1st off, I am no where near Najaf. And secondly, we are doing much better in our fight against the insurgents than I had written two days ago (I.E. the article you are about to read)

Well,
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m still alive. We have hade some pretty rough times, but the numbers are still in our favor. But I won’t go into those details. I would however like to pass to all out reading that we lost a Gunnery Sergeant. His name was Gunny Fontechio. I would say he’s a good man, but they are all good men. All stoic, resolute men who left their innocence at the feet of the first Marines killed here. Gunny was a great man. He was professional, intuitive with Marines and a father figure to his company. He was killed by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He was almost on top of it when it went off, but he survived the initial blast. No one really knows how, but he did. He held on for a few hours. He lost a body’s volume worth of blood and had it replenished by the field doctors. But it just wasn’t enough, and he knew it. He even made a last request to have the 1st Sergeant’s wife present when his wife was informed. He knew, and that’s hard to swallow. Later that same day we had a young kid killed by a sniper. It was the same patrol. He was 19.

It’s not all bad. We have “removed” 8 people in recent weeks that were emplacing IEDs on the side of the roads. We’ve gotten a couple more for other reasons as well. The kids here are still humane though. They won’t fire unless they are absolutely sure they are justified. Discipline ingrained by that amazing breed known as Drill Instructors so early in the Marines development. And even after the deaths and the maiming of comrades, they go out. They go out without complaining, they go out to the same spots they saw their friends and superiors killed. Oh, they can’t wait to come home, but they still press on with the mission at hand.

It’s not all bad. Morale was hit pretty hard by our most recent fatalities, but our successes in zone help significantly. The kids still run around base doing PT (Physical Training). They play chess, cards, even video games and they watch movies together. They pass the time together and talk of home. They chastise one another and make jokes, but they are all light hearted. No one really pits against each other out here. There have been a few fights when stress builds and begins to spill over, but those individuals always become friends again out here. Rather quickly at that. It’s an odd thing. It’s a different existence.

Chow is an interesting thing. It has been good, then bad, then good, then bad… etc, etc, etc… But it is almost always better than MREs (Meal Ready to Eat). But there are times when it is damn good. And the fact that I can complain about it at times just proves that it is steadily improving.

In case you were all curious, we are getting short on time. But if we are called to stay for any reason, we will put our heads down and sigh. Then we will stand up and turn to; rev the motors on the HMMWVs, Tanks and AAVs, load the rifles, grab the grenades and press on with our mission. There is no doubt that there is an insurrection in this AO, but there is also no doubt who owns the streets. That is us. We run this town the hard way. We keep the peace. We do the right things even though they are difficult. Even though we would love to gun down some assholes we know are bad, we can’t. We can’t specifically because we are the good guys. And with that comes an awesome responsibility. We do the hard things because we believe. The kids in the field… no, they have earned the title of men. The men in the field may grumble about home, they may complain about the heat and chow to each other, but if you listen in on a conversation you will be amazed. The 20 year old Corporal tells his men that we are hear for bigger reasons than ourselves; and the group mumbles their agreements. Not with heads down retorting an expected answer, but with heads up and looking each other in the eyes. They understand that there is more at stake here than an immediate solution; more than a political victory for now. We are trying to fix the problem for the long term, and it’s difficult not being able to see the fruits of your labor. But I think they understand. I think they actually care. They don’t want to, but they do. They’ve grown up out here.

Well, on a lighter note I would like to pass that my son (who I have seen far too briefly in his 2 ½ years) says “hi daddy” on the phone. When queried by my wife he says, “yeah, it’s daddy”. Wow! They grow up fast! Especially when you are deployed for such long durations. But I’d much rather deploy again and again, fighting the good fight now to prevent him from having to fight it later. I will continue to do so as long as my country needs me. At times I may not like it, but that is not to say I don’t understand it. I do. And many of us do. It is a necessary thing. Many may not agree where we are or how we got here, but it does not matter. The fact of the matter is that we are here and we must finish what we started and we must finish it correctly. If we end thousands of people home in order to please some people right now who aren’t comfortable with the situation in the world, then we will be doing it half ass. We will loose more lives and we will not accomplish anything. Being uncomfortable is part of life and it is much better to be uncomfortable now, and for a little longer, rather than reach a point in our lives where we feel fear in our own borders. Turning our back on it now will not accomplish that. And regardless if our actions in the past brought this time around or not is totally irrelevant. We ARE here. We have been here, and if we don’t have the guts to finish what we started we will pay later. And this is no game, we will pay in blood. Innocent blood. It is vastly better to fight terrorists here than at home. All I can ask of you at home is to support us as best you can. Know that we have found fighters from Serbia, Croatia, Georgia and even IRA members out here. This is less about religion than you think. But this is getting political, so I will digress. This was suppose to be the “lighter note” paragraph… sorry ‘bout that!

Well, when I get home I am going to spend time with the family. The Beautiful wife, the energetic child, the slightly psychotic dog, the curious and playful ferrets and the ever quiet fish. I hope to get some flight time in and take the wife and boy for a little jaunt. We’ll see. I plan on spending some time out on the town with my girl. Since the fleet deployments and the baby there have been too few opportunities. I plan to enjoy myself building an outdoor BBQ/Fireplace. (My gamer dork friends will love that – I of course request you all come down and test it out. On my tab as usual you thieving bastards! Good thing I like you guys ;-p ) I might even build a shed. We’ll see. Too many opportunities. I still have the dilemma whether I am going to get another motorcycle when I got home or not. I probably shouldn’t, but the draw is pretty strong. I think I will get a cruiser this time. Like a Honda Shadow or something similar. Time will tell. I plan on looking at some property in a different state as an investment property. Probably something without a house, but you never know. I am beginning to realize that 32 isn’t the end of life at all. It is actually just the beginning of a new phase of life with different desires and goals; some more mature than previous ones, and some more childish. (That’s the whole “I may grow old, but I’ll never grow up” theme). But over all I just want to be happy. I don’t want an exorbitant amount of money; I want enough not to be worry about it. My goal is to be happy for the rest of my days. Pretty lofty hu? The wife has been looking all over the country for property. Any suggestions? Thea’s trip (for those of you who know her) brought Kentucky into the crosshairs. Thank you Thea. Then there is the south, and parts of the east coast. The west coast is too expensive and becoming more crowded every day. I hate the traffic too. But there will always be the calling of Los Angeles. A calling that only present and former Angelinos can understand. I spent four years in LA and couldn’t wait to get out. The day I left, I missed it. How is that possible? Who knows? Fortunately I have friends there and I get to visit every once in a while.

Alright, I have been rambling about everything and nothing for far too long now. I am going to go write my wife another email. As always, keep up the fight on the home front and I’ll do the same thing over here.

Semper Fi


Capt K