Rodge-
This came to me about 4th hand, but
it's genuine. It's a note from a soldier to his
mother, and she gave permission for me to forward. Don't know if it's of
interest, but... (Merrily)
Subject: Get 'Er Done Update (UNCLASSIFIED)
Classification:
UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Greetings
and Happy Valentine’s Day!
I know it
has been a while since I’ve written. As you will have gathered in the
news, much is going on here. Actually, way more than you see in the
news – they only give you the bad stuff. In any case, one of my fellow
senior leaders has been on leave for the last couple of weeks, so
I’ve had even more to fill my plate than usual. Long days and short
nights certainly help the time fly by.
It is hard
to believe we’ve already been here more than nine months. We passed through the
heat of summer, and now seem to have made it through the [relative] cold of
winter, as it has now started to warm back up. I don’t think we’ve quite hit 70
yet, but it’s getting close. We’ve been talking to the soldiers who will
replace us for a couple of months, and are now starting to plan our
homecomings.
I think
I’ve told you before that we work with a lot of Iraqis in our line
of work. Most of those I deal with are the ones who live in Baghdad and commute
into the International Zone to work in our offices and on our compound. To me,
they are a brave lot, never knowing what might await them as “punishment” if they are caught working with the
Americans. But they do it anyway. Part of it is their belief
that whatever may happen is God’s will. A bigger part, in my experience, is
their love for their country and their fierce desire to see it restored to the
stability and economic prominence it once held.
A couple of
months ago, one of our Public Affairs officers did an interview with several of
our Iraqi Associates. I’ve attached it for your reading; I hope
you’ll find it interesting. The author, Tommy Clarkson, has since
returned to his home in Puerto Vallarta.
Stay
safe,
Mike
COL
Michael L. Herman, PE
Deputy
Commander
US Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE), Gulf Region Division (GRD)
Baghdad, Iraq
COMM
(540) 665-5068
DSN 312
265-5068
MCI:
914 360 9672
Iraqna:
0790 192 5841
NIPR:
michael.l.herman@tac01.usace.army.mil
SIPR:
michael.herman@iraq.centcom.smil.mil
CENTRIXS: michael.herman@centcom.mcfi.cmil.mil
http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/
|
The third paragraph of this letter says all we should be here at home. We here have no idea what "punishment" means. Perhaps someone will say something that offends us. OH, MY.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Rodger, I owe you an apology. You had a post here the other day that I avoided because I could see Charlie Gibson's face there. "Hiding" I missed out until I saw it referenced at Parkway Reststop. What a blessing it was to see the Dallas welcoming crew for our troops returning home. *tissue time* :))
this letter was published in the Pgh Trib today:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/letters/send/s_493916.html
I love seeing this kind of stuff, especially the interviews with Iraqis. And frankly, I see quite a bit of it. That is, I read about positive news from Iraq on Iraqi blogs and milblogs.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you see in the MSM, you'd never know. Their bias is vomit inducing. If they wanted to at least balance their 24/7 bad news loop, the information is certainly available.
Anything the Republicans do has to be savaged, even if it means 100s of thousands of Iraqis getting murdered if we "redeploy"
MM