coming back soon...

just a little note to say that i haven't completely given up on the site. i wish i could have done more with it these past 6 months, but there are other forces in play. so in about 2 months i should be up and writing again although it probably won't be as meaningful as it would have been when i first started this. but hopefully at least one of you will get something out of it.

A Typical Day

I wake up early in the morning, before the sun rises, and head out to work for the day. The mornings are starting to get cool here now. It’s very dark over here, there’s no such thing as light pollution. You can see every single star in the sky. Sometimes when I look up at the sky, its beauty makes me forget that I am in the middle of a war zone.

Everyday at work is very much like the next. I have my regulars who come in at the same time every day. These guys are the cooks, guards, medics, mechanics, and others who usually stay inside the wire and have a regular schedule. Everybody else is unpredictable, coming in when they come off missions, about to go out on missions, or sometime in between sleeping and eating. There are some guys that come in every few days and some that haven’t come in a month; some have more time than others.

Every now and then I get a few guys who sit down and talk with me while waiting on their buddies to finish calling home. They tell me about their missions; about how many times they’ve been blown up, how life is at Roe and Joe, and then what they’re going to when they get home.

Some days sounds of the artillery are heard, other days there are explosions. Every time those rounds go off, the whole internet café jumps almost out of their seats until one of the more informed guys says that it’s only outgoing. One day we heard an explosion in the early afternoon and found out at dinner that it was the sound of our guys getting blown up by an IED. That day the guys weren’t so lucky and a few of them had to be medivaced out.

After work I sometimes hang out at the MWR tent and watch a movie with the rest of the guys until chow time. Most movies never make it all the way through because they are poor quality bootleg DVD’s bought from the local nationals. Movies are the best selling items here on FOB St. Michael, it takes peoples’ minds off of reality for a while.

The other day I went to the guard shack about a shipment I had received the day before. While I waited on the Sgt I needed to see I hung out with a few of our guards who were on call for emergencies. I sat and played catch with one of the guys while the others got haircuts from a talented Sgt with a pair of clippers. He tried to lure me into the chair for a trim, but I had to decline. They sat around just talking since their DVD player was broken. They have a little can on top of the TV for donations to buy a new one. I’m not sure if they’ll be able to buy one before we leave at the rate they are going.

Chow time is a great time for me to talk with people I don’t see very often. It’s also a good time to watch the news. There’s a TV with a satellite connection in the chow hall, so it’s the only place to watch “real TV”. The food is pretty good here for the most part. Our cooks do well with what they have, and they always make sure to fill your plate. The best thing we have had so far is a cheese cake that was shipped in one time. I have no idea what brand it was, but it was incredible.

I usually go to sleep just as the sun sets here on our tiny FOB. Some nights it’s hard to sleep because the wind is blowing so hard that the tent hits up against the cots inside. Some nights the sounds of artillery keeps me awake. It’s also difficult because everyone has a different schedule in the tent. Some work days and some work nights, and others work sometime in between the two. A few of the people in my tent have put up partitions in an attempt to gain a little more privacy. That is definitely one thing that is hard to come by here.

Most days here are indistinguishable from the next here, but they are going by steadily. I only wish they would go by faster.

Sunset at FOB St. Michael's

A little visit

On September 6th FOB St. Michael got a special treat. Actor Vince Vaughn came to our remote little FOB for a USO sponsored visit. They put flyers up a few days prior to the event, but most soldiers here (including me) were skeptical of the event actually taking place. But he showed up! He came to the MWR tent and signed autographs, took pictures, and talked with the guys. He also went on a tour of our camp and visited some of the various work areas to see the guys who couldn't come to the MWR tent because they had to work. He was only here for about two hours, but the visit itself meant a lot. He's the only USO entertainment we've had so far. Nobody else it seems, wants or is able to visit our tiny FOB. Not even the visiting government officials. But I'm sure it's just because it's too dangerous here.

Mad props to Vince Vaughn for the visit! Thanks for coming out and supporting the troops.

A Second Memorial

A memorial for our two fallen soldiers from Echo Troop was held on September 5th at 1900. Just like last time, the tiny stage held the two soldiers’ inverted rifles, helmets, boots, and dog tags. The second memorial was much harder then the first. The same guys who were there consoling their buddies over the death of the four soldiers a few weeks ago, were now gone themselves.

Our Battalion Commander spoke again, along with the Echo Troop Commander and the Cavalry platoon leader. Upon hearing the platoon leader speak, you could see how close these guys were to each other. These guys not only lived and worked together, but they also fought together, faced danger together, hurt together, prayed together, loved together, and died together. Our much-loved chaplain was here this time to speak. His words were comforting and dear. He read a poem that struck a nerve in all of us.

Freedom Isn’t Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze

A young soldier saluted it,

and thenHe stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud

With hair cut square and eyes alert

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers' tears?

How many Pilots' planes shot down?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No Freedom isn't free

I heard the sound of taps one night,

When everything was still.

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That taps had meant "Amen"

When a flag had draped a coffin

of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard at the

bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington

No, Freedom isn't free.


As the two soldiers’ names were called out during the Roll Call, the pain and grief in the faces of those left behind permeated the room. Tears were in the eyes of most everyone present as many of the fallen soldiers’ closest friends fought to maintain military bearing. These guys were there when their country needed them, there when their fellow soldiers needed them, courageous soldiers and friends till the end.

Thank you Lord for the lives of these two remarkable men, we will do our best to honor them by never forgetting the legacy they leave behind. We will remember them for the rest of our lives. As our Battalion Commander said, they are now in a better place securing the objective there for all of us.

God Bless these soldiers and their families.

Two of our fallen

Some thoughts...

A few guys who just got back from leave stopped in and talked today. They told me stories of all they great food they had, the shows they watched, and the great visits they had with their wives. I can't wait to go on leave myself, I have no idea what I want to do yet. All I really want to do is see my hubby. One guy who is leaving soon said he was going fishing down in Florida with his buddies. Another guy who just got back went to a log cabin in Tennessee with his wife and watched the Dixie Stampede. He said once he got home, this place over hear seemed like a dream.

Chow has been doing a number on my stomach lately. I've been sleeping through dinner and stuffing myself at breakfast. The motivation to stay awake for dinner is gone. In fact, motivation in general has been hard to come by the last few days. The first big slump of this deployment is here and I'm sure many more will follow.

I can now accurately tell the difference between outgoing rounds and incoming rounds. What a skill to possess.

There was supposed to be a remembrance ceremony yesterday for our two guys that got killed. I'm not sure if it went on or not as I was working during that time of the day. I know that people were supposed to speak about things that they remember about the two guys. A formal memorial will be held sometime later this week. It's hard to do another one of these things so soon after the first one. I hope this is the last one we do.

Senseless

Somedays everything in the world just seems so senseless. WHY? Why did that hurricane have to cause so much destruction and death? Why did that IED have to go off then, and why did it have to do what it did? Why did those two planes have to hit those towers? But shit like that will never make any sense.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two E troop soldiers. May God bless them.

Hurricane Katrina

I read on the internet early this morning of the destrution that this horrible storm has left in it's wake. They had a video showing how bad everything was. I can't believe that so many people were killed. I wish I was home right now, they would probably call for help from the national guard and I would so love to help these people. This is something I can understand and know that I am making a difference. I don't understand my role in this war; I don't know if I am making a difference because there really isn't a way to measure it. I hope the areas affected by Katrina are able to recover as quickly as possible and that no other people are hurt.

calling home

I thought you all might like to have a visual image of where your sweeties are calling you from. Here's a few pictures of our lovely internet cafe'. Hope you enjoy.

I crave the normal life

Our cooks here have been getting creative lately with breakfast. I came in one day to something that looked like a pastry. It was french toast cut in half and encrusted with sugar and cinnamon. It was really really good. Then the next day they had the same thing only this time each half of french toast was stuffed with cherry pie filling, absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to see what else they have up their sleeves.

I made some more tea today, haven't done that in a while. I found that you only have to leave the bottles outside for about 5 minutes really, it's just that hot outside.

I've been in a bit of a funky mood lately. The time here is catching up with me I guess. I'm so tired of being away from everything. Watching the new reports of hurricane katrina in the chow hall yesterday made me feel a little better. I grew up in south Georgia on the coast (Brunswick), so hurricane season was almost like another sports season. We had the weather channel on all the time to see when the next hurricane was coming. So in a weird way, getting to watch the news report as she made landfall was kinda comforting. I guess cause it's normal. The more time that I spend in Iraq the more I grow accustomed to this routine. I don't want that to happen. I don't want this place to become 'normal' to me.

Three and a half months in...

Days are starting to go by a little faster as I get more used to this place. It’s funny what you can get used to when you have to. I was so afraid of this place when I stepped off that plane and took my first step into Iraq; it’s a very unique experience I must say. Nothing is the way I pictured it and the reality of the situation is far more real.

On the convoy down to FOB St. Michael’s, I rode in a fuel truck filled to the brim with JP8 and all I could think about was what would happen if an IED were to hit our truck. It didn’t help seeing craters from previous explosions all along the road. Somehow, being locked and loaded and ready to go didn’t seem to calm my nerves. I arrived safely on the FOB and quickly tried to make my small place more ‘homey’ by putting up a few pictures and unpacking a few things. I started my job right away on a 12 hour rotating schedule. I began to adapt to my routine as I thought of the year to come. There would be no more trips to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, no more sleeping on a bed, no more eating at Willies Wienie Wagon (those from Brunswick, GA know what I’m talking about), no more consumption of alcohol, no more safe surroundings, and no more Randy (my husband). Things just got serious.

Everyday seems like the day before it and it’s only because of my job that I can even keep track of the days here. Most of the time I have no idea what is going on outside of this little FOB and I like it this way. For a while I was the radio telephone operator (RTO) for my unit here and it was hell. I was hearing everything that happened outside on our patrols and convoys. Some days were better than others, but the bad days were sometimes very bad and it was hard to fully comprehend that stuff. I just did my job and tried not to think about it too much. I will never take anything for granted anymore. I was glad when they changed some people’s jobs around, I didn’t like knowing everything that happened to our guys out there. Sometimes ignorance can be bliss.

For the people that stay inside the wire, we cannot comprehend many of the things that our guys on patrol must deal with everyday. It’s just like those of you at home will never understand what it’s like here and we will never understand what it’s like to for you being at home worrying about us. It doesn’t matter how well you are able to describe things, it has to do with actually experiencing it. Sometimes I wonder what is the most difficult, putting yourself in danger everyday or having someone you love in danger everyday. Either way, it’s not a pleasant thing and the frustration of the situation is bound to set in pretty quickly. I’m frustrated, my husband is frustrated, and a lot of the guys here I know are frustrated. I can hear it in their voices when they call home. But we’ll be back before too long and then everything will be okay again. But for now, we just keep doing the job that our country is asking us to do and hope that we make a difference here and back home.

Best Tent

In tent city, the guys have been decorating and trying to make their spaces a little homier. Some of the guys have strung up tarps to make shades for their ‘porches’. One group of guys went as far as to put up plastic pink flamingos up around their tent and they certainly aren’t raising the property value. The area around them is referred to as the old ghetto or the projects. I live in the slightly nicer area (called simply the new ghetto). The only difference really is that our tents have tarp partitions and little nicer air conditioners. We make fun of a lot of stuff around here; we find it helps if you just laugh at stuff instead of letting it stress you out.

I picked this tent as my winner of best all around because they have their eye on the prize (HOME!). They got the miles wrong, but you can’t blame them for trying. It actually feels like we’re a whole planet apart sometimes. But I’m actually only 6891.93 miles from home (ha!...only 6,891!)

While we were apart

-For the first time ever, we had salad at dinner. I can’t believe I got excited over a salad. But now we're out of ranch dressing (oh well, you can't have everything).
-We have been without white milk for over a week now but now have a small supply. We had some guys so desperate for cereal; they used chocolate milk or banana milk instead. I don’t think the strawberry milk has been touched.
-No slip mats have been put into the showers here. Shower floors can be now crossed off the ‘enemy’ list
-The new PX was closed for almost two weeks for some mysterious reason. It opened back up unceremoniously the other day. Now I can buy American made products again, though I’ll still probably just buy the much cheaper Iraqi products. (note: the PX is the only place to get soda made in the US here. The Iraqi coke just doesn’t taste the same)
-An Iraqi restaurant/store opened a few days ago on the FOB. The chicken’s pretty good, but the pizza is just un-American (they don’t put tomato sauce on their pizzas here).
-"We've been gone for over three months already?! How many do we have left again?"

We will meet again in Fiddler's Green

A memorial service was held Friday afternoon for our four fallen soldiers. A few days ago, some of the soldiers went around the FOB gathering up all the chairs they could for the ceremony. Needless to say, when the memorial service started, all the seats were full and people were standing in every available space and were spilling out of the building. Earlier in the week, the small stage was supposed to have held four comics who would have filled the room with laughter. Instead, the stage now held the helmet, rifle, boots, and dog tags of our four fallen heroes.


Many people spoke, offering a memory of those departed. They spoke of their smiles and jokes, their hard work and soldiering skills, their determination and willingness to fight, and most of all their friendship. One speaker spoke of how we shall never forget these brave men; this was how we were to honor them. That we should not think of how bad it was that these men died, but rather how great it was that men like this lived.



The ceremony carried with it many of the military’s dearest traditions. The most poignant of these was the roll call tradition. The first Sgt of the company of the fallen soldier stands at attention and begins to call the roll. As each name is called, the soldier stands to attention and says, “Here.” When the name of the fallen soldier is reached, his name is called three times with a pause between each call. Upon the third calling of his name, a soldier in formation is suppose to announce, “First Sgt, SPC/SGT_______ who was once a Rough Rider, is now reporting to a much higher authority. May God bless him.” Taps was played by one of the soldiers here and a twenty-one gun salute was given in three volleys by seven servicemen. Bagpipes played our four brave soldiers a prayer of amazing grace as many mourned such a great loss. You could tell from the faces of everyone present that these guys were loved tremendously and that they will be sorely missed. May God bless the family and friends of these courageous soldiers, these boys will live on in all of our memories.



The fallen soldier from E troop asked for this poem to be read if anything should happen to him.

Fiddler’s Green
Halfway down the trail to Hell,

In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.

Marching past,
straight through to HellThe Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers' Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.

And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green.

***UPDATE***

A new post should be up soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me guys.

An email from SGT Kirchner

Just checkin out your blog, might remember me i used to be the co's driver, evaced to walter reed after getting blown up by mortar. anyway first one to walter reed,[another soldier] is here, he is doin well and is in VERY good spirits (left arm ampute). My surgeries are mostly complete and i will probably be seperated from the army due to my disabilities, [another soldier] will obviously be seperated out. here at walter reed us patients mostly fill out paperwork, va claims, etc. and sit around and try to joke about our injuries, the spirit and morale of the patients here is great, everyone tries like hell to keep a positive attitude and make the best of their situation. we trade drug cocktail recepies to figure out what works best for an arm amputaion or a major leg burn or nerve pain (chronic nerve pain seems to be the worst) and we all keep each others spirits up. please tell cpt moore that i now have a no salute profile as my rt. arm is pretty messed up, so he has the priviledge of being the last person i saluted. Tell everyone that they are not forgotten here the support from the people here at home is wonderful and helps to keep us driving through the pain. please let cpt moore also know i am going to be transfered to Ft. Macpherson in atlanta on monday the 15th of august. i am getting out of walter reed !!!!!! stay safe, WEAR YOUR BODY ARMOR AND KEVELAR, and let everyone know that i pray for all of all of you to return safely, i cringe daily when i watch the news and fear for the next person wounded or killed, i hope none of you ever makes it to reed and that none of you are hurt.

Sincerely,
Sgt. Kirchner, James L
HHC 1/108th AR
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Washington, DC

P.S. Please stop in at the Batt Aid station and see SFC Battaglia and 1LT Ray and let them know that i am doing well and that the aid I recieved at the aid station from the medics there made the difference between my life and death, and also the speed of my recovery which, by walter reed standards, has been remarkable. most soldiers here average a year stay, i was released in less than 3 months. I will always be indebted to the medic platoon.

THANK YOU!

bonnie, frances, cindy thurman, uprit, sarah meng, john sibert, susie hillman, delsa smith, melissa mckenzie, pam, mrs. bohannon (your son told me to say hi), the iced tea wife, rebecca, corey, gramma & grandad, anyone else that reads along... and one cutie-pie of a husband!!

thanks for reading and thanks for all the emails and comments!!! You should be seeing some articles of mine posted on the AJC website very soon, but don't worry, this site will remain active. thanks for all the support guys!

SPC Schreck

A few notes

Several days ago one of our patrols got hit by an IED and some of the guys I know got hurt. They were taken to the hospital in Baghdad for a while and just got back yesterday. One of my roommates and I made a few of them cards and put them in a bag with some candy and snacks for them. I saw one of the guys today and he looked like he was doing very well.

I went to the gym for the first time since I left Ft. Stewart. Our original gym burnt down with the rest of the Chicken Factory and has since been relocated to one of the tents in "tent city." They actually managed to rescue a whole set of weights from the fire after everything stopped burning, though they look like they'd fall apart if you tried to lift them. We have a few new sets of weights, some benches, and an elliptical machine (I can't believe it!). I worked on my legs and my abs mostly. I should start going more often, but it's hard because of the lack of motivation. I'm going to need a drill sgt.

These past three days we have had the most incredible chow. First it was lobster and king crab legs, then huge ribeye steaks, and yesterday we had the most tender smoked ribs I've ever had. I have got to hand it to our cooks, they're amazing. Hopefully we don't all of a sudden shift to the less appetizing menus now.

The first rotation of leave has started and some of the guys and gals here are winging their way to the states as I speak. My roommate is leaving today if the weather permits. I'm not sure when my leave will be yet exactly. They announce leave then end/beginning of every month, so I won't get too much notice. I signed up to take leave in (a particular month) although I may not get it. My very first wedding anniversary will be in (a particular month), and I really don't want to miss it. But if I can't be home then, we can always just celebrate it when I get back. So look for all of our guys painting the town red in the ATL or Savannah or Alabama or a town near you very soon.


(Another note: Randy and I have been married for 5 whole months! big smile.)


SPC Schreck

Orange Haze

I really didn't want to get up this morning. I would have been perfectly content to simply sleep the day away, but unfortunately my alarm clock was very insistent that I wake up. I let it go off three times before I finally got up and then I had to rush to get ready for work. I knew right from the start that is was going to be one of those days. As the sun came up, we noticed something very odd about the sky. There was a huge cloud of sand hung in the sky, everything took on an orange-colored hue. I haven't seen anything like this since I arrived in May, and we've been through some pretty bad sandstorms already. The wind was blowing gently, providing a cool breeze. You could literally taste the sand that hung in the air and it was hard to breath. It was also very hard to see. About 1o feet was as far as you could see, and after that there was just orange haze. Around about 9am it started to burn off a bit, but the sun was still hidden by all the dust in the air which made the temperature outside surprisingly comfortable. (Then some more stuff happened that was rather unpleasant.)I knew I should've stayed in bed.

little surprises

Just a little reminder to all, that there is beauty in all things, even Iraq. This country is full of beauty, it's just hard to see it through the violence, the poverty, and the war-torn cities.

much violence

This is all too much, too many of our guys have died all too quickly. It's very hard to hear this every other day or so, it absolutely breaks my heart. Another 3 of our soldiers perished two nights ago in an attack. It's hard on everyone here and everyone in the 48th, to be reminded all too soon that life is so very fragile.

But life continues here in Mahmudiyah, the days keep on going. Things are well in our little FOB, everyone seems to be in better moods here, or maybe it's just me. I've been talking to more and more people lately and have even been smiling on a regular basis. I think that once you are really used to a situation, you come to embrace it. I have made several good friends here that always make a point to stop into the internet center and talk to me. A new one on the list is one of my roommate's friends from AIT. He's part of the company from Alabama, we just call them Bama'. He came in and was talking a mile a minute about all the stuff he's done outside the wire. he loves his job and plans to go career military. He showed me a whole bunch of pictures and videos of the many patrols he's done. He said that if they would let him, he'd go out twice every day. His group has been fortunate to have not been hit yet. His platoon is taking on a little project. They are trying to get a U.S. organization to sponsor one of the children in our sector. This little Iraqi boy is severely disformed and lacks proper medical care for his condition. He has to walk on his hands with his legs dragging on the ground behind him. But poor medical care is a sad fact of many of the children in the area around us. Hopefully once the violence has stopped here, we can bring in charitable organizations to help these children.

SPC Schreck

When the trailer is rockin'

I woke up to explosions this morning, the artillery was at it again. They shot off some yesterday in the early morning that were incredibly loud. The explosions shook the whole internet trailer, making all the weapons and folding chairs that were on the shelves fall to the ground. Everyone jumped up and rush to get their gear on. One of the fisters was just sitting there and was like, "It's just outgoing rounds guys." The rounds continued for a while or so, keeping the little trailer rocking with the vibrations from the explosions. The explosions are annoying when they go off while you're trying to get sleep, but comforting as well.

I've noticed a new fashion trend among some of our soldiers here. Some of the guys and gals are attaching small stuffed animals to their vests. I ran into one of these trend-setting soldiers while coming out of the chow hall. He's a medic and he has a teddy bear wearing a loin cloth attach to his vest right above his ammo pouches. He said that it's helpful when he treats some of the children here. He lets the kids hold the bear while he examines them. Some guys have even gone to decorating their vehicles. They've attached everything from patriotic bumper stickers, heads of beanie babies, and flamingos to their humvees. It kinda reminds me of how pilots used to paint pictures of stuff on their planes. It's fun little stuff like this that brings a few smiles to some of the soldiers' faces here.

The power went off early this morning, I thought it would come back on in a few hours or so. It's been seven hours now, and still no power. The little internet trailer is baking, it's so hot in here. We can't get a decent breeze flowing because we're surrounded by concrete barriers. The power is never out this long, I hope my tent's air will be working when I get off work, otherwise there will be no afternoon nap. But at least I have some cold drinks now, courtesy of a very nice PFC from the stress tent. Thanks!

SPC Schreck

A sad week

For the second time this week, we went into a commo blackout, which everyone knows is a very bad thing. They don't tell me what has happened, they just tell me to close the phones down and I am left to only imagine what has happened. I don't have to wonder for very long, because word travels quickly among the soldiers here. One of my medic friends comes in for his usual visit, he used to be with the second foot. I know he was upset over the first attack, those four soldiers who were killed earlier this week. I was upset too. I had had the chance to know them when they were in Ft. Stewart with me, but it never happened that way. I only remember some of their faces faintly. My friend and I started to talk, and he brought up the blackout. He told me that it was another four guys that were blown up. My heart sank at this new and tragic loss, and I could feel anger also growing inside. Another four souls from that unit, have they not suffered enough? A total of eight soldiers dead in one week, how are their comrades going to cope? I think about how their families are going to receive the news, and it makes me very sad. Families should never have to go through things like this, they shouldn't have to loose their fathers, sons, brothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and husbands and wives. But that is how things happen in war. Somebody has to go, somebody has to fight the wars of our nation, somebody has to make that sacrifice. My heart goes out to all that have lost someone dear to them, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Also, for those of us still standing, I can only hope that we will all make it home to you. We miss you all very much.

SPC Schreck

Another Day

Ok, it's now official. On every Tuesday and Friday the chow hall will be serving lunch. So far it's only been hotdogs and hamburgers, but not too bad. The best thing about our chow hall is the fruit. I don't know where they get it or how they always manage to get fresh produce everyday, but it's great. I only wish they could get Georgia peaches instead of the California ones, BIG difference in taste.

I've been playing with the Google Earth program, I can almost see the window to Randy's apartment. I can actually see the little sidewalk in front that he walks on everyday to go to his car. He calculated out how far we are from one another; approximately 6,891.93 miles (give or take a few feet). Wow, that's far. Guess I can't swim that after all, oh well.


After work yesterday I came back to a sweltering hot tent, the air-conditioning wasn't working AGAIN. Every other day or so this happens, it's so annoying because no one else's air goes out, just ours. So I ended up hanging out at the PX for the 2 hours before chow. I talked politics and money with one of my buddies there. For a moment I almost felt like I was back at school again. I miss Agnes Scott College.

SPC Lauren Schreck

Dirty Water

Somehow I didn't find the time to write yesterday. I was busy playing with all my new toys. I got two packages the other day containing a new laptop, webcam, My Teddy-Bear(the other one died in the fire), pictures of my hubby, a camping lantern, and lots of other goodies. I'm feeling pretty darn good right now.


I met my current roommate while I was with the replacement company at Ft. Stewart. She got there about two weeks after I did. Her whole family came with her to drop her off, two vehicles full. They even brought the family dog, much to the amusement of the other soldiers there. She's a Charlie med who is on a month-long rotation here at FOB St. Michael's. I remember when they came in I only saw one of the three girls who came in for this month's rotation. She asked me where they could stay. We only had one room open at the time so two of them could stay in there. I said the one girl who was working night shift could sleep in my room with me since at the time I was working days. Much to my surprise, I saw the next day that it was the girl I had met in Stewart. She's been good company, a little messy, but great to talk with. She is politically conservative and I am politically liberal, but we get along. Too bad the rest of the country couldn't do that.

She's always telling me stories of what goes on over in the trauma center. A few days ago she went out on a humanitarian mission. They visited a few homes and distributed some medicines. She was treating this one little girl, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. After about ten minutes of relaying back and forth through interpreters, she discovered that she had been drinking sewage water from the streets. A week before that, she and a few other medics treated a little boy who had been shot in the foot. The boy looked about 8 years old, but they found out through the interpreter that he was actually 13. He didn't cry once while he was there. The medics treated the boy and found that he needed immediate surgery to save his foot. They made a call to Brigade to get him medivaced out to the hospital in Baghdad, but were told no. The boy had to go to the local hospital in Mahmudiyah, where he would probably loose his foot and possibly die from infection. His father was only concerned about his car that the patrol destroyed. The only question he ever asked was if he would be compensated for his vehicle.

A Muddy Day

I went over to the PX yesterday to pick up some more tea and remembered as I walked into the MWR building that they were closed. The NCOIC for the PX was up at Liberty restocking. It didn't take long for our soldiers here to practically empty out the place. Since I was already there at the MWR tent, I sat down with the other guys there to watch The Fantasic Four (we get all the movies before they are released to dvd and sometimes when they're still in the theater. But they are . But wouldn't you know it? Once the movie got up to the part that I hadn't seen yet (the other day I started it but the dvd was scratched too badly to finish it), the power went out and stayed out for over an hour. By the time it came back on, it was time for dinner. I ended up talking to two guys from Bravo Co. who were both heading out soon. One was coming back from the hospital in Baghdad and then to one of the other FOBs. The other guy was headed to Taji. They both started joking about how small their FOB was. The guy coming back from the hospital told me how he went 12 days without a shower when he first got here. At FOB Row, you get a shower every 3-4 days, but every time he went the shower was out of water, the generator was dead, or the pump was broken. He said after a while he just forgot about it until someone told him that the place was finally operational. Now they have 2 backup pumps and they get their water from our FOB.

Today is going pretty well. The removable spout we use to pour gas from the cans into the generator is missing. I'm not too sure how I will be able to fill it up without spilling half of the gasoline now. The generator's still full right now, so we have a little time to locate it before I have to get creative. Oh, today they served lunch for the first time ever. It was just hotdogs and hamburgers, but it was nice to have something to eat in the middle of the day besides MREs or jimmy deans. I'm not sure if this is a permanent thing or not, but I can hope.

The ground just outside of the internet cafe' is slightly flooded, and by that I mean moist. They are dredging the small canal that runs through the middle of our FOB, so I'm thinking that is the cause of the muddy conditions around me. It's really weird to see mud in the desert. I'm actually waiting to see it rain here. I've been here since the middle of May and have yet to one rain drop. I'm told that it does in fact rain here, just not very often.

SPC Schreck

honeybun

They found my missing package yesterday, it was from my mom. It was great. I got colored markers, art supplies, loreal face lotion w/ sunscreen, some favorite t-shirts of mine, shampoos, chapstick, and candy. My little sister also sent me her teddy bear to keep me company. I was soooo excited to open the box that opened it up right there in the mailroom. It's great getting stuff from home. All the stuff inside smells like home and you can see how they arranged the stuff inside. I had pink tissue paper in my box, it was pretty. Dinner was ok last night. I had chicken strips and mashed potatoes. The real treat was when they brought out the honeybuns. Those suckers went fast. They were the big ones and they were really good. I haven't had a honeybun in forever. It was a nice treat.
Today was really quiet, we had a communications blackout for a while. Those aren't good. We have a commo blackout every time someone's gets hurt very badly or killed. They do that so the family of that soldier doesn't hear the terrible news third party and with the facts all messed up. I hate commo blackouts. I was a little worried, because I didn't know what had happened and if my friends were okay or not. Turns out that it wasn't anyone from our unit. Some guys from another unit in the 48th BDE got hit. I'm not too sure on the all the details, but I do know that it was pretty bad. I f***ing hate IEDs.
The power went out again today, but only for a few hours so it wasn't too bad. I think one of the Port O Potties by the internet cafe' is leaking. There is a big pool of stagnant blue liquid out behind the back door. One of the LT's sent someone to check it out. It looks really nasty, but there didn't seem to be a smell, so maybe the Poo truck just spilled some of the chemical stuff when they cleaned them. That's it for now.

SPC Schreck

July 4th

I finally got a hold of some pictures from our 4th of July events. The guys from the stress tent organized several competitions and a fireworks show. I got to go to a few of the events including the fireworks. These guys put on little events every now and then for our moral, I try to go to as many as I can. A few nights ago they had karaoke, I missed that. On the regular schedule is movie night and stand up comedy night. Besides the fun events, they also have classes like anger management, stress management, relaxation techniques & sleep tips, and tobacco cessation. And they are also there when soldiers just need to talk. It's really a great resource to have in a place like this. When you walk in their tent, it's like you have instants buddies. They are always ready to talk or just hang out and watch movies. These people are great. There were so many times that I felt just really alone here. I'm not originally part of the 108th, or even the 48th BDE, and I didn't go to NTC. In fact, I just got transfered to the 108th right before we left and didn't meet any of the guys til we were on the plane. So I didn't have any friends here. But when I arrived at St. Michael's, I saw one of their flyers and then ran into one of their SGT's at lunch. A few days later I found myself in their tent hanging out and feeling a whole lot better.
The events held include a cookie-eating contest, relay race, water balloon toss, three-legged race, tank bar throw, tug of war, marksmanship competition, weight lifting, and a kick-ass fire works display put on by our very own EOD team. A little story about the fireworks display.....They made the homemade fireworks out of water bottles filled with diesel fuel and strung together with detonation cord. They must of had several hundred bottles out in that field. They lined them up on this farmers' field just outside of the gate. They got creative and spelled out "108" with the bottles. But as they were setting them up, a rocket or mortar was fired at them. It missed them, but it was pretty scary for them. The fireworks turned out well, they were very loud. They also blew 21 cases of C4 as a kind of salute to us. It was great. There were about 20 or so guys all crowded around the gate to watch. A few even climbed on top of the conexs to get a better view but climbed down quickly when the entire thing shook from the blasts of the fireworks. It was definitely a memorable 4th of July.

Stop and smell the garbage.

I got off work yesterday and went over to the PX to look around. I guess I'm secretly longing to window shop at the mall again, because I find myself over there everyday even though I never really buy anything. I ran into a soldier from FOB Row who said that I had a package that was coming from there and should be here already. I wasn't expecting a package, but I was very excited because I haven't gotten anything from home yet. I go over to the mailroom and they informed me that somebody from HHC came and signed for it and that it was over in the Mayor's cell. So I walk across the now empty lot where the Chicken Factory used to be and headed into the Mayor's cell. They said they never received it and have no record of it. Turns out my roommate is the one who signs for the mail coming into HHC and she didn't see it. I go back to the mailroom and tell them what HHC said. He pulls out his record book and finds my name marked on the 22nd of June and that HHC signed for the package. So I am befuddled to what has actually happened to this package. I am also curious to who sent it. I hope this doesn't happen to the rest of my packages.
After my hour-long search for the mysterious package, I decided that it was too close to dinner time to get any sleep in so I sat down at the MWR tent and watched the end of the movie Final Destination 2. We had ribs at chow today, they were pretty good. Also had a nice conversation with my LT. He told me, "This is when you know things are bad...I was walking around Stryker the other day with my head down and I smelled food. I thought 'Man, that smells good.' And then I look up and see the garbage truck."
The power is out today, so I am sweating a river here in the internet cafe'. The computers and phones run on a separate generator that I monitor personally, so it's just the lights and air-conditioning that are out. When the power's out the place doesn't get too busy, everyone who is off has retreated to the few places that have the air-conditioning up and running. Hope the power comes back on soon, it's hotter in here than it is outside (there's no breeze). I got some more pictures from a few of my buddies, and I should post them up soon. Probably tomorrow.

That's it for now.

SPC Schreck
HHC 1-108th AR

Iced Tea (desert style)

Ingredients:

1 bottle of Abraaj bottled water (made in Kuwait, and imported to Iraq)
3 bags of Lipton tea (newly arrived at the PX)
25-35 bags of individual sugar packets (acquired from MRE's, chow hall, and Jimmy Dean packs)
1 bag of ice (acquired from ice truck behind chow hall)
1 mop bucket (for use as a cooler, found by the internet cafe')
1 scorching hot sun

Directions:

Open bottle of water and shove bags of tea into the small opening without tearing the bags. Replace lid and place bottle on ground anywhere, it doesn't really matter, everywhere is hot. Leave in sun for about 30 minutes. Add desired number of sugar packets. Place bottle in mop bucket and cover with ice. After 30 minutes of cooling, drink and enjoy.

I got to enjoy REAL sweet tea for the first time since leaving the states. There's just nothing like iced tea sweetened with sugar, lemon tea just doesn't cut it. It's a bit of a process to make, but soooo worth it. I have a coffee maker now so it's not quite as involved. It's funny how much the little things we enjoy can brighten a whole day.

Lobster, IED's, and Fire

After work yesterday I stopped by the MWR tent and watched Bewitched on the big screen tv. I haven't done that in a while. It was a good movie, but it was a Haji dvd so the picture was horrible and it skipped a lot. Oh, and we had an amazing dinner last night too. Once or twice a month they bring out the good stuff. We had lobster, crab legs, pork chops, and crab cakes. And they were all cooked right, hard to do in mass quantity cooking. They also had sodas at dinner (for all of 10 minutes at least), something that rarely happens. Usually we just have powered drinks and cranberry juice, I hate cranberry juice.
I still don't know much about what happened to those two guys I knew and the other ones who were hurt also, just stuff about the initial report. I hate f***ing IED's, they're so sneaky. This one you couldn't see at all. It's like your driving down the road and outta nowhere there's this huge explosion . There are several injuries, but it looks like everyone will be okay. But it's scary when stuff like that happens, everyone can feel it. Guys talk about it at chow and you can see that they're disturbed. One guy told me that how as he was leaving for a partol he almost freaked out because he was so scared. He'd already seen a whole bunch of messed up shit, and thought nothing else could get to him cause he'd seen so much already. But he got scared, it only lasted for a minute or too, but it got to him. It's not that these guys are fearless warriors, I know a lot of them and they get scared, but they keep doing their job no matter what. They aren't fearless warriors, they are courageous warriors.

Here's a few pictures of what's left of the Chicken Factory. They brought in some army engineers and are now in the process of tearing it down completely. I'm not sure what they're going to do with all the empty space but I'm sure they'll think of something.

Burger King's and swimming pools

I finally got some sleep last night. There were no fire missions to keep me up, but I had to skip dinner to get the interrupted sleep. I work a 12 hour shift from 0300 to 1500, so going to 1700 chow means taking a break during sleep. I would still have to get up though, because there are no showers open for females at the time I get off work, I have to wait til 1800 for that. They have the new showers up and running in the new tent area, but they don't have a separate shower for the females. We have a rotating schedule with the guys, 12 hours for us and 12 hours for them. The shower is rather pitiful with no benches and poor drainage. I walked in the shower and the entire floor was flooded and there was no where to put my cleans clothes to keep them dry. So I've been walking across the FOB to go to the old female shower, it has a bench. But I can't complain too much, because the other FOB, I think it was ROW, only has 2 showers total and they really suck. I've been told by a few guys over there that they only get to shower once every 3 days or so. I've very thankful to be at FOB St. Michael. We have a phone center, an internet center, and a PX. The other FOB's don't. They have a few DSN lines and a few computers, but not much. The conditions at all three FOBs isn't that great, but we knew we were going to a warzone from the beginning. It's funny though how things are portrayed by some of the media. We read newspapers and watched the news before we came out here, and it seemed different. Well, in a lot of places it is. Other places have chow halls that serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight chow. They have movie theatres, ice cream shops, coffee shops, several internet cafe's with webcams, basketball courts, swimming pools, stages for the concerts they have, Burger King, Popeyes, Subway, and huge PX's . They also live in 2-man trailers that have internet connections. We, on the other hand, live in 8 man tents (has air-conditioning though) and sleep on cots. It really isn't so bad where we are, it's just that this kind of difference in living conditions makes people a little irritable here. It's also a lot more dangerous here. We had a commo blackout yesterday, which means somebody got hurt. I was responsible for closing down all communication but I had no idea what had happened, only that it was probably bad. I found out today that one of my friends got hurt, and another guy I knew got hurt even worse. We've had casualties here before, but it wasn't anyone I really knew. It's really scary. I'll write more later, when I figure out what I want to say about this.

Out of the TOC

I changed jobs about a week ago, I was told that I didn't fit in at the TOC. Well, considering that I had never been trained for the job I think it was a wise decision for them to move me. Also, I was beginning to stress out way too much, the guys that work in there drive me crazy. Let's see, I was originally trained to be a petroleum supply specialist, but I have never done my job. But it's really okay. I wasn't that thrilled to drive 2500 gallon bombs down IED-filled roads everyday. After being transferred from he TOC, I found myself with the greatest job ever. I now oversee the phone and computer center @ the MWR trailer. Granted I am still located in a very dangerous area of Iraq which is nicknamed the "Triangle of Death," but at least I have a super sweet job. I am hoping to keep this position so I can complete some online classes and be able to talk to my hubby everyday. So far that's the best part of the job. I get to talk to my Randy everyday, it's great. They got ramen noodle cups in at the PX!! I've never been so excited over a cup of noodles before. But if you were here you would understand that it's a bit of a luxury. Today's been pretty good so far, the power hasn't gone out yet (knock on wood). I'll try to write up something tomorrow that's a little more interesting. That's if for now.

SPC Schreck
HHC 1-108th AR, 48th BDE
APO AE 09372