lessons so that my son and daughter would never have to, but my father hoped for that same thing back in Vietnam and my grandfather had similar wishes while serving in World War II.
These lessons and more I learned in Iraq. A fellow soldier told me the other day, "show me a terrorist nowadays that we didn't help create here in Iraq." Perhaps you think we are making lives better here? Maybe you haven't seen the same things I have.
Welcome to the Iraq School of Hard Knocks where you can learn a lesson in futility. All these lessons I have learned... I just haven't learned how to stop the nightmares.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
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