Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:59:51 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Exhausted
Hello there. I hope that this email finds you all well. It has been about a week since my last update. In fact, I think it has been just over a week.
Last week we had a company mission. We got a tip about a weapons cache. It's hard to tell ahead of time if a source is reliable or not, so preparation is key. We got lucky and there were a couple of artillery rounds. We brought in two guys as well. One claimed to have set IED's targeting Americans. Such a mental dilemma when you are put control of someone who has blown up or attempted to blow up one of your brother's in arms. What would motivate someone to do such a thing? I wonder if they even realize that they are just keeping their country from attaining unity within a splintered country. Do they stand for any true higher purpose, or is chaos their end goal?
We occupied our "Alamo" five days ago. We returned this afternoon. It was an extremely long time out there. We did quite a bit more patroling throughout the day and night this time. It was good because it gave us Americans a bit more face time with some of the local populous.
On the second day we were at the "Alamo" a young teenager came to get looked at by our medic. He had shrapnel from a mortar round imbedded in his cheek. It was infected really bad and he needed medical attention from a hospital if he was going to live.
On a bit of a lighter note, we did a night patrol the second night. We rolled out with three vehicles at 200 in the morning. I was in the last vehicle riding in one of the back seats of the Humvee. We hadn't gone more than a mile up the road when my Humvee became incapacitated. The driver rode us right over a hole was about 3 feet wide and 5 feet deep. It pretty much ate the front end of our truck. I was like a ping pong ball in the back of the truck because you can't buckle up. We wrecked about 215 and had to wait until almost 730 for a wrecker to come pick up our truck. The end result was a broken A-arm, broken control arm, broken motor mounts, twisted axle, and a rim that looked like a pretzel. Needless to say, our night patrol was cancelled because it was already light out by the time the truck got picked up.
That night we paid one of the locals to cook us some local cuisine. We had some lamb, rice, potato soup, and Pepsi. I tried the lamb just to so I had some of it. It wasn't that great. It just left a real pasty taste in my mouth. The rice and potato soup were really good though. I was afraid the food was going to rule my world for the next 24 hours or so, but it didn't treat me too bad.
Yesterday we went on another mounted patrol, this one during the day. We stopped and spoke with some of the locals there. They were very eager to talk to us and tell us what was happening in their area. They get mortared every evening. After the mortars there is a sniper that shoots at them as they flee. These are just simple farmers. The face of their enemy in my mind were the men that my company had picked up days prior. It disturbed me because those farmers that I saw were the true victims of terrorism. Victimized to the point that they are afraid to live in their own homes and work their own land.
I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. I've got a fifth grade class in Texas that is writing to me. The teacher just emailed me and said one of her students asked if they could pray for me. Because of the whole prayer in school thing, it couldn't be done, but I thought it was really neat and wanted to pass that on to you all.
Prayer request for my buddy Walker. I went to basic training with him. He is in the 1st Infantry Division and is over here in Iraq. His unit has been getting hit heavily by IED's and has asked for all the prayers and support he can get for him and his men. His vehicle was hit for the sixth time today. I told him about Psalm 3 and how it is my prayer. I pray that God would use this time to draw Walker closer to Him.
Have yourselves a blessed week. Take care.
Soldier for God and Country,
N8
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vol5
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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 12:54:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Snake anyone
Subject: Snake anyone
Well, it has been eight days or so since my last update. The past week plus has been a bit out of the ordinary. But I guess being in the army now for a year and eight months should have taught me by now that nothing with the army is ever ordinary.
After only 18 hours of returning to the FOB from the "Alamo", my platoon got tasked out to head back out there for an "undetermined" amount of time. My platoon sergeant said it best when he said we had an "opportunity before us to strengthen our bonds". I'm sure his thoughts were the same as ours, he was just trying to cover it up with a false air of enthusiasm.
So we made the trek back out to the "Alamo", again. Our convoy looked like a bunch of Beverly Hillbilly vehicles with all the crap we had strapped to the outsides of them. We didn't know how long we were going to be out there, so we prepared for the worst, wet weather gear, extra uniforms, socks, shirts, and snacks, the latter of course taking precedence.
The past week plus at the "Alamo" was fairly uneventful in the grand scheme of things here in Iraq. I know that I do feel very fortunate to still be able to do my job over here. Before we left we got word of a truck that got hit by an IED. The blast cooked off an AT4 rocket that was in the truck and severly burned two soldiers. I haven't heard the status of them since returning to the FOB today. I know that one of the greatest threats when dealing with burns, especially over large portions of the body is infection. Do keep those soldiers in your prayers.
We did our normal patrols through the area, meeting and greeting the locals as we drove by. We pass by one school on one of our routes and it is without fail that there are 50-75 little heads peeked up over the top of the cement barrier around the school perimeter with hands waving in the air. These kids have some of the most welcoming smiles.
There is one little boy that lives near the "Alamo". He probably isn't but 4 or 5 years old and stands about two and a half feet tall. He takes the cows out every morning to the fields to feed with a stick in hand that is almost twice his height. This morning I gave him a chocolate muffin that I had and his face absolutely lit up. He didn't say a word, but then again, he didn't have to. His smile said it all.
While on one of the patrols one of the local gentlemen gave us a chicken. The chicken was actually given to a soldier in my team, so he has kind of taken ownership of it. He gave the chicken the name Carl. Carl was put on about a 15 foot leash, and we turned an MRE box into a makeshift shelter. We aren't supposed to have pets, but chickens are technically considered livestock, so I think we are going to get away with it. Funny thing about Carl. Two days after getting him, Carl laid an egg. So Carl isn't really a he, Carl is a she. That's really not important when you are going to be dinner eventually.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to do something I had never done before. I saw a farmer working in his field hit a snake with his shovel. I asked him for the snake, which happened to be almost five feet long. It was a shiny black and the interpreter told me it was poisonous. I cleaned and skinned the snake and put it on ice until later last night. I dug through a couple of MRE's and found some crushed red pepper seasoning and some tabasco and seasoned the snake a little bit before throwing it over a fire. There were only about 6 or so of us that at it. They aren't lying when they say snake tastes a lot like chicken. The meat is a little bit more stringy though. I'm sure it would have tasted a little better if we had actually fried it because it really dried out over the fire so it was almost like eating jerky. I saved the snake skin. I've got it laid out drying. Don't really know what I'm going to do with it. I've got plenty of time to decide that.
I guess the good news of this past week is that my promotion became official as of December 1st. I am now a Sergeant. It's not really that big of news, but it was the highlight of my week.
I hope that you all are doing fine. I'm sure you are all counting down the days until Christmas as the anticipation builds. I pray for a safe Holiday Season for you all. I thank you again for your continued prayers and support. Love you all. Take care.
Soldier for God and Country,
N8
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Thank you for sharing in the life of one of our Soldiers... Please stay tuned in the next day or so we will catch up all of the newletters.
M. Emmett Townsend
PS : those who want to send care packiages I will be contacting you .
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Comments: 14
Thanks, Emmett!
As Tiny Tim says...
God Bless US Everyone!!!
emmett
Debi R., former Army Reserves ground-pounder, keeping everyone overseas and stateside in her thoughts tonight!