4th Message

Leah,

In my temp room last night I found a Time Life Magazine about America...pictures and text about the country at the start "Then" and "Now."  I was reminded of what a special and blessed land we live in and the great blessing it is to be born in America.  Yes, there were times of slavery and female suffrage but we have progressed in those matters.  In the US you can pretty much go where you want to go and do what you want to do and succeed or fail based on your effort and determination.  No so in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Much hatred, segregation, and discrimination that makes most similar subjects back home seem trivial - almost whining.

Iraq is hot, dusty, dirty, a heavily fractured country that is nearly broken.  The Iraqis that are trying to build a nation are at risk every day.  They are shot, families killed or targeted by car bombs.  It is a regular routine.  One of the gentlemen I work with was shot through the neck but was fortunate to survive w/o lasting impact due to being taken to our medical facility in the IZ.  He goes to his work place every day but the stress of the weekly, almost daily bombs show on his face.

I have been at Sather, Liberty, Victory based near the Baghdad Airport.  I have been several placed in the IZ.  I have now been to FOB Warrior at Kirkuk.  Tomorrow I'll be in Tikrit.  I see thousands and thousands of young Americans toting weapons everywhere they go, living in hot, dirty environments, missing family and friends, living simple lives with few possessions or free time, and doing jobs from simple administrative to country building to bomb disposal to road clearing to security details to medical support to front line fighting.  They are almost all the same...early 20s and relatively happy to be doing what they are doing...tolerating the hardships the are asked to endure very well.  Reminds me of the people of Alma that had burdens put on their backs that were made light in the Lord, except here the terminology is "embrace the suck."  Yes, it is not home and things are different, dirty, unpleasant at times, frustrating and strange.  But this is what your American military do.  They go to unpleasant places to do darn near impossible jobs to give others the opportunity for freedom and self-determination and sometimes do so at great peril.

I am proud to be a part of this mission.  I am meeting pleasant Iraqis who want a better life, a safer country but at the same time their planing is poor and execution worse.  Part of it is cultural and part of it is the complexities of fractured Middle Eastern life.  The best we can do is be the best Americans we can be - generous, long suffering, kind, and free.  While many may fight against us, their souls desire the same self-determination we take for granted.

I feel your prayers as the yoke here is easier and the burden lightened by them.

Give everyone my love,

Gary

Hello from Kirkuk...oil and Kurds.

Thursday, 1 June 2010
>
>This evening Lt Col Young and I took the Rhino convoy to VBC. We are
>flying to Kirkuk tomorrow. Kirkuk is a heavily Kurdish are but also
>where my fixed and rotary wing simulators, planes, helps, maintenace,
>and instructor pilots are. MSgt Velasco who I supervise and looks
>after day to day contractor operations is there also. The purpose of
>or trip is mostly orientation so we can better manage the various
>efforts there.
>
>We are spending the night in transient tents. The have beds, lockers,
>and good air. I stayed in a nearby tent when I first arrived on
>country and I rembered that one bed had a memory foam topper that was
>really nice, so I snuck into that tent and borrowed it for my use
>tonight. I wish I could figure out a way to get this back to the IZ
>where it would be appreciated every night instead of my the occasional
>traveler. Heck, some traveler left it behind and I an sure it has been
>lonely.
>
>We have to check in for our flight at 0700 so I better get to bed.

Friday, 2 July 2010

Wow...what a bad nights sleep! The AC is the tent blew like crazy all night and could not be turned down. I nearly froze with the thin blankets here. I had to put on socks, rotate my head to the foot of the bed to get out of the direct wind blast a little, and put my gaiter (for dust) on my head. I got up once in the middle of the night to stand outside to stay warm.

We got on the C-130 flight just fine. One take off was aborted but then we tried again and took off fine. It was hot and sweaty but made it safely. We spend the day meeting people, seeing our aircraft, going over issues and process and getting to know FOB Warrior, Kirkuk. Kirkuk is in the Kurdish areas of Iraq and as you may recall the Kurds and the Turks cross the boarder to harrass each other once in while, sometimes not to far from here. Also, Iran is only about 50 miles away.

Kirkuk is also the center of Iraq's oil industry. You can see oil refineries from here, especially the stacks where they burn off the excess gasses. You can see some hills in the distance. Supposedly on a clear day you can see mountains further off.

This seems to be the wild west out here. The base is rough, dirty, and of course everyone on base carrys a weapon. It is hot also. Supposedly it gets cold here in the winter...we are further north and closer to the mountains...although you can't see them today for the haze.

Tony and I are staying in some DV CHUs...seperate rooms in a connex with an adjoining bathroom we share. I have a TV *with* a signal (AFN) and a laptop that works OK. And most importantly, I can control the AC! Life is good.

Hope you are all well. Love,
Dad