The Letters and Emails We Send During War

2015-11-16T20:11:10-05:00

This is a letter that I sent home to family of friends following a tough week in Iraq when I was in battalion command in Baghdad. I've previously shared it in a couple of venues and hope RallyPoint finds it of interest.

From: Russell, Samuel L LTC MIL USA FORSCOM
Sent: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 4:10 pm
Subject: Another Memorial

Family and Friends...

I've been trying to get out another update on the events of the past two months, but we've had a busy couple of weeks -- large spike in insurgent activity. Unfortunately, our brigade lost several Soldiers. Again, my battalion was spared any casualties. I can't bring myself to write about my trivial goings on with the weight of the latest combat operations, and the burden of the associated loss. That will have to wait.

One of the missions my unit performs is recovering heavily damaged vehicles that units are unable to self-recover. We had several over the past week into heavily contested areas. Our follow-on missions after a recovery are to sanitize the damaged or destroyed vehicles, process the human remains and prepare the fallen Soldiers for transport through the mortuary in Baghdad and on to the mortuary in Dover. Unless out on a mission, I am always present when remains are brought back and vehicles are sanitized. It is the most solemn of missions and at the same time potentially the most psychologically demanding that my Soldiers encounter.

One of my recovery teams went out with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment -- Rangers -- to bring back a destroyed HMMWV and two of their fallen comrades. This mission involved running a gauntlet of improvised explosive devices (IED), rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and small arms fire--there and back--and, thank God, our guys returned unscathed, despite being hit by all three. I was there when we downloaded the severely damaged gun truck, which was missing an armored door after receiving the full blast of an explosively formed projectile (EFP). After untarping the vehicle and beginning the sanitization, I moved to the mortuary affairs collection point where I met those two young Rangers, not in life but in death. The earthly remnants of their bodies were void of the souls and spirits that so recently filled them with life and aspirations, but had now moved onto a better place. After fourteen months of hard fought combat, these two Rangers were only days from going home; each was in his early twenties. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with my chaplain as he prayed over the bodies of these two fine young men.

No movie can capture the essence of war, not even the beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan. Rightfully, such true to life experiences should not be seen and felt by anyone. Beyond the sights and sounds of battle, the movies can never bring to the viewer the overwhelming crush to the other senses: touch, taste and smell. My attempts to describe the variety and severity of each sensory input would make this message unreadable. So, I'll spare you those details. Suffice it to say that the most overwhelming sense is that of loss.

Today we held the traditional memorial ceremony for both of them. It was comforting to see photos of them when they were whole, strong, motivated and proud to serve. Unfortunately, what I'll carry with me is the images of my meeting with them at my mortuary as we prepared them for their hero flight home.

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur once said, "The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

While this is true, the Soldier also prays for his life, the life of his buddy next to him, the loved ones he is serving to protect, and his safe return home where he can peacefully enjoy that blanket of freedom for which he has sacrificed so much. He prays for victory, for strength in battle, for the annihilation of his enemy, and for retribution of fallen comrades. But what separates a Soldier's prayer from any other God-fearing American, is that he puts his prayers into action. Wielding his God-given strength he storms into the cauldron of fire, takes the fight to the enemy, places his life on the line for his buddies, seeks vengeance for his fallen comrades, and annihilates the enemy.

May God continue to bless our Nation with young men like Specialist Durrell Bennett and Private First Class Patrick Miller, young men that not only pray for peace but are willing to answer the prayers of millions of Americans by waging into battle to protect and preserve that blanket of freedom. Sleep gently tonight America, for your brave young men are standing firmly at their post.

God Bless, Sam

SAMUEL L. RUSSELL
LTC, LG
94th BSB Commander
FOB Rustamiyah

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Nov 16 at 2015 8:20 PM

2015-11-16T20:20:43-05:00

COL Sam Russell thanks for sharing, wow you caught me off guard. I do and I will re-search my e-mail and archives to post.

Response by MSgt Keith Hebert made Nov 16 at 2015 8:54 PM

2015-11-16T20:54:37-05:00

Thank you for sharing that

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Nov 16 at 2015 9:22 PM

2015-11-16T21:22:53-05:00

Thank you for sharing! I can't imagine the pressure of being responsible for hundreds (or more) of men, sending them out on missions not knowing if you are going to have to contact a family member because they do not make it back to the wire alive. Losing your buddies is a horrible experience, but having to contact family members must be equally horrible.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Nov 16 at 2015 9:28 PM

2015-11-16T21:28:20-05:00

COL Sam Russell Great Colonel. I don't know if my kid brother's one letter from Nam will scan, I'll give it a try!

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 3:56 AM

2015-11-17T03:56:13-05:00

10 APR 03-?

25 NOV 03 Day 229

So there you have it folks. With all the time and thought i have here on my hands(mind) thats what i came up with. Its simple , fits the situation.

i had thought about some topics to write about. That changed this morning when i woke up , and saw that we were getting rain here. now its not the first time. just the fist time ive seen the ground here reach saturation. so we are getting rain, not a sprinkle. wet and cold. a dream come true for us . for this summer was a hot ive never experienced before.(even being form tucson) and dry.

as far as my memory goes back. the last time i saw moisture here was sometime in may. there was a huge dust storm going on, and it began sprinkling. or more like mudding. never thought i would ever see mud drops fall from the sky. not a time to let the kid in you run around with your mouth open. dont know how good it would taste.

so my feet get to feel mud today . its been awhile. there was a little rain in germany, always seems to be wet there. but to see it here, has a profound effect on the soul.

will write more tomarrow. i plan on back peddling some and covering all the days past. of course it will be a condensed version. i cant remember em all anyhow. tell you the truth i dont want to. there are things to be told though. events that deserve some telling. part of the picture i am painting for you all of this place. the experience , mine and others.

take care, i thank those of you who keep contact .

joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:01 AM

2015-11-17T04:01:26-05:00

10 APR 03-?

26 NOV 03 DAY 230

So

As we all know tomarrow is thanksgiving. Enjoy. I will be sleeping off my 24 hr shift that started today at 0800. I am watching the radios and the phone. Not very busy , since our troop is out in sector. They should be back in a few days and the dinning facility should be puttin on our dinner spread then. Not a dream come true thanksgiving, but life is very much on hold right now. You are all in my thoughts.

24 hr duty. it seems to rub the fact i am here today in a little more. because i dont get the option to sleep 8 hrs of it away.

its still raining here. lots of mud. you know as pleasing as it is to see again. i dont really miss it much. it collects on the boots and seems to get all over the place, inside our building. just something else to fool with while i listen in to the radios.

i figured when it rained here it would be short lived. instead it has continued now for two days. very cloudy also. i did not see a cloud for the last 8 months, now they are the weather. the desert has always been an interesting place to live. wether in arizona or here. it never seems to change day to day. then out of nowhere, it changes completly.

the sun rises slowly, arcs overhead, then sets on the other side of the sand . and that is a day. its the same around the world. has been , and will be until the grand scheam of things comes to its end. what we do in this time is just up to fate i guess. here it doesnt seem to change a whole lot. yesterday,today, and tomarrow. might as well all be the same. its what we here have to contend with.

i could compare it to detention in high school. you sit there watching the clock spin ever so slow. waiting for the hour to pass . why . because life is not moving forward. it sits still. and i feel its in our nature to be busy in life. use our free time to our liking.

when it comes to a standstil, you want to get it going again. as soon as possible. so you hope the hour away. here we hope the days away, weeks, months, this year.

we are born , live, then die. on our death bed, regrets of wasted time must be on the mind. wishing you could have that day back. or wish you didnt sleep in all those times. whatever the case may be. its possible you may dwell for a second or two on some wasted time in your life somewhere.

i look at mine. we are rushing life. hopeing the days to pass faster. hopeing to get through this one, forget it then move into the next.

this isnt the first time ive done this. its my sixth. the first time around was ok. i was new as a soldier and in bosnia. there was a simpleness to it all. i wasnt yet used to the routine, possibly to ignorant to see a routine. well that was five deployments ago. now these huge chunks being removed from my youth are taking their tole.

its the U.S. military modern. forget being stationed at a post. if it happens, its only temporary. the pace has been up since i entered. from where i stand, it doesnt seem to be slowing down. pretty soomn there will be no posts in the U.S. we will all be gone somewhere, all the time. i could very well see making a permanent change of station move(P.C.S.) from here to say Kosovo. Then from Kosovo to Afganistan, then possibly on to Korea. Its not a very pretty picture. but its our new military. expanded around the globe.

it must have been nice to be in during the 80's.

not too much going on today. everyday that these comupters are working is a day i feel conected to life. they offer me a glance at what is going on out there in the world. as well as a chance to send my ramblings towards you all. which when i walk away from here makes mind feel more at ease.

doing something positive. thats what we are told. everywhere ive gone. we are doing something positive. for these people. many of which i feel could really care less. lots of boring days for us. interupted by confusion, loss, whatever each situation unfolds on the mind.

5 more months. take care. i will ramble again tomarrow.

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:14 AM

2015-11-17T04:14:27-05:00

10 APR 03-?

28 NOV 03 Day 232

Hey I missed yesterday,

If your math skills are down, it was 231. My bad, but i hope everyones dinners were well prepared, and more so . Enjoyed with family and friends.

As i stated before our dinner here is still yet to come. As for right now some of us are making room before hand, but not by choice. It seems we have had a bit of the dysentary bug float around. Hopefully it will have passed by the third of Dec. No pun intended.

Everything in time. Or as some say time will tell. Where am I ? What I/we do here?

How did we get here? When are we leaving? What is it like?

Everything in time. For todays ramblings i will take a shot at how we have arrived here. hope its worth reading by the time it hits your inbox.

But first, here. No details yet. I/We are camped out in a former Iraqi Air Force base by the name Al Asad. Located approx 30 miles west of the Euphraties river about parallel to a small town that goes by the name Hit. Not too sure how good your Iraqi maps are .Or if you even have one. I know i left mine at home. If you get a chance though, this is our approx location. Possibly my directions will be better at a later date.

Early Apr we all started arriving in Kuwait. By mid Apr we were very busy getting our equipment off the boat and prepared for whatever was to great us . Many days of unpacking , repacking, and getting general inventory. Also time spent getting used to the new climate. We left snow in Colorado, and found 100 plus temperatures in Kuwait.

I swear the body in addition to becoming used to temperature. Has an ability to get used

to sand. Because the stuff seemed to be everywhere. The nose, the eyes, the ears, everywhere. Somedays we would sit in the shade to cool off for a few minutes and when we would stand back up. The sand would be falling off of us. It was in the air and it collected on everything. More later.

They had us up in a Kuwait Tank brigades barracks. not half bad. As here you couldnt use the water to drink or brush your teeth. Not a bad place to live overall. Seen much worse.

Around the 20th of Apr. Our preperations were complete , a plan was made by those who plan and the route was drawn on a map. Good to Go.

I drove out in the convoy. Did not fly with our acft. This did not bother me much for i dont mind the view and experience that is available on the ground. I have logged over 1500 hrs in blackhawks, and dont get much oportunity to see life at the grounds viewpoint.. I get to look into the peoples eyes ,and get a feel for what the they are about.

A harsh reality in the acft. is a crash where i survive. That spells a big mission change for me. I would have to get myself to the safety of our forces. Possibly by myself. Well from the sky there just isnt enough information about the ground. So even a brief personal view of it offers some amount of confidence , towards whats there.

I like convoys. They can be grulling at times, but they are an experience i dont get much. So i do not mind them. As far as the trucks went. Well we were loaded for war, and did not know our future conditions. So we brought everything that we could pile into the storage container given to us by the dear army. All of which was placed in our trucks, and acft. What can i say to you about this . Well static. ( not moving) our trucks were on their stops. The suspension on them all, was bottomed out. . Each truck in addition had a trailer to pull that was loaded, there wasnt much engine to spare on any. The recipe for a bad day. Especially if you had to get somewhere fast. Perhaps maybe out of the way.

We were lucky, the only rounds fired near our convoy. Did not seem to be directed at us. Best i could figure was one of the locals was celebrating a birthday, or marriage, or maybe they got a new goat. Whatever the occation. They like to shoot in the air.

Over all it went well for the 4 or so days we were on the road to cover about 900 miles.

Thats the overall picture. Now some experiences.

I am in this hmmwv (humvee) with our first seargants aid. Not all bad because she is an 88m. Or truck driver. Bad because i dont think she had a clue as to what she was doing (I.E. driving a tactical truck into a do you know what to expect zone). I am not going to bring up my gripes, Because i made it. I did however drive through all the towns , citys , villages, and otherwise poputated areas. Its offensive driving, the accelorator is used more then the brakes. If the locals stop the convoy then all hell could be planned for us. I did not know the intel on each and every populated area. So its easier to assume that the previous convoy to pass through possibly killed locals , and they dont like us. Keep your head on a swivel thinking.

Ive been on two other convoys on deployment. None like this. We were on a highway going towards Bagdad, and i think we were in an all out race with about 200 other trucks and 4 other units. It was unreal man. I tell you were talking heavy equipment , military trucks. God knows what they wiegh, but at 75-80 miles per hour I am sure they arent stopping for it, whatever it is. Keep in mind. We did not have suspension any longer due to our load.

So we would pass twenty trucks , then a few miles down the road they would pass us . and back and forth. No problem until the two lane highway we were on turned into a single lane. Nobody knew who to let go. So we mixed not a bad chioce. Otherwise there would have been problems.

We left our barracks in kuwait, and stopped before the Iraqi border for the night. Next day we are told. not to throw any trash from our trucks into Kuwait, because Kuwait is our friend , and we dont want to make a mess of thier country. (oil prices would rise) No instead it was to be kept . For . Iraq. Ive never seen anything like it. We passed through the birm and into a small town . Everything was tossed. Boxes , MREs,Water bottles, you name it . So here is a sick game we played . You get your buddies to throw their trash out just right. To land and stay in the center of the road, add Iraqis (children and adults) + a big truck . O.K. I will stop while i am ahead. But these people like our trash. I mean they love stuff and will do anything for it. Nuff said.

Our first day started around 0630 and went to 0300 the next day. we spent the last 4 hours of that in possibly the worst dust storm ive experienced. We were at a bulk fuel point waiting in line when it hit. I swear i couldnt see the truck in front of me if they were more than 10 feet off our bumper. it was bad. We got about 2 1/2 hrs sleep ,then were woke up for the next days leg. Army truck cabs dont seal so we lived in the element for the entire duration. I pulled things out of my nose that with further inspection appeared to have the distinct color and texture of rocks (because they were) . Not a bad nights sleep though. Just had to turn the mind off from the body, or it all would get to your nerves. Next day we were up at 0530 or so ready to push forward, or find ourselves further away. Next place we rolled into i dont recall a name for , but the 101st was there. We departed early the next morning to drive to a air base we call TQ. Its just below habania. I call the place Habanero, because its hot there, they gets morters and the like quite often. So its, hot.

We spent the next couple of days at TQ, waiting to role out. I checked our trucks loads, the guys, and set up my cot under the stars for rest. Second day there i did something I will never forget. I pulled the air fiter from my truck and walked it to our 2 1/2 ton truck that has a compressed air system . I used that to blow all the dirt out of it. Well the idea caught , and the next thing i know everyones cleaning airfilters with the onboard air systems, of the deuce and a halfs. I dont think ever started such a crazy thing before , but it was a good idea i guess. other then the dust all over my cot as well as everyone else's. It killed time.

There was a large lake nearby , and we got the first chance to bathe in a couple of days. That was a highlight. Are luck though, we parked right near the local soccer field. In the afternoon possibly one of the busier locations in third world earth. So we got surrounded by the locals kids.

Big questions . Mister, Mister what is your name? Mister Mister, Where are you from in USA? the best i got from these folks . Somehow they had the impression our goggles were X-ray. Now the name on em is Wiley X. So my answer was yes. They were X-ray vision. Heck they dont know . We are Americans. The Super Warriors. Maybe if they think that. Then they dont attack without lots of planning. For fear of being seen through walls and such. Sometimes i am humored. We all got kick out of it.

The last day of out jurney was short . Only a few hrs to our destination. We made to Al Asad in the last couple days of Apr. No lives or trucks lost. As far as my troop went , none of our trucks broke down. Its a good feeling when you make it without many problems.

It was good to find the end of our journey. Or an end to the first part.

take care of yourselves, i will write tomarrow.

Joe

There is always more to everything, it just has to be found, or remembered. Peace be with you all.

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:18 AM

2015-11-17T04:18:11-05:00

Today is #
10 APR 03-?

30 NOV 03 DAY 234

Many Hellos to everyone,

Do to the missfortune of our loses yesterday the internet plug was pulled. this happens. It it the fear that information will reach home before it is presented properly to those who have lost thier loved ones here.

We all feel this loss. It is hard not to. We all wear the same patch wether we like it or not .

During these times. That patch makes us all family and somehow connected. The list of names is stedily growing .

Its a mission that my troop plays a part in. For we carry those who have made their sacrifice on to the next acft, in their jorney home. Its very real. Any one of us who has had the oportunity to carry a lost brother or sister knows. The smell of the body, the smell of the body bag. The name our acft uses in flt. Simply stated HERO.

It will be used soon. Another day i get to live through. With a future very unknown. Nothing here is solid. None of us want this to be the last place we see our last days.

For myself Ive carried 4 brothers to date. I am sure there will be more, but i hope there isnt.

I am once again on radio watch today. I hope to wake up sometime tomarrow and write further. I trust i will more and better things to talk about.

As usuall i am in my thoughts about thes guys who have departed. Do they have wives at home? Childeren? What are the changes for them? Is this really all worth it? Especially with the holidays upon us. A few of you are here with me, and know the suck factor. A few of you are soldiers past, and also know. There is nothing more lonely then the holidays on deployment. These are my fourth.

The sun rises, arcs overhead , then slowly sets. This is another day.

Peace for all of you

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:20 AM

2015-11-17T04:20:54-05:00

10 APR 03-?

01 DEC 03 Day 235

Folks ,

today this may be short. we will see. i just got off from my 24 shift about 2 hrs ago and i am beat tired. more so than normal.

So as i left off the othe day with my rants about this crazy convoy that took myself and unit out of kuwait, past bagdad. and deep into the iraqi desert to a place called Al ASAD.

I think it is time just to talk about a name. a lot is in a name. it is was it is.

So our squadron commander(no names , no name calling) has this big duke infliction. not john wayne. but the big duke we all know from appacolips now. yeah if you havent seen it in awhile . rent it so you can cetch the air cav scenes. he is the guy playing the cav comander. So he tried to call this camp big duke. hmmm. the army called it fob webster Or forward operating base webster.

we called it BIG ALA WEBSTER. this is a true story. it provided many a hours time laughing. finger pointing , and the likes.

it is out in the middle of nowhere. i dont mind because we dont get the nightly rpgs, morters, grenades, etc. that the camps close to towns , villages, and citys get. there must be 15 kilometers worth of baren flat sand between us and the next terrain feature. a raghead(excuse me L.I.P.) would have to be stark raving mad, foaming at the mouth with rabies, sars, or the incurable hoof in mouth disease. something , but no human would be crazy enough. even when our guards are asleep. to try and sneek across that exspanse .

we are in the middle of SAND. i sleep better than many at night, still not well.

more tomarrow about whats here.

november is gone, thank god

joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:22 AM

2015-11-17T04:22:11-05:00

10 APR 03-?

02 DEC 03 Day 236

It was less then fifteen minutes ago i listened to the report of 21 guns, followed by taps.

Two soldiers were remembered. By friends , co-workers, and strangers . I cannot describe the event. You must wear this uniform , be in these circumstances and face the uncertanties that each day here brings with it. This was the second time ive attended a service for those past. I wish the first had been the last.

To those of you serving here along side me. Lets keep our team together, watch each others backs, and look out for our fellow soldiers wether we know them or not. We are all Americans and in this together. Lets do what we can to make sure we all get to go home.

My thoughts go out to these two soldiers familys and children.

Things have slowed some here. We are not flying as much as this summer, Ihope that we continue this way until our exit. We have been fortunate so far to have all our people and all our acft stay with us.

Todays service was close enough for comfort.

For all of you back home. Keep us here in your prayers. Keep the support coming our way. Even when it seems tiring or not recognized. Trust me it is important to us here. As I stated the holidays are a lonley time. There isnt much here to give. So Its very easy to become down and out. Many of you have asked for wish lists, or the extra special things we need here. I honestly do not have good answers. Since are phisical needs are being met, now. The others are not easily met from this distance. The kindness is in the gesture. Love is the package , or letter, or card. Not so much the contents. It is the reminder that we here still exsist to the rest of the world. Somebody has put us very much in their thoughts, when we are far away, and not present day to day.

It is easy to feel lost to the world here. I dislike saying it, but it has become routine in a way. This being this my 6th deployment. I hope our future generations do not have to experience this. I hope I dont have to again.

You are all in my thoughts, i wish you happiness.

joseph

For those of you who are reading this for the first time, then it means i know you, and you are now on the list. I write everyday that i can. Stay in touch.

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:30 AM

2015-11-17T04:30:13-05:00

10 APR 03-?

04 DEC 03 Day 238

I missed yesterday,

My appologies. net went down and did not come back up until i was just getting into bed. the computers are not in my building, but consolidated in another on base. sorry i used the tired card last night.

I really dont want to talk about thanksgiving dinner. it was actually thanksgiving lunch, and i did not get the word. i hear i did not miss much. so i had chicken and rice for dinner last night. food is food. all the days are the same here anyhow. my belly did not go empty .

this is actually the second letter i am writting tonight. the first got lost. i dislike that because it was long and right now ive lost the patience. still i have no complaints on the service here, because it is much better then it was before. so if the internet gods reqr frequent sacrifices of good letters, then i will accept that, and continue to type at my frantic pace.

so gathering my thoughts once again. i will add some more to the convoy.

we were trucking along and saw vehicles off the road up ahead . army fuel tankers. one had been in an accident and the drivers were dumping the fuel so that it could not be used by anyone. problem i saw was they were dumping it right near a water way that supported the local population of farmers. not a good thing. but sometimes things go their course. i would have elected setting fire to it. for the damage would have been much less.

the people. i would like to talk about the peopel some. they are poor. especially outsid eof the citys. lots of childeren , dirty but near the raod smilling and waving. begging fo handouts. that came in the way of candy and the small bottles of tobasco sauce from our rations. lots of mister mister mister. that noise can ring in the ears for awhile.

the teenagers kept their distance somewhat more. their faces showed a little more of the story. adults did not really approach the road side. they were few in numbers and if they were there . it was to sell goods. mostly money with saddams face on it. or alcohol. well i wasnt much interested in either at the time. keeping a distance seemed the best route. females above the age of 12 were not seen much . and if they were visable it was them just peaking around the walls of their yards. faces were covered.

most waved. all of the kids, some of the adults. i did see two childeren with blond hair on our trip into here. they stuck out like sore thumbs. bet they have somewhat interesting stories to be told. they sure got our attention.

outside the cities its farmers. they work hard and they are poor. most do not show much interest in us, just interest in their work. i imagine the world could be on fire and they would still be at it in their fields. just living out their lives.

the scene is similar to the harsher parts of say mexico. third world. towns and villages. that are dirty and broke poor. some street vendors, maybe the local mechanic with a greasy garage. whatever, its very much the same. the same smells of things rotting, or water that does not move , and is very poluted by what ever befalls it. trash, dogs, dirty kids at play. get out and see some of the poorer parts of the world, its the same everywhere in third world earth.

lots of our equipment was on the roadside. possibly breakdowns on the battle into bagdad. vehicles that were easier to abandon then fix. some had been on fire others flipped over. most being pilfered by the locals. whatever the case we left a lot to abandon . but its just equipment. the factories will make more and the army has a lot anyways. sometimes the value placed on much of it is too high. lives are much more important.

i am glad i had the glimps of the ground. there was much too see. especially around waterways . water in the desert is gold. its the only place life exsists here. unless it is brought in by canals , or runs into an area by other means. nothing sprouts from this ground.

from what i could see they grow tomatoes, beans, hay, grapes, other various grains, and near the rivers date palms. more about the date palms and my paranioa of anti acft fire some other time.

lots of farming going on here. its the city folk that we need to be carefull with. the farmers dont seem to care about it all.

Al Asad...... this place was the best thing i could have seen after that haul. in past times of conflict. the support for all the acft would be in a constant run to keep up with maintaining the birds as they steadily moved forward in combat. tiring work. it would have been the worst case cenario for us. its hard on the birds and the people.

as if a helicopter is not already hi maintenance. add to its environment sand.

got an old blender. try a handfull of sand in it for a few minutes. it will give you an idea of what we are dealing with. it eats everything. engines, blades, gearboxes, heck it wears the paint smooth.

so we are happy to conduct our business from here. it was a happy sight to see. it meant we would be able to settle in. also not live in tents, or our acft. i as well as my partners here have spent many a night in hotel sykorski. it works but gets old.

so we took over al asad from our autralian allies, who rightfully took control from the local looters union # 86. the ausies were happy to give it to us so they could go back home down under.

now as i made metion to before alasad is a former iraqi air force base. well its big, really damn big. really out in the middle of nowhere. but big. i would be confidant to say if they had problems in space and needed a fair weather place to put the shuttle down. then i would recomend Al Asad Iraq. getting the shuttle home would be the next big project.

the runways were a little wrecked from our bombers, but are looking on the up and up now through repairs. we have traded all of the old iraqi trucks and planes as scrap. to some local dudes who have now made their claim to fame fixing our runways. we get runnways that work, and less junk laying around. those guys are now the proud owners of broke trucks, and decrepid migs. god bless the trade.

the taxiways were days in cleaning. lots of shrapenal and chunks of concreate strewn around . not good for blackhawk tires. but it was taken care of .until the holes wer fixed they were the only real obsticle. unless you had a bad stick up front. they are always an obsticle. MASKED APE IS GONE . some of you out there know the improvement in landing gear life(atomic drop). bu bye.

at first there was only a handfull of us here, and life although piss poor and sucky,was fun. tomarrow the first days here, moving in , and how to play the banjo.

thanks for reading.

questions , comments, finger pointing allowed.

Take care of yourselves

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:35 AM

2015-11-17T04:35:40-05:00

10 APR 03-?

07 DEC 03 Day 241

Hope everyones sunday has been pleasant. As for myself it went well. We worked the morning and had the afternoon free. I like my free time. Dont get too much, and there isnt a whole lot to do when its given.

Word around the block here is 15 APR-15 MAY timeframe for us. So i am putting my money on Apr30. I will bet my paycheck at Jun01.

So there is some hope given to us. At least there is a timeframe being discused. Of course there are also the nasty rumors flying around here that we wont leave until July. I would like to choke the people who talk that way. Then again many of us thought some of the guys were crazy for talking about a March departure. Yeah look where we are at now.

The weather has been good today. Sunny and warm. I am enjoying it since every winter ive spent in the army, ive spent somewhere cold. Its nice not having to sweep the snow from acft. in the early morning. I hope it continues. After this summer . Wow it was hot.

As time passes. Things improve. Its the way the army is . Always upgrading.

When we arrived to Al Asad. It was a virtual ghost base. just run down vacant builings.

Layed out . Al Asad is about 3 1\2 miles long by 4 wide. on the northwest side runs a 100 foot high mesa that goes the length of the base. oposite (approx) 1 1/2 mile is our flt line. where we work and give our helicopters the attention they need. inbetween is all the buildings that make up our living area, px, chow hall, etc. Beyond where we work the land rises back up , and the active runways are in place. So we are living down in a river valley thats the best way i can put it. there are paved roads, somtimes street lights lots of stray dogs. We moved into a modern place. Its comfortable, by all means i wouldnt trade it for a tent.

I could compare it to a stateside post. Just very run down, but as i was sayin everything gets better with time. In two years this will not be a bad deployment at all. Water will be working all the time, as well as power and the rest of the infastructure.

When we arrived it was busy time for moving in. I remember the first day here , myself and the others driving were greeted by a large bonfire. as we parked our trucks. it was the contents of our new home. the place was trashed pretty bad. not as bad as some of the others. i heard about dead dogs and the like in other buildings.

an oddity. there were baby formula cans scattered around . it looked as though the iraqi army had been fed on baby formula, flour, and from what i gather onions. let me say that this is not the breakfast of champions, i think it was a hard road they were truckin down.

Lots of bomb damage to some of the structures. The buildings and this is just my guess. were built by german or yugoslavian builders. so we have some thick walls and strong stuctures to live in. A bunker i searched through had an industrial size Carrier air conditioning unit. built in the good old usa in 1988. guess its from yesteryear when we were supporting the iraqs. to bad we couldnt get it out of there. it would probably keep a hospital cool . it was big.

lots of bunkers. all seemed to have a function on the base. they were places of many good finds for our home. switches , lightbulbs, fans, ac units, and on and on. we were first here. so we went through ever builing that wasnt occupied looking for the things that would improve life. after a bit it seemed like we were going to have home depot on our hands. but still no water or power. just the buildings. i cant remember back to the exact number of days. but i want to say it neared 3 or 4 weeks before water came up. and power followed a week or two after. it was a long time before we showered. during our nightly meetings it was put out not to wear shower shoes. ha

the mail. which even to this day is still not running right. came around mid may. that has been an ongoing battle for us.

may was a busy month. more tomarrow.

take care , peace

joe

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:42 AM

2015-11-17T04:42:25-05:00

10 APR 03-?

09 DEC 03 DAY 243

Hola,

I just finished eating dinner. Not bad chow tonight. Actually it was good, and it served its purpose well. It was tasty and healthy. I feel good for having the food.

This brings me to todays topic. Food.

There was chow in Kuwait. Now that was along time ago for me , and a lot of detail is gone from memory, but i will try. There we got a breakfast of bag o eggs, and a few other breakfast items. Lunch it seemed they were very proud of their hamburgers, because thats what they had everyday. I also want to say thats what was for dinner quite often as well. We were not in kuwait long. As i stated before it was temporary shelter as we off loaded our equipment , and got ready to push into Iraq. Nuff said.

Once on our way . MRE's (meals ready to eat) became or food source. I dont mind them much. On camping , hiking , or boating trips. they are convenient. MRE's are water proof, dont smash, and as long as you dont puncture the contents. Are shelf stable for about 8,467 years. Give or take a day or two. You dont need to keep them hot, cold , or warm. Heck no mater the temperature. The flavor still doesnt exsist , or change much.

They come 12 to a case and there are two cases. One designated case A the other B. That provides 24 different meals for a hungry human to choose from. So given 3 meals a day. thats 8 days a person can go without having the same meal twice.

Contents across the board are similar. Each has a main course, a desert item , crackers/or wheat bread, jelly,peanut butter or cheese spread, and a accessory packet with dry coffee, cream , sugar, salt, tp, chewing gum,and a tini bottle of tobasco sauce.

As we set out we had no idea, what was to await are lives. This is just about our food. I am a soldier, and could quite possibly eat the ass out of a dead rhino if i got hungry enough. Possibly do it with a smile on my face. Heck I know i would do it with a smile on my face, because as an NCO. I would let my guys have the first dibs. So they would Case A, leave the best for their favorite sargeant, or Case B do what any soldier would do , and leave just enough for the next guy so we all survive. Given a reason, a human can take on ten times or more than what a human thinks they can. In simple terms you do what you gotta do. Ok I am getting off the subject a bit.

Food. What is it. Its energy. You put it in you. You keep on living. The better it tastes the better you feel . The happier you are living. Its second to water.

So we set out in Apr. For war. and to eat nothing, i mean nothing , but mre's until mid to late jun.

After awhile, it just becomes food. Energy to get you through the day. I swear i would only eat when my stomach said to. Because of their nature.

The stuff is full of preservatives, and i am sure that even though they could very well support the life of a human for years. I would not recomend it. I dont know what it is about eating fresh food, but after you havent had it in awhile . You crave it.

Deep down inside i felt the need for fruit. I wanted to eat something sweet and alive. I could have stabbed a man for a box of oranges, or apples. My fellow soldiers had the same feelings. This I know. Day in and day out. It seemed we were eating plastic.

Now with 24 different meals how could you have these thoughts . I am sure some of you are thinking. Well I answer with. After 2 months Easy. Eat plastic food for that long, and we can talk.

Now at the end of two months it was not over. I just got an apple and it was good, it was golden. I had no recolection anything could taste so good . Or feel so good inside my belly. IT WAS WONDERFULL.

But then again we were back to MRE's. Late Jun the cooks opened our chow hall for business. Dont get too excited yet. Because they served T rats. Or Tin rations. Close to what they taste like. The product of human energy (food) is placed, at the factory inside a large flat tin can. When opened(after moments of boiling) it looks just like the meals in an MRE. Tastes the same to. So , I being me . Pulled my lazy card out. Decided it was not worth my time or energy. To walk to the chow hall and enjoy a group sized MRE . Same product. Just a different size package.

I do not recall when it was really that the food improved. But i want to say July .

As of my arrival to Al Asad i was weighing in at 103 kilos. Yeah kinda heavy I know. Its about 226 Give or take a few pounds. Currently i weigh. right around 165.

Many of us here have gone through some type of wieght loss. No kidding i think some of the guys gained weight. Couldnt say how Though. Means they were pigging out on that trash.Ive become so used to eating only when hungry and near hypoglycemia. That its hard to get into the habit of eating three meals a day again. The chow now is good. Some days better then others. But nothing to be upset with by any means. Especially after our first few months here.

I do remember walking around here looking for fruit. I found a fig bush, and a pomigranite tree. Nothing was ripe or ready though. I kept my eye on them. waiting. Fresh fruit came in before the other ripened.

For the most part its all a blure anyways. We were busy flying. Not eating. I wont take it for granted ever. though.

Its not the armys fault. The supply routes were tough, they still are.

Tomarrow our first cokes. And tuning up the motor on the ol motorboat.

You all take care, and have an orange, or apple or something.

Peace till next time

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:47 AM

2015-11-17T04:47:19-05:00

10 APR 03-?

13 DEC 03 DAY 247

Ok today i will try again,

many nights ive come here to write. only the internet goes down and leaves my rants to be lost in cyberspace. sometimes its a K worth, other times more then 10K. So it keeps me just as frustated as it keeps me in touch.

Made the promise of a Coka cola story. here it is. SO there we were . Iraq. N.S. Been here for some number of days, or weeks. We had not a thing around to drink , but water, warm water, warmer water , and my favorite hot water. If a person was lucky their MRE provided a packet of drink mix. So then we could have sweet hot , or warm . Water. this was our situation for some time.

Then i would like to say it was a great day late in may , or possibly early jun that i returned from a flight . to go back to our house and discover a cold coke waiting for me. let me say it tasted good, no great. it was an experience, otherwise i would not be telling this story. there was one for each person inmy troop.

now a little about the cokes. One of our crews were out flying around. as we do each day. when they spotted a coke truck crusing down a desert highway. feeling the effects of thirst , being overcome by thirst. they pulled(hovered) along side this truck and through universal sign launguage convinced the driver to pull over.

which at the sight of our acft decided would be a good idea. Just to get off subject a little. this was a coke truck had it been a beer truck . its possible lethal force may have been used. ok so he did the right thing for himself. he pulled over. our guys landed , approached him with american funds. and returned to the acft with enough cokes for the crowd, and ice to put them on as well. they said it was hard to convince the driver that their money was real. and it was worth as much as they said. our guys did not speak arabic, and he did not speak english.

this was a good day for all of us here.

later on sode was available in force at our front gate from the locals.we would send guys out in full battle rattle (body armor, equipment vest, weapon, ammo, etc) to make purchase of the product. later the locals were removed by the local mayor . so that his son could have a monopoly on the al asad soda supply. guess all is fair when the only law is that of the jungle.

american money towards soda was the first step towards improved relations.

as far as what i can or am at liberty to say. about motorboat tune ups. all i know is when we fly over the rivers and lakes here. firing into the water with machine guns ablaze. all the boats seem to pick up speed. possibly it has something to do with the increased lead content of the water, and how a prop cuts water. but , i am not sure. so i think i will put the question to mr. wizard. maybe he knows.

will also say for the purpose of putting credit where credit is due. fishermen should hide when our squadron commander is out and about . for they are not safe. hellfire rockets do make the fishermens boats, as well as the fishermen. dissappear.

our missions conducted around the thankgiving timeframe have paid off for us. our sector has become quieter. how long this will last i do not know. word was though, any house found to have contraband was leveled by bulldoser. hope we made our point to the bomb makers. and we dont have so many roadside explosions.

holiday spirit is here . even with the terrible rumors that go round. like christmas has been delayed until jan 5th. or what ever else comes round. boxes are arriving with many things to improve life for us. those who have sent items , much thanks. it is what makes a groundhog day here not. really lets us know that there are folks out there who care. and we are still in the thoughts of many.

you all take care of yourselves ,and those around you

peace, joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:51 AM

2015-11-17T04:51:37-05:00

10 APR 03-?

23 DEC 03 Day 257

Hello,

Happy holidays to all. I hope these are times of good memories for all.

Those of you who have sent some love and support my way. My greatest thanks go to you. I have recieved some needed items in the mail. As well as items that just bring a persons spirit up. Without a doubt this may not be the best spent holiday in my book. Still i do not feel left out.

So the net is back up. ? what to write about? If it stays reliable , subject matter will come to me.

For right now i am working the night shift. 8pm to 8am. Doesnt bother me too much as it is slower. gives me time to collect my thoughts, catch up on reading etc. with this time i can focus a little more on leaving here, and getting home. what to do when i get there. where to go.

Its going to be nice to have freedom again. heck to have a whole weekend will be nice.

as i said this is friday everyday here. non-stop. This machine does not stop .

So we have caught mr. Saddam. Great . Its one more step up the ladder of progress. I was begining to wonder if he was alive. or here. If I were him i would have been in mexico or some place around the would away from the lime light. But i guess that hole he lived in for the last year, will get him ready for the next.

What will the effect be? Dont know. We still have bad guys here to deal with, so our mission continues, I will let you know what that is when i find out.

I have hopes that it will take some of the momentum out of his supporters, and puts momentum in the anti-saddam iraq's.

Just my view . As i said earlier . I dont much care for the people living here now. the generations to come are going to be the challenge. Will they carry on the maddness of their parents or seek to improve their country? If they are older than seven , count them out of society. Pretty sad but true.

What is our benifit? Hope someday when i fill up with gas it wont be 2 bucks a gallon , and instead closer to the 4 cents agallon they pay here. Ohh and that buildings etc stop being damaged by ruthless F%!Ks. To those who made those marks/acts against humanity. I can think of a country song written well for them. Toby Kieth (welcome to hell). Its all said right there.

We are as a nation who we are, diverse as we are, for the simple fact of freedom. Our way of life brings folk together. The right to fight wrong. Be a group of individuals. O.K. freedom isnt simple. It costs, but it is insurance.

Will it ever stop? No. Can we slow it down? I hope so. We are busy. To do our part here. Maybe if the next generation sees a better life given to them by us americans. then they wont hold such hatred towards us. maybe freedom will bring to them the unity we have.

Ha what the heck do i know? Helochopper maintenance.!

Gotta spend a little time getting my headspace and timing together. Internet is up. I will have to answer letters. See where you are all at. Ive read a couple so far. and need to reply. Please allow me a day or two.

my head is on a swivel.

take care of yourselves, peace.

joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:54 AM

2015-11-17T04:54:22-05:00

10 APR 03-?

26 DEC 03 Day 260

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays,

For many of you it is still the 25 of Dec as I write this. For I am ten hrs ahead on the clock. 0705 my time. I hope the Christmas day was all you expected it to be, or created it to be. In my mind i can see the warm glow of a fresh cut pine tree decorated , in the corner of a living room. The smell is the best part to me. Nothing like pine. This shifts me to memories of times spent high above home in the mountains.

Equally important times, if not more. Those spent with family or friends around camp fires, telling stories, telling jokes, or just talking till the eyes feel heavy with sleep. Ha yet most cannot sleep the night before Christmas day. Too much excitment.

I guess its all just about important times, good times with friends and family. The better part of what life has to offer us all. I hope you made the most of it. Pay it forward a little.

For me. I want to say thanks to those of you who made a difference here. Your energy has been felt. I recieved the gift i asked for most. Its not one of material. Its that of life.

All my brothers and sisters I came here with. Are still here with me. If we all get to return home, then this was never that bad at all. Just adverse. Ok, Ok, it sucks here. But if we all come home then we sucked it up together. It can never be taken away from us.

Its the hope you all at home give us here. That will get us there. Our holidays here have been made better by those of you back home who care. I have not felt forgotten. Possibly the worst feeling a soldier overseas for the holidays can go through. I havent had to . So my deepest thanks.

Lets ring in 04 . Hope this new year brings greatness.

More about that in a few days. You all take care of eachother, peace

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 4:56 AM

2015-11-17T04:56:42-05:00

10 APR 03-?

03 JAN 04 DAY 268

How is Everyone?

Well we survived another. I personally am glad its done and gone. To much to fast for to long.

If everyone has a speedometer on life. I would say the average person goes 55 . When it pegs out at 80. Well here the days right now for me are going about 10. Yet at a time it seemed they were going 150. Being here yet not really having much to do. Seems twice as slow as it really is.

I do however look forward to the rush of getting out of here. Heck I will move at 200 for that.

No big plans. Nothing in stone. I know I will be back 100% by Jun. 75% it will be May. 50% Apr. and about 10% Mar. Anything sooner then Mar is a pipe dream.

I think today is too soon to talk about leaving here.

So I havent heard about anyone getting dui's or worse for the holiday. so it must have gone well. Good news .

I wish I could have spent the new years eve someother place.

Bout the only thing going for us here, was sparkling grape juice, and 15 minutes of illumination rounds over our camp. Courtesy of our Armor Guys , and there Howitzers.

Other then that it was work , live, watch the day go by as usuall. No DUI's this year.

I hope you all make the changes you set out for yourselves. Get through it to the next.

And live it up a little.

As for me. I just hope this place doesnt consume too many of the valuable months of next year. I am tired, all of us here are tired. Its been long . Ready to come home.

Take care of Yourselves, Peace

Joseph

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 5:03 AM

2015-11-17T05:03:57-05:00

10 APR 03-?

18 JAN 04 DAY 283

O.k. So , its has been some days. No problem.

I guess everyone is back into the grand scheme of things . The holidays are over . The lights and decoration have been brought down and packed away. Of course ours here are still up. Everyday i offer about a second of thought at the fact we still have a lighted christmas tree up. Maybe its wishfull thinking. Maybe its the groups feeling untold .That there really is a holiday to come. Its gone and over with. Maybe next year.

My crowd of coworkers is very much comprised of the type A personalitys. I have faith that we will sucumb to heart attacks before old age. A breed of humans who for the most part. Do not understand quiting. Or half ass work. Or even if its half ass by our standard its still accomplished above standard by the rest. Perspective: We fly , and maintain multimillion doller machines. Machines that are complex in comparison to almost all others. Lots of moving parts,surrounding complex electronics. Complex. To try and picture it all in ones head. May cause a migrane. I guess we did not accomplish the holiday. It was lost in missions. Briefings, Rehersals, Maintenance, Reports, Details, and the unending life we are surrounded with here. So the Decorations stay.

A lot has happened since I last wrote. We as a unit here lost a acft. along with its crew and passengers. In addition we had another acft. shot out of the sky. The crew onboard made it hope in time for dinner.

I feel for the family's who have lost there folks. Not a great way to start a new year. As ive said this is not the greatest place to spend your last days. Sorry to here of those who have passed on. Especially being so close to leaving. Its been a hard damn road.

Once again. A memorial was held. Fortunatlly i did not have to attend. My duties placed me somewhere else. Not that I dont hold respect. Its just that even when you dont know those passed. Its a gathering due to a course of negative events. With the loss of personal It held upteammembers. For some, friends. Even if you dont know them. The cerimony evokes some substantial feelings. If you have had the occasion. My words here make a lot of sense. Taps will never sound the same to me again.

For Stetson. We are doing well. Knock on wood. Hell pound on it. We are all still together. Are our acft can still fly(exception to breakdowns). If we are granted the oportunity to all leave here together. Then we have been counted lucky. Then successfull.

As for the second acft shot down . I had the chance to stand next to it last night. For the lack of better words. I am impressed. It held up. Made it through a small mechanical bump. And the organic components continue on.

Looking at one of the two fuel cells(gas tank) There was a hole large enough to fit a bowling ball through. These are self sealing fuel cells. I think its time to write the manufacturer and let them know it didnt work. I am supprised there wasnt a fire.

I end my days in their begining. I start my day in their end. Working nights.

The last few days (months) ive been at it with a rodent. arrogant like no other. I just couldnt find em. I could here him. but not see him. Also i could smell him. Ive never met many that were faul enough to be smelled. Its probably the Iraqi breeding.

Yesterday the bugger found him a spot to knaw on. It was perfect. As I could hear em. But not find the source. Or his location. Eco was perfect.

Well this morning. He slipped. Found his way into my snack box. Thats a NO-GO. Its a dangerous act to mess with another mans property. Especially that which he holds important. So I carfully carried the box to a open and yet confined location. It gives me the edge. I can move faster over a large area. He looses his. The ability of escape by means of structures. So the Hallway. Carefully I lifted each item out of the box. Ahh the panic of a being when its caught. Caught in the sights of its doom. Yep a can of bean dip. One thump. Not too hard. I didnt want to get blood on the snacks. It was the blow of death. Not fast and clean. Slow and confusing. As I lifted him out to be placed on the floor(I thought a quick stomp may be reqd) I noticed as the seconds passed. He was done dealing. Yep no more mid-day runs accross old Joe as hes asleep. Or frantic chewing on the belongings of those five of us that share a room. No more holes in the potato chip bags. This mouse was dead- bang.

Our living space once again free. From a pest. An opening for hire in the rodent employment field. Space to fill. Demands to meet.

I dropped a 6 ton acft jack on one in the hanger. He was in the same throws of oblivion. Stunned by a broom. Slowed down enough to be squared up on. Let the jack fall. Yes they flatten well.

Another found still holding on to life as the trap holds around his neck. taken to a place of space. The hanger floor. to be granted his freedom . just before his end. 2 seconds to run before the boot sent him into the open air. Towards the wall. The sequence end as his broken body fell into the gutter. Done dealing. Snuffed. The knowledge of the end apparent, even in the small brain of such a small creature. Punk rat ate through about 3,000.00 worth of aviators flight gear. Bags helmets vests.

My tip. Forget cheese. Its for the cartoons. Use a small peice of bread, covered in jelly and cocoa powder. Trust me . It works.

The grind coninues. Really bordom has set in around here. Gone are the crazy days of folks keeping themselves entertained. I havent seen the unicycle in some time, or the go cart, or the other things some had to bide time away. I would like to draw that picture sometime. Yes to some degree we all exsist in a circus. Here the acts were getting close to the real thing. Insanity for the sane.

Keep home ready for our return.

Take care, peace. Death to the mouse.

Joe

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 5:10 AM

2015-11-17T05:10:50-05:00

10 APR 03-?

01 FEB 04 Day 297

Febuary,

Its here at last. After two long months back to back. I get a shot at the short one. Without complete success as this is a leap year. The short month has 29 days not the usuall 28.

Last time it was Leap year, Feb. I was blessed with lockdown in Kosovo. At Camp Bondsteel. You know what they say about bad luck.

Bright side of everything is. Jan is finished , crossed out on the calender. Flip the page forward. Another month down v just a handfull to go, Maybe. I expect the worse , hope for the best. Its all anyone can do ,in any situation. As Mr. Murphy always pops up at the least expected times. He is a bastard. Not a Warrant Officer. OK I did know a Mr. Murphy, CW3 type. Not a bad guy. Just got bent out of shape real easy. Like when , say. I would take the hydraulic accumulator hand pump handle ,and beat upon the poor blackhawks main landing gear tire during runup. In time, with the rotor system. Now of course this would make him worry just a bit (crew chief humor for me). Thinking the rotor system was coming apart.

Its not just me. I swear! In this world we are all sick minded individuals, when it comes to certain comedy. We are apes. Its in our nature. (http://www.rotten.com)

Of course. now that I am a seasoned Crewchief (a older wiser more creative ape). I enlist the help of another Crewchief (ape no.2). He can beat on the tire, while I pull an extra rotor head component from my helmet bag, and ever so gently throw it out in front of the Helicopter. THIS IS NOT A JOKE TO PLAY ON ALL PILOTS!!!!! just most. Builds character, and a better conditioned heart. Due to the design limitations of fixed wing acft. If you crew or work on one . You are not able to play this joke upon your pilots.

Yesterday for entertainment. One of our crews had the unfortunate experience of flying into a flock of birds.

At over 130mph. It is not too funny. Three blades made contact(of the four) two birds impacted the nose, one on the left pilots step, one between the fuslage and right crewchief window, and one into the right crewchief M-60D doorgun.

Poor guy was bout to toss his cookies from what I heard. Its not everyday a person gets sprayed with bird guts. There was a little damage to the acft. The Crewchief window on the right side was folded in on the leading edge. It can be fixed For a couple grand. No big e.

We win . As we are the bigger bird.

Iraq has not changed much since I last wrote. The sun does rise a bit earlier, and sets a bit later. Still desert cold (warm in the day, cold at night),and I am still working the night shift. So the potbelly stove stays lit.

I was talking with one of the guys I work with the other night. About our work. How much it is different from the civilian side. What we do, and how used to the responsibility of it all we become.

Nightly I brief the status of our Blackhawks. At 7 mil a pop. Thats 91 million dollers worth of equipment. That I must be versed on to the last detail. Then of course the topic of discussion went straight to. Imagine what you could buy with 91 mill? Its a pretty big forest they would have to cut down just to print the money.

For us at this point in the game. We could stand to not see another helicopter for a month or three. Each one is just another number . A number that in all its own special ways can be a pain in the ass. Gremlins do exsist. I have never seen one, personally. But , they live inside each aircraft we own. Doing their deeds while our backs are turned. When (if) I catch one . I will drown him slowly in jet fuel. Or better yet, we will collectively decide his fate.

In addition to the responsibility. Are the hours we work. I am on a schedual that runs 14 days. My shift runs 7pm to 7am. For 14 days. Then I take a 24 to 36hr break.

Thats two back to back 84 hr work weeks. Now I dont know a whole bunch about the outside. But the way my math looks I should get the whole next two weeks off. As I have put in my 4 40hr work weeks (in two) for the month, and an additional 8 hrs overtime.

Duty , Honor , Country. NOT Completely, its free bullets , machine guns , a helicopter , and the shooting range is called Iraq. Thats the trade off I see.

It is coming to its close. We are beggining the plans for our return. Dates are up in the air one day to another. I keep my fingers crossed for sooner then later. As the money made here is nice. I am ready to have a little free time in life and money is not as important any longer. Freedom is the word. So is home. Feb. is calender month number eleven we have seen here. Thats a long time working 14 on one off.

Ive done this thing before. Coming back. It has its rough edges. Things to sort out. A life to put back together. In perspective the strange part is the lack of changes. When it comes down to it. The bank is a bit fuller, the waist a bit smaller, hair greyer, but the world is still the same. Almost as if we never left it. But there are all these crazy memories in the mind. Yet the world doesnt even know we were gone, let alone really understand where we went to or what we did there. The picture in the mind and soul, are hard to describe. The energy is hard to express. The rush was ours to be had. Some days too much, others not enough. Photographs can only show a 3x5 cut , of the big picture.

No more pictures for Jan.

Peace, Take care of yourselves.

Joe

Response by SGT Joseph Schmalzel made Nov 17 at 2015 5:14 AM

2015-11-17T05:14:49-05:00

I wish I had them all, but yahoo made some go away. Enjoy my boring stories. Pardon my writing style, as I only had ten minutes at the computer per message, to family and friends.

Response by SGT Jimmy Carpenter made Nov 17 at 2015 8:51 AM

2015-11-17T08:51:49-05:00

I had a letter that I kept with my personal effects addressed to my mom and kids, just in case. As soon as I was safely back in the states, I threw the letter away.

I don't remember what all it said but I know it started off something like this "If you are reading this letter, it means I didn't make it."

Thinking about that letter and the fact I actually had to write it has brought a tear to my eye.

I do remember telling my mom that if I got killed in action to not carry on like that one mother, Cindy Sheehan that went on a rampage against President Bush because her son was killed. I also told her that if I was wounded to the point that I had less than a 50% chance of surviving, to pull the plug. These are things that no mother wants to hear or should have to hear from her son or daughter.

I don't know if any of my family still has letters that I wrote home. I tried not to write about killing or death, I guess I didn't want them to know just how dangerous it was for us.

Thank you for sharing sir.

Response by CSM Allen Dahl made Nov 17 at 2015 9:34 AM

2015-11-17T09:34:20-05:00

Sir, thank you for honoring these Soldiers. This is the mark of leadership all should aspire to; that we personally care about each and every one of them. They all have faces, names and families. To avoid that reality would be disingenuous and cowardly.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Nov 17 at 2015 10:14 AM

2015-11-17T10:14:12-05:00

While I can appreciate the question and desire..
What i wrote to the wives, daughters, Mom and dads of those I lost.. should never have been written, but surely do not deserve to be read by anyone but them.

Response by LTC Michael Hrycak made Nov 17 at 2015 12:27 PM

2015-11-17T12:27:06-05:00

Right before Christmas 2006, during their RIP/TOA (Relief In Place/Transfer of Authority) the Latvian Army lost three Soldiers during their Right Seat Ride/Left Seat Ride. This was the Polish Army's flyby during their Angel Flight back to Baghdad at FOB Echo in Diwaniyah, Iraq. We had other Memorials for our fallen Soldiers, but this one always underscored the price all of us were willing to pay to serve our country and preserve our freedoms. We left the Iraqi Theater of Operations eventually, but all of us had put something into preserving the security of Iraq to allow them to live in a democratic society and in safety. I didn't know how to share a letter or email, although I corresponded on an almost daily basis, so I thought this photograph would be worthy of sharing with my fellow Warriors. Let freedom ring throughout our world!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 6:00 PM

2015-11-17T18:00:54-05:00

I remember this Saturday very well. These two young men where in my company A co 2-16IN I was their commo guy. Seeing their pictures on here just gave me a rush of memories from that week. Very well written and I wish there were more people like you that shared these.

Response by 1SG William Zappa made Nov 17 at 2015 6:47 PM

2015-11-17T18:47:18-05:00

I know what you are talking about sir. I was the First Sergeant of D co, 2-16 IN, that escorted your recovery team to the COP. I was on that mission as well. Once at the COP, there was a platooned pinned down and we were tasked to recover that platoon and get them back to their COP, which we did successfully. I have never been more proud of my men of D Co. Once we escorted you all back to the FOB, I was required to stay back and identify the remains of Specialist Bennett and Private First Class Miller....so to quote you sir.
"May God continue to bless our Nation with young men like Specialist Durrell Bennett and Private First Class Patrick Miller, young men that not only pray for peace but are willing to answer the prayers of millions of Americans by waging into battle to protect and preserve that blanket of freedom. Sleep gently tonight America, for your brave young men are standing firmly at their post."

WILLIAM C. ZAPPA
1SG, US ARMY Retired

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 7:18 PM

2015-11-17T19:18:33-05:00

Sir, thanks for sharing. That night, fighting our way to recover those two young men is a memory forever printed on my mind. It was a solemn duty that my company had, along with your fine Soldiers that night and we all performed it well. v/r Chris Brautigam aka Dealer 6

Response by CPT Pedro Meza made Nov 17 at 2015 8:14 PM

2015-11-17T20:14:21-05:00

I will also include Brave Women too,"Sleep gently tonight America, for your brave young men and women are standing firmly at their post."

Response by 1SG Jason Smith made Nov 17 at 2015 8:19 PM

2015-11-17T20:19:53-05:00

Sir thank you for this letter. These two incredible Soldiers were in my battalion at rusty. We 2/16 Rangers still have a void that will never be filled because of the loss of these two and the other 14 we lost in that long hellish deployment known as the surge

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2015 12:47 AM

2015-11-18T00:47:24-05:00

Sir, Thanks for sharing your letter. It puts what our Soldiers do in perspective and reminds us of our responsibility to ensure they receive the best training to prepare them for the challenges they may face.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Nov 18 at 2015 8:27 PM

2015-11-18T20:27:21-05:00

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Nov 18 at 2015 8:52 PM

2015-11-18T20:52:29-05:00

My kid brother sent this from Germany. He was given 30 days delay enroute before reporting to Oakland Army Base tor shipping to Nam. A member of the SP4 mafia, he wrangled 30 days additional leave over the Christmas holidays. My sons were 5 and 6 years old at the time. 'They" played for 60 days, when the station wagon was backed into the driveway, I knew he had been driving somewhere.

His tour in Viet Nam was a short one. I met his casket at the train station in Los Angeles 26 days after he departed Los Angeles.

John was a 106 RR gunner, 11H. 'AJ" is Acing Jack for acting Sgt.

I will work on scanning the one of the two letters we received from him. My wife had ordered a case of Kool Aid, before it arrived, he was returned.

BRAVO COMPANY
2D BATTALION (RANGERS) 36TH INFANTRY
APO NEW YORK

09039
15 March 19 66

Dear Harry,
In about four weeks a couple cases of books will arrive
at your house. It will be children’s encyclopedias, atlas,
Webster unabridged dictionary and a set of medical books,
They are the kids Late Late Christmas-Present. Open them up
and check them out thoroughly and if they aren’t any good
let me know so that I can cancel the contract. They are strictly
on approval and my contract has a clause which says so. Also
with them comes an extension service from the university of
Chicago. You are allowed one inquiry a week for ten years on
any subject from nuclear fisson to why a pickle tastes sour.
The university will reply with a detailed report. Make sure the
kids use it when they they aret old enough.

I took three this month for VietNam. I just got my stripe back
the first of January. I lost it last summer for being in on a
scheme to run off our' own EIB orders. Same old stupid John.

I saw Ursula once last year at Easter on a three day pass
I got for colonels orderly. 'They even made me a squad leader
for awhile until I wised up to these screwballs. All they
wanted was a figurehead and wouldn’t give me AJ so I told the
Platoon sergeant to shove it. He didn't do my thing about it
though because he was mixed up in quite a bit of hanky panky
with coffee and cigarettes 'trading with rad and the whole
p1atoon would have put the meat to him if he tried to get me.

I don't know what Army you were in that was so good but it ,
wasn't this one. I have never seen so many stupid people concen-
trated in one place. And about 95% of the NCOs are leading the
Category. My poop is the heaviest in the brigade on the 106mm
as we found out on Veterans' day in the competition.

I bought a good Sony tape recorder with my bonus. $250.00
worth. I think: it’s a real good deal because I've seen ads
in stateside magazines that want $400 for it.

I’ll see you before June- I hope.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 9:44 PM

2015-11-24T21:44:38-05:00

COL Sam Russell, I wrote home regularly from Vietnam. After I got back, I asked my mom where my letters were. She told me she threw them away. When I asked why, she told me she read them and didn't see any reason to save them. That's my family and why I was glad when I left home for Vietnam. You can tell it still hurts me. Boo fn boo.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 10:03 PM

2015-11-24T22:03:22-05:00

When they don't have the words but they want you to know they understand what is going on.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 24 at 2015 11:08 PM

2015-11-24T23:08:02-05:00

A long time ago, I stood vigil as remains were recovered from vehicle destroyed by a SVBIED. I was injured myself in the same attack, burned badly. The smells... will never, ever leave my memory.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 14 at 2015 10:04 PM

2015-12-14T22:04:42-05:00

I did not write letters about what I was going through back home to friends and family. I did talk about it with my friends deployed with me. I worked at a mortuary in Kirkuk and Tikrit then deployed to Afghanistan a year ago. After the day was over we would talk about what went on and check to make sure everyone was doing ok. It's never good to hold things in and not everyone can understand or even begin to imagine the things you saw or any of us for that matter. As sad as it is it is also humbling. You as well as many others brought closure to families.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 8:17 AM

2015-12-15T08:17:55-05:00

This moved me to tears Sir. I was lucky to serve during a time when there weren't any active (that we know of) combat operations, so I can honestly say I don't know what that is like. I'm thankful I don't have to know. I have many friends and loved ones that unfortunately do. I can only draw up my experiences in my previous life as a critical care nurse before transitioning over to IT. God Bless you all who bear the wounds and scars of war. I'm forever grateful and thankful for you all!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 8:51 AM

2015-12-15T08:51:47-05:00

Sir,
Have you ever heard of letters written home having false information in them resulting in a elected officials becoming involved in righting a wrong that didn't occur?

Response by COL Sam Russell made Dec 16 at 2015 11:25 AM

2015-12-16T11:25:43-05:00

Here's another letter (email) that I sent to my wife about a month before the above.

From: LTC Sam Russell
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 11:33 AM
To: Russell, Kimberly
Subject: Hey
Kim.... Hope all is well at home.
It's about 01:00 on 27 Feb, and I'm sitting in an all but abandoned pax terminal, really just a large Air Force maintenance tent, at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). I still laugh at the name, as the only flights in and out are Air Force aircraft, but since they head to Kuwait, I guess it is still technically an international airport. I'm on my wireless notebook; there is a signal, but I don't have the password. So, I can't send this until I get a connection -- probably a couple of days from now.
I'm headed to Camp Bucca -- not quite sure where that is in Iraq -- somewhere south of Baghdad. Unfortunately, I have to fly there by way of Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. Still can't figure that one out.
One of my captains arranged my flight to here by Black Hawk. I was supposed to take off from Rusty at 19:45, but the flight was about an hour late due to the rain today (yes, my boots are covered in mud again) that stalled everything. When we finally took off we flew up to Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, where we dropped off a couple of passengers then flew to the refuel point there. All the passengers (seven of us with all our bags crammed into a compartment for eight) got off while the birds took on fuel. After loading up again we flew down to Camp Liberty located on the same complex as BIAP. Everyone one got off but me. As seven more passengers with bags began getting on board, the loadmaster yelled over the rotor blades, "where are you going?" I screamed back, "BIAP!" He hollered back, "We don't go there! Get off!" I had a couple of the recently-boarded-pax hand me my ruck sack -- about 70 lbs -- snatched up my computer bag and jumped off. By then the NCO that was scheduled to pick me up and drive me to temporary lodging assumed I wasn't on that flight and left without me. I called and arranged for a shuttle to take me to the airport.
My mistake was assuming the flights still stopped off at BIAP since they did in 2005. The CPT that arranged my flight assumed I knew to get off at Liberty and meet my escort. After dragging my bags onto the shuttle, off again, and over to the terminal -- still wearing my body armor and ballistic helmet, I confirmed that I don't need to show up for my flight until 1600 tomorrow! Seems like travel around Iraq is as painful as I remembered from last time.
The airman at the terminal told me I can get a cot in a tent at one of the adjacent camps. I called back to my TOC and asked if CPT R was available. The response I received was, "he's right here looking for you." I chuckled and said "where exactly is he looking for me?" When my errant CPT got on the phone I said "now that I've already executed actions on the objective, what exactly was the plan?" CPT R said "Sir, you never got off the aircraft at Liberty and SGT C is on the phone trying to figure out where you are." After informing him that I was at the air terminal at BIAP, he offered to have SGT C come get me. I asked if he'd already arranged for lodging. Of course he hadn't. At that point I was too tired of dragging my ruck and body armor everywhere. I told him to stand SGT C down, and I would find a place to crash here.
So, here I sit in a cold, empty maintenance tent with about 15 hours to kill before I need to be here. Looks like another sleepless night in Baghdad.
I'm heading to Camp Bucca for two weeks to head up a board considering the release of detainees. Camp Bucca is the theater's largest internment facility and holds Iraqi detainees, some that have been detained since 2003. It should prove to be a very different assignment as I'll preside over a board of officers and NCOs that review files and hear the pleas of Iraqi prisoners (oops, I mean detainees). Some are really bad guys, some are schmucks caught up with "the wrong crowd," some where just in the wrong place with the wrong people. Everything from murderous Al Qaeda to Saddam loyalists, from Shi'ite militiamen to uneducated, unemployed young men trying to earn a few bucks for their families by placing an IED on the side of the road. The higher ups think it will help reconciliation if we release as many detainees as possible. Fortunately, the boards consist of Soldiers from brigade combat teams that have an interest in making sure the really bad guys never see the light of day.
Did the Valentine's cards ever arrive? If not, they should get there soon. Seems like I mailed them around the 11th of Feb.
It's 02:00 now and I'm going to try and get some rest -- as best I can on this hard ass chair in this freezing tent. I'll write more later.
28 Feb, 22:30. I'm at Camp Buehring in Kuwait in another large tent with about two dozen other Soldiers and civilians. At least it's heated. We'll pass the night here (an Army cot is a bit more comfortable then a floor, but just a bit) and fly out early tomorrow morning to Bucca, which I've learned is only about 8 kilometers north of the Kuwaiti border. I've linked up with four of the five guys that will comprise our board, one captain, one master sergeant, and two sergeants first class. The major that is supposed to be in our group left a day earlier and I assume is already there.
We landed last night at Ali Al Salem and bunked down in an Army temper tent. They put me up in a VIP tent (the only difference was 8 beds instead of 16). Not having ate breakfast, lunch or dinner yesterday I stayed up to go to midnight chow. I choked down some Swedish meatballs and noodles, but regretted it later when I woke up with severe cramps at 04:30. After crapping my guts out for 30 minutes I managed to get a couple hours sleep. Nothing like food poisoning from an Army DFAC to make traveling all the more challenging.
At noon we took a bus over to Buehring and have twiddled our thumbs for most of the day. There is a wireless signal here, but again, I don't have the password. I checked out the MWR internet café, but it's closed today. I guess I should try and get some sleep. Should be a challenge as there are several snorers in the tent.
3 Mar 19:00. Well I made it to Bucca on Friday without any problems. Haven't been able to get a connection until now. I'll give you one more update and hit send on this. I've spent the last three days listening to detainee cases and deciding who we should recommend for release. Some of them have been really baaaadddd guys. Some aren't. The highlight so far was hearing the case of Saddam Hussien's cousin. He didn't pass go and went straight back to jail (oops, detention). I took a rather sick pleasure in asking him what he felt when he heard about Saddam's execution. For the record, he was "filled with deep sorrow." Tomorrow we've got some particularly baadd insurgents and don't think we'll be recommending many releases. Among them is Saddam's nephew. Should be entertaining.
Hope all is well. I do miss you guys and pray that you're all getting along. How is soccer season going for this kids?
Love, Sam

Response by PO1 Donald Hammond made Dec 16 at 2015 11:42 AM

2015-12-16T11:42:27-05:00

I was on submarines and we only had "Family-grams". 20 word messages sent by our loved ones. 6 for a 3 month deployment. The only one I kept was the one telling me my son was born.

Response by SGT Randy White made Aug 26 at 2016 7:18 PM

2016-08-26T19:18:32-04:00

Cool. Russell

I had the pleasure to serve in A. Co. 94th BSB from its stand up until picked for recruiting duty in 2007. While I did not get the honor of deploying with them I have great respect for the soldiers I served with there. 1SG Richardson was a mentor to me along with many other outstanding NCOs and officers. I'm very proud of my time there at Ft. Polk and count myself as lucky to have served with such great soldiers.

Response by MSG Danny Mathers made Jul 12 at 2018 3:07 PM

2018-07-12T15:07:46-04:00

I think anyone with combat causility experience no mater which war, will have to deal with the demons. The first couple of weeks in Vietnam, I had made buddy with the CO's driver. The supply sergeant and him had went on a PX run to Hue from LZ Sharon. The SOPs for dealing with KIAs was to bag them at the seen to limit the troops from seeing the body(s). The 1SG directed me and another guy to look for his 45. The jeep had hit a mine in the road and blew off the driver's side suspension. The sergeant just had minor wounds. PFC Tripp was killed by the scrapnel from the mine and the jeep. I was feeling under the seat and felt something strange. I pulled out his scalp and the pistol. It smelled like raw bacon. It took me almost 20 years before I could eat it. The smell sicken me and the memory stayed a few days until I had to deal with it again. I witnessed 35 other WIAs during my tour and DEROS with a guilty feeling which is called survior's guilt. I ETS after 39 month and was out for 3 years which I had learned to put my demons behind me. The reentry into the army were the best years of my life due to the Brotherhood and the complete trust of the Chain of Command. Nothing worse than being an old Soldier, you long to be young again and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.