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If you want to get a better feel for what Kevin's experiences have been like at "the beach", just peruse the following journal-style letters that kevin has sent out periodically. Just click on a date below:

April 29, 2004

WHATS UP!?,
I snagged someone's computer because I thought it might be faster to type up a letter than to hand write it out. Plus you could probably read it better. And I won't have to retype things several times in emails. The next challenge will be to find a spot to print it out or try to email it. Well get to that later. As you could probably imagine the last few weeks have been really busy. No, I am not busy guarding Burger King all the time. I only did that for three days. On top of being busy the Internet lines have been down since before Easter and for some reason I don't feel like walking about 2 miles just to email. I may get to email today because I have to take a 6 hr shift in the command building to watch things in case people have to leave or call in on the radio or something.
So what have I been doing? I know everyone has been wondering. Well I am guessing that you do remember that I was down in Kuwait over Easter. I spent three days down there as we scavenged for free stuff. We units leave Iraq they drop off extra stuff or things they don't want to take back. I'm talking about parts, armor kits, and other supplies. I had noticed a sign for an Easter sunrise service while on base there so on Easter morning I went to the sunrise service which had to be held in a theatre because of rain. I consider that a good thing. The service was really good. There were a few songs we sung that reminded me a lot of Easter back home. They had a small choir and even a General showed up to worship. Later that day a few of us went to a recreation and relaxation facility their. It was built by the Kuwaiti power plant next door but since their employees never used it they donated it to the military. The facility is called the marble palace. Yes it is decked out in Marble everywhere. It is really neat. We were there on the right day because it was Easter and they had some neat stuff going on. First awesome thing they had was a brunch or well they called it a "Tea & Crumpets" (English accent) but it was a brunch buffet. You couldn't imagine how it was setup. So much food and so fancy. You served yourself on the buffet and then sat down then guys dressed in tuxedos came by and served the drinks and cleaned up. It was cool but kind of weird. I felt like one of those millionaires that is on vacation and goes to a fancy restaurant in shorts and Hawaiian shirt or something. The other funny thing that we got involved in was an Easter egg hunt. Yes everyone made fun of it but then we all joined in. Hey why not right. There were some cool prizes and now I can say I hunted Easter eggs in Kuwait City. So the three of us got psyched up and pumped to hunt. We had 30 some odd people to compete against and 17 prizes. Nobody had a chance against us. We came back with probably a 1/3 of the eggs and out of the three of us we won 8 of the 17 prizes. I think we did alright. Both of the prizes I won were the same, chocolates that were supposed to be expensive. Everyone says they are really good but mine are on the way home for the fam. Enjoy! We didn't win the big prize, which was a few hundred-dollar necklace but we didn't care. I played putt putt and a few other things there but it was kind of chilly to swim because of the rain. I think it was a good day to say the least though and to think some people are stationed there the whole time we are here. I think it would get real old real quick though.
A few days ago I went on a mission to patrol the main highway going north. We randomly check people or just drive off road to see if we find anything out of the ordinary. I ended up finding the grenade from an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) when we went to check out what some people were doing. We had the vehicle behind us stop the vehicle and search it while we went to find a guy who ran over a burm. (this is the time that I found the RPG. Then as guys sat at the vehicle a Lieutenant and me ran around the burms for a good ½ hour looking for the guy and finding his tent but no guy. Then a guy walked up form that direction and we arrested him and the 5 others that were in the vehicle. Then another guy decided to walk off by himself again so I took off after him because you have to be a retard to wonder off by yourself. I am glad these were the guys who I always worked with. Then I wondered with him for another 1/2hr to 45min. This is how I ended up going the first time too. Some people here just don't think too much as you can tell. Nothing else was found and we just had to wait around for a while until some MPs came (which you can rarely get to help) and hauled them off. So then we left. On our way home though we found a KBR tractor-trailer truck sitting on the side of the road with about 15 hajjis (Iraqis) swarming over the truck. The rear duals had blown out. All 4 tires. KBR will just leave their trucks behind. They lose trucks all the time and then charge the military like $90,000. Well all of the scrammed as soon as they saw us and we were going to hook up and tow it back with us but one guy was persistent in trying to convince us that it was his brothers truck and someone from Nasiriyah was coming to tow it. Well we were going to tow it anyway and he was persistent enough that while they were lowering the tow bar he just sat on the hitch. (no we didn't stop the tow bar) We figured if he wanted it he could take it haha. One of the guys ended up grabbing him and put him on the ground and zip tied his hands together and put him in the back of a hummer until we were hooked up and pulling away. Makes for a little excitement anyway.
About a week ago now I went out and drove a dump truck for a day. We were turning a dirt road into gravel road on a bypass. You never know what you end up doing over here.
The other day I went back out again with my old job in the engineering cell. We went to check out the waterlines again in another location. I like going but these guys for some reason think I am the only one that can take notes right and they don't want to teach others to do it or think they can drive either. Why are my notes so good? This is all I write. Um Big leak, small leak, sure its bubbling, and the Iraqis turned this leak into an irrigation canal for their fields. This is like first grade stuff ha ha. I don't mind because I get to go through Nasiriyah and see how things are progressing and like I said before this is something that will actually help the people in the future but now I don't really care. I just care about getting rid of Sadr and his militants. Plus these people are too lazy to appreciate the water lines or whatever else we do and take care of them. Nasiriyah was really uneasy feeling when we went through this time. One bridge was closed on our was in but open on the way out. A mob of people had moved up close to where the government is stationed right now the CPA or CIMIC I always talk about going to. They were messing with traffic and had guns in the air supposedly but I didn't see any. We just made a detour and got around them all and on through town. I don't think it is as relaxed there as it used to be. The Italians are in charge of Nasiriyah and are beefing up their patrols through there now. They already put down the militants once. I am sure they can handle them again if anything happens. Oh yeah the day before that I was in Nasiriyah too and at the CIMIC and there was a Lieutenant that was dehydrated and cramping so I gave my first IV since we have been here. Actually their guy was supposed to do it but he had only done it once before and had trouble so I took over and did it for him.
On Friday some of us went out and blew up some unexploded bombs most likely left from the first war. They say somewhere around 20% or so of bombs used do not explode. I don't think that's a very good percentage if you ask me. When these are found they are marked and then they are supposed to be disposed of. There are so many around here that you can't send EOD out to take care of them all and since we are engineers we already deal with explosives some. If we do not go out and take care of these old bombs then the Iraqis will pick them up and use them against us in roadside bombs and the such.
The last two nights we have had some big storms come through. On Friday night I was the only one here for my tent. When the storm came through it acted like we were back in Missouri. The wind was so strong that many people had their tents ruined and stuff got soaked. Some of the roofs and buildings on the base also got ripped apart. I wouldn't have been surprised is we had lost our tent but I kept running around the tent throwing sandbags back on it to keep it from having lift off. The wind was strong enough that when I tied a sandbag to the rope the wind picked up the sandbag and it was hovering a couple feet off the ground so I had to pile on every sandbag I could find. By the time it was over our tent survived unlike many others. On Saturday night we went through round two. The storms were not so fierce but they opened up the water valve a little more and the clouds started pouring. By the time the storm was over our camp looked like one of those floating villages you see in National Geographic. Once again we stayed dry and many others did not. Then this morning people were getting excavators stuck trying to drain the water and people drove too close to the ditch and the hummer slid into it. This was quite humorous as a couple people on the passenger side fell out and became covered in mud from head to toe. I wish I had a picture. Really most of this happened because people just weren't too bright.
Some people have wondered how my knee has been doing. My right knee is seeming to be recovering quite well and now my left knee has taken on the same symptoms as my right once had. Right now it likes to pop every time I bend it past 90 degrees but I am working on my rehab exercises. It held up while I ran through the sand looking for those Iraqis and all so I say that is a plus. Also it is going through the symptoms faster than my right knee did so I am taking that as a plus also. I'm thinking by the time I am out of here I should have some really good and strong knees.
We are getting in plenty of snack for right now. Pretty soon I think we could open up our own concession stand. A lot of people have been gracious enough to send packages and we all have enjoyed them.
I am glad to say that I have still been able to keep up my daily bible reading that I started as soon as we got activated. I have read through several books in the new and old testament already. I just finished 2 Samuel and am now starting on 1 Kings. I have learned a lot of background information and with my new study bible I read the commentaries on all the scriptures and it helps give me a better understanding of what is going on and why. Another goal I am hoping on starting on soon is memorizing scripture. I haven't done too well on that area. The other area where I am struggling in right now is that I have become complacent about sharing the word. I think I have been settling down and becoming too used to how everybody is living their lives around me. I think a lot of this is that I am not concentrating on the word during the day so much as when I read at night. Now that I realize this it gives me something to work on. As per church goes here. We have an awesome chaplain. His name is Darin King and he used to be a BSU director and thus knows Mike Parry. I have had so many chaplains before that preached weird things and now when I need it we actually have someone preaching the real deal. It helps a lot. We have church on Sunday at 10, a bible study on Wed at 7 and then he has a praise and worship time on Sat night at 7. So this usually gives me at least one opportunity to get some good God time in with some folks as long as I am not out on mission or like this week I tended to be an hour late every time.
Things seem to really be going well here. Time is moving rather quickly and I don't mind that a bit. I am a little upset that we aren't doing so many engineer missions but at least I can't get too bored with routine of what I have been doing either. I think of you guys daily and pray for you in your activities. Keep the faith and I think I am in the position to tell you that you don't have anything to complain about back home. Take care.

In Christ,

Corporal Kevin Pollock
United States Army
Missouri Army National Guard

June 01, 2004

Well it has been a little while now since my last letter I sent out. There has been a lot of things to happen since then and I would definitely say it has all been to the better. It all started with a move from Tallil Air Base to Camp Victory next door to Baghdad International Airport. Most people would think that this would have to be a terrible and very dangerous move. Yes more things take place up in this area but to go back to doing a job that is very important and essential is self satisfying. Like we actually have a purpose here unlike so many other units and missions. Let me key you in with a little bit of what has gone on.
On May 1 we (three of us) were alerted that I may move up north to Baghdad to join up with my platoon and start working with them, possibly in two to three weeks. On may 3 we were given 24 hours to be packed up and ready to move. Quite a shock but we would have been ready in 30 minutes if that what it took. So we spent 6 hours driving to get from Tallil around An Nasiriyah to get to Baghdad.
Our job here is working with CEA. That is Captured Enemy Ammunition. If you can't gather from the name we deal with getting rid of all of the ammunition that has been taken or that we take out of enemy hands. Most of the time the mission has been to escort the civillian guys around to their different camps to take their demo to them so they could blow up the bombs. We got to get our hand into the demolitions part of it and all it sounds like now we will have a bigger part in the blowing up the ammunition.
As soon as we got here we were given fours days to get stuff settled in and adjusted which quickly turned into a few hours and we headed out to go up north a little ways to a place called Anaconda to get up armor kits put on our hummers. We spent the whole day there and spent the night in some trashy tents before they had our hummers ready the next morning. I soon learned that this drive to a place and spend the night in a little trashy tent would be commonplace in our new lifestyle. It helps keep the monotony shallow and the time passing quickly.
As soon as we got back from making our hummers more AK-47 survivable we had another sweet mission on the table for us. We were to head out to an old bombed out air base that Saddam had. I don't think he reoccupied it after the first war. We were to work with and civillian EOD (explosives ordanance disposal) team and SOC which is a civillian security force that is made up of all former special ops guys. Now when we got to their camp to pick them up and prep for the mission we ended up having to wait another day because these former special forces guys were too scared to go and they could only get a couple volunteers. Now I don't know maybe something is wrong with us when a bunch of ole Missouri boys aren't to worried about going into and area like this but some former Special Forces guys can't get enough nerve to leave camp. I soon found out these are guys who want to be special forces but have the luxury of a civillian so on some accounts they were more of a nuisciance than a help to us. They are also only here for the money as they are all making somewhere around $150,000 a year. Not bad huh? A couple of the EOD guys that we worked with were making $250,000 a year. Thats a lot of cash but how many people would willingly leave their families for a year just for some cash. My opinion, not a very strong family man. So on with our mission their. We finally get to the site which is supposed to be secured by Ukranians. Inside and the Polish army was their with their EOD team already blowing some bombs up along with some guys from Lativia. I don't know how long they had been working but we still spent the next ten days getting rid of the bombs there. Now let me explain what all these bombs are. They are all old air droppable bombs for planes. When we started deleting Saddams military he decided he better try to protect some of this ordanance so he would still be able to attack. So he took by several tons at a time and placed them in little revetments all over the base and then took a few thousand of them outside of the base and and did the same thing. Now we blew up a about 600 tons worth in a couple days in one area outside. I heard that we killed a sheep in someones flock with the concussion of one of the blasts. Hey we told them all what we were doing and that they should leave. I guess we got supper for them that day. Once we were done with those revetments there were several left within a few hundred meters of farmers houses. Thats right they were put in farmers fields. Now we spent the next 3 days using cranes to pick up these bombs and putting them on tractor trailers and hauling onto the base so that we wouldn't detroy all the houses around. I worked alongside the Polish guys the next couple days unloading bombs and stacking them up to prepare for a huge explosion. The Polish were interested in my name and asked if I was from Poland or had relatives there. I thought that was funny. They said they have only seen my name once or twice though. Let me explain some of these bombs. There were 500 lb, 1100 lb , and 1 ton bombs mostly and they are not risky to handle. They have never been armed and have no fuses so you can pretty well handle them as you wish. Now we had put together a blow that was of roughly 225 tons. Now we were working on making the Middle East record which is 464 tons with a 500 ton blow. We stopped stacking because the crane operater quit on us and we had two trailers left. They decided to go ahead and blow it. The total came out to be roughly 429 tons. So we didn't make the record which we would have had with the two other trailers of 30 tons a piece but we now have the 2nd largest blow. If it makes it any better the same EOD guy in charge of this one is the one with the record anyway. Your thinking thats huge. The stack of bombs was 55 yards long and it was a double row with one right next to the other and they stoof about 4 to 5 feet in height. We backed up about 3 miles to our hanger that we were staying in to watch the blast. Now most people were hideing inside at the time but we were well out of fragment range according to the EOD guys so we stood on top of the hanger for a good view. With the countdown begining we perched on top like voltures scouring for prey waiting with mouths waterings as we knew this was a once in a lifetime deal to see much less be a part of putting it together. We the clock hit 0 we were preped by two explosions of around 200 tons a piece and then the 429 ton blow. The flash was so huge and lasted so long that I was able to take two pictures before the fire disappeared. Next you could hear the sound moving toward us bouncing off the surroundings. We all braced ourselfs as we knew the smaller blows had a shotgun effect when they reached you. When this sound hit is was enough to make the ears ache for a second. Then we look down and see the shock wave. It moved across the ground like a wind. All the dust on the ground kicked up and the hanger and all began shaking like an earthquake. I'm glad that was one strong hanger. What an experience. Beside the fun and excitment we had it was neat to know that we could have just saved some guys lives. That is the Iraqis had taken bombs from this site to take out at least 6 bridges and make roadside bombs. That is why we called this their wal-mart. Just pull your car up and shop around. They will have to go elsewhere now. Several of the bombs we stacked and blew after the larg explosion we ended up finding buried in the berms surrounding and protecting the others. In total we ended up blowing 1, 473.08 tons which is getting real close to 3 million pounds. Needless to say I have increased my experience of using C-4 explosives.
On the way back to drop the civillians off before we headed home we stopped by Babylon. Now I could have spent a lot more time there but I have to be grateful that I got an hour or so to look around and have a guy there explain it a little to me. I walked through some of the inner walls and down the old processional street which some is still in its original form. I think the former hanging gardens area is now home to palm trees and army tents. There were several things that had been rebuilt but several ruins or pieces of them around. Some of the temples were across the way which I didn't get to see and I don't know if you could go there anyway. No one cool thing is that the guy pointed out the hill on which the people built the tower of Babal. Now if that isn't a reality check I don't know what is. The only tower to occupy it now is maybe a communications tower and watch tower. My tour guide spoke ok english but I think I was only able to grasp a tenth of what he was trying to say. Hey what can I say though. That is a whole lot more than I knew before. Plus now I can say I walked through the Ishtar Gates.
Now when we finally got back to Camp Victory we made it back early because it took us less time to get rid of the bombs than it was supposed to. They said they didn't know of anybody with so few people in such a short amount of time to blow such a large amount. This time we got 2 or 3 days to relax and I used this time to get settled into camp Victory since I hadn't been here long. I had been on mission more days than I had been here. Camp Victory is real nice. We stay at a civillian compound with only a few people that we work with. This is really nice because it keeps all of the Army people out of hair. Especially most of the people here are rear echlon people that sit at a desk all day and sharp shoot you as you walk around. Maybe they'll have a reality check someday and realize that doesn't make them cool to sharp shoot people. So we have it nice enough just having that luxury. Now we gave up the ability to stay in trailers like all the other guys so we could stay here so we are all in a big tent. Not bad though. We have air conditioning so we don't sweat in our sleep and enough space to stretch out. The civillians have regular bathrooms and showers setup that they let us use which is nice enough for them to do but they also have high speed internet on 3 computers and a room with a nice flatscreen TV and pool table that they let us use. So this is great to come home to for our day or two at a time visit here. The base itself here. We are few hundred meters from a really big lake on which Saddam had built one of his palaces. It is huge. I believe one of the generals live there right now. I don't know who it is right now but I can see it from my door. We probably walk 3/4 of a mile to go to eat but I don't mind because I sit in a vehicle so much anymore that I like to walk around. Plus it gives me time to walk beside the lake and relax for a moment. There is a helicopter landing pad right across the road from our camp so all hours of the day and night there are helicopters landing and taking off. When you get a Chinook (the big helicopters with two sets of rotors) coming across we wonder at times whether it is going to suck our tent up with it. If you go down our road a little bit you hit another lake wich is a lot smaller and another Palace is their or partially now. We did quite a good job on that one during the bombing runs. I have come to believe if we bomb a place that there can't be anything left or else we will be back over here rebuilding it even ten years later like those schools I used to work on. I have been told there are 3 swimming pools around the base and they just opened one up. I haven't made it there yet but I haven't had time either. I didn't get to swim at a pool at Anaconda one day. That was great to swim for a little while. The 1st Cav Division is right down the road a mile or so from us. We don't think that is quite far enough because they are all so big headed and all about themselves. They are living on a reputation from the past we think and all we have seen them do or heard of them doing is gate guard which is good for them. Especially after what we saw them do out at the National Training Center last November. They are supplied so well though. When they move it is like a city moving. They set up a PX shopping center that is like going to a mall with a burger king and everything else. It is crazy there. They make huge signs boasting about themselves and wasting time. Sometimes I just wonder.
Our few days were over and we headed out again. This time we traveled all over the country. We went from a couple south of Baghdad to a little ways north of Tikrit. Every night staying at a different camp. Sometimes under the stars and sometimes in another one of those transient tents they set up for Nomads like us. Or at least you feel like a nomad sometimes. We delivered the demo and conintued on our way each time. When we got close to a place called Najaf depot (not inside the city of Najaf) a couple of helicopters flying around gave us a helicopter escort on into camp. This was neat. One flew in front of use scanning it and the other would fly around us and buzz right over us close enough to about give me a heart attach the first time he passed me since I was the last vehicle and I didn't know what was going on. Too bad we can't have that kind of support all of the time. Now we were on our last run and and it turned out to be our slowest run at that in more than one way. We start up this pipline route to get to a camp called Paladin which is not far from Al Fallujah. We take a route around so that we can take a bypass around that infested city and not risk our chances by driving though it. Now as we drove I felt like I was driving in the desert southwesy USA. You know how you drive all day seeing the same bush over and over again. You know the am I driving in circles things. Then all of a sudden we crossed this gorge in the middle of nowhere. This gorge was deep and wide. North of the bridge there was water from side to side and as bright blue and green as you could imagine then on the south side you could see the bedrock that is was running through and the channels it had cut over time. A very pleasant site to see in a monotonous environment. We happened to have a truck break down right then and I was in the last vehicle so i was in a perfect spot to take some great pictures of the area. Later we ended up seeing the edge of a huge lake that was beautiful. It made me realize how beautifull some of the basic things are. Then I realised how much I take for granted back home and how blessed the land we live in is with so many different trees, flowers and grass. Then I started seeing the beauty in the desert. Its imagine just when you open yourself up how things will shine in your eyes. You can start to see the beauty of the one scraggly half dead bush that accents the desert landscape for miles. Then when we got far enough north we ran into this little mountian-like ridge. It reminded me on a small scale of coming through eastern Colorado on the planes and seeing the Rocky Mountains in the distance. One of my biggest shocks of the trip was that when we got far enough north I looked up and saw a center pivot irrigation system. I had to look twice because I couldn't hardly believe my eyes. Somebody actually had a little initiative in his life over here. I assure you it is one of very few that have any positive initiative going on. As we were waiting at one site i happened to spot a few of those drone airplanes they are always talking about on tv. Then later while we were sitting by our vehicles we saw one flying around. It was pretty interesting to be experiencing something like that. I guess I can say that about everything over here though.
Heres a bit of fun stuff for some of you. When we convoy we don't let people pass us or get in the middle of our convoy for safety reasons unless it is a US coalition military convoy. So when I was driving the last vehicle this trip I would weave back and forth and our MK-19 gunner (machine gun but shoots grenades instead of bullets) in the back of my vehicle makes everyone stay back. On our way in to Victory one day a car pulls over in front of me. I think ok he must see me but just sits there and is about to seperate me from my convoy. Oh no, I don't think so. So I give him a little bumper to bumper love tap and he quickly realized he was in the wrong and without further ado he disappeared. Then heading out of Baghdad this time a couple british guys follow in behind me. Ok no big deal they aren't trying to pass. I don't mind helping them out and get them to where they need to go as long as they respect me and they sure did. Then a couple dark BMWs start heading up the line behind us and we realize they want to pass. They had this little orange panel that is supposed to signal to us that they are friendly but who can't get a bright orange cloth anyway besides I say noone enters my convoy and that means nobody. Then they start flashing IDs at us like we cared. They didn't get around us and then there was a break down with a PLS (paletized loading system, or fancy tractor trailer that we use) and so they think this is the oppurtunity to pass so I decided as I saw the first one in my mirror passing me that I needed to show them my ID so I put it on my bumper and tattooed it on the side of their car and curb tattoed another one on the other side. They quickly realized I wasn't kidding around. That guys left and I had the second car stopped behind me. It was some american guys working for SMG another civillian security force like the one I described before. He was all hot and bothered and I just said " I told you to not get into my convoy." He said "No you didn't you just ran him off the road." I was thinking in my mind well if that isn't telling you then what is. So he wanted to talk to someone else but I wouldn't accomodate the "has been" and he quickly shut up and sat down in this car. These has beens over here think there are all mighty and don't have to listen to us at times because "We used to be special forces" I think they went from Special Forces to Special Ed at times. Don't get me wrong they aren't all like that. Just like everything else they stupid ones are the ones that stand out and get the bad reputation for everyone else.
If you are still wondering about my knee and all I haven't had much time to test it out too much. Riding around and staying in the field all the time I never ran since I moved up here until my one mile run this morning. Its still not 100 though. That is probably the one downfall of being up here, not getting to run often.
As for how things are going spiritually over here now things are always changing like everything else. Now that I am up here I haven't been able to go to chapel anywhere and now I don't even know what day of the week it is anymore. I think that is good at times because that means that I am staying busy and sand is going through the hour glass. I do miss not going to church now and when we are in the field it is hard to have time to read my bible and do much. It has been good though that a couple guys have come and talked to me about different religous things from the bible and religions to my personal life with my morrals and values that and how that would affect certian scenarios that he brought up. Don't get me wrong it hasn't been much at all right now but that it has started is great and I hope it grows continually. Please pray for my wisdom in talking with these guys and being able to answer their questions correctly and open their minds up to the real deal and for our safety as we travel these lands.
I am now starting my fourth month in Iraq. As always and forever until I get home I miss you all everyday. I have enjoyed all the letters and pictures and misc. items you all have sent. Thanks for the support and especially for the prayers going out. We are getting ready to head out on another demo mission so keep that in mind in the next couple weeks. Even though I am in Iraq and bus at war don't think that you are not in my prayers as well. God is alwas with us not matter whether at war in Iraq or at war in our minds with the daily issues of life. We are so lucky to such a loving and everpresent Saviour.

The Desert Fox
Corporal Kevin Pollock
United States Army
Missouri National Guard
Camp Victory, Iraq

July 30, 2004

Welcome to the start of month 6 of overseas deployment. Here in a couple days we will have been away from home for 7 months now. The time has come and gone rather quickly so far. Just yesterday I was looking at pictures from Fort Riley and realizing how recent it seems and how long ago it really was.
Since the last letter we haven't done too many different missions but one especially that has kept us away from our home away from home. We went to another airfield and cleared once again the bombs that we took control of from Saddams regime. We thought it was supposed to go as quick as our first site so that is what we planned on and came to a rude awakening rather quickly once we started working. Due to a breakdown in communication somewhere the EOD guys knew that this mission was supposed to take anywhere from 30-90 days. Yes that left a shock on our faces after we had planned for 10 days. One reason why it was to take so long was an obvious one of there being more munitions here that at site 12. The other more affecting variable was that this base has coalition forces on it right now so we could not make near as large of blast here without causing damage. So everyday we would have some Iraqis dig whole for us and we would bury the bombs in order to suppress shock and fragmentation. Several times still we would hear of windows being broken out of the buildings across the base, whoops. My favorite though is when our 1st platoon guys who are running a Iraqi Civil Defense school on post told us that one of our blasts broke two trees. That was quite hilarious. Don't you figure that after a little while you would only get faster at doing the same thing. Well some other EOD guys came to help out and brought a couple more cranes so we were pumped but these guys only knew how to milk the clock. Now we had four cranes and they couldn't work any faster then two. It was pretty sad. One day a few of us did a job in about 2 hours that they said was supposed to take them two days. I don't know how people can operate like that sometimes. While there we had some Ukrainians and Kazakhstanians EOD guys working with us also. It is neat to get to work with these other nations but I am truly glad that I don't have to work with them more. We definitely operate safe when it comes to this job.
As you all know the country was handed back over into Iraqi control on June 28 two days earlier than planned. We were glad to be away from Baghdad at that time in case things escalated but we think do to the early handover it confuse these insurgents and the level of hostilities didn't fluctuate too much. We were still glad to be in Al Kut at this time. That night as Cartwright and I walked our nightly half mile to take a shower we saw the 2nd ACR army guys shooting off a lot of red white and green flares. We figured it was their little fireworks display for the Iraqis Independence Day. Then Saddams hearing was held soon after handover. Supposedly his hearing was held right next door to the farm back in Camp Victory.
Speaking of Independence day only a few days late we celebrated ours. Well the rest of the military did by taking the day off and BBQing and regular activities while we continued to create our own fireworks with several tons of explosives. We did have a little fun that evening though when we got done with work. We had cut a couple parachutes off of some bombs and I came up with the idea of hooking it up like the parachute on a drag racer. So we got it hooked up and went out to the runway. No planes use this runway anyway. Scotty got in the drivers seat since he is the drag racer from back home and I manned the 50 cal in back because you have to have someone in the back to release the parachute once we get out there. So we took off from the line and sped down the runway but do our dismay the chute did not open properly. If at first you don't succeed try, try again. So we did. This time we went farther away and got the hummer up to top speed and released the parachute. This time it worked but by the time we turned around everyone had already gone back inside and missed the excitement except the few of us in the hummers. It was fun though. The things you come up with to pass the time.
Speaking of the parachute our Lieutenant came up with a couple good ideas. He took the parachute and hung it up between two tents and used it as a hammock. That worked really nice and pretty comfortable. If you wanted you could fit several people on it. Later we were talking about making a bigger ice chest because we would get watermelon sometimes and it takes up a lot of room. So he got one of these drums that cluster bombs units come in and found Styrofoam from a French cluster bomb for the insulation. This ended up working out really well. That is until someone had to ride with us and the cooler took up too much room. The demise of the cooler came when we finally left later in July. It was nice while we had it.
Al Kut was home to many species of wildlife. You would see jackals running around and howling at night. Snow-white Owls that would hang out in the old hangers and screech all night long. Geckos that would change colors when you picked them up. One night the guys next to us found a hedgehog outside the tent. That was really neat. They are really calm and harmless. So that was kind of funny to find out since our call sign is the hedgehogs back home. Then to top things off is the infamous camel spider. If you look in the July 2004 National Geographic you will see them called wind scorpions. These creatures are huge. A big one came be several inches across from tip of the leg to another. They are not venomous so that was comforting. Well Al Kut seemed to be infested with these creatures and every night they would start coming over the tent flaps and run across the tent. It was rather funny to see some guys reactions to these camel spiders. These spiders move at speeds I believe to have heard around 10mph. Quite fast for a little animal. So this makes it hard to kill them. Well the rude awakening happened one morning when the lights came on and Joe grabbed my leg and said don't move. He then knocked a camel spider off my sleeping bag. That was quite a shock. Later after getting dressed I went outside and as I stood still and felt something in my pant leg. SPIDER! I thought and I didn't hesitate to drop my pants on the spot. I never could find anything so I just thought I was feeling thing. Well a few minutes later I was putting in my contacts and then in a split second something ran up and down my leg a couple times. I finally snagged it through the pant leg and then shook it out of my leg. It was the largest Camel Spider we had seen yet. How did I not feel it the whole time or even see it when I looked? That was a pretty weird experience.
Well around the middle of July we finally got done with the mission at Al Kut. I say finally but I kind of liked our stay in Al Kut. It gave us a month at a different location. Which in turn helped pass the time. We had the place pretty much to ourselves and we had a routine setup. We knew when we were working, when we could workout, and when we would have time to do other things. That's the worst thing about moving around so much is that it is hard to get set in a routine. Though never knowing what is next definitely adds to the spice of life and I like that too. So from Al Kut we went to Tallil and rebuilt some of our armor and added some new weapons mounts while some serious maintenance issues were taken care of on our Hummers. This took us a full week. While there I took the time to make a trip to the Burger King there. And no it was not as a guard this time. It was kind of weird to have fast food.
Well while I was at Tallil I found out through and friends email that I had lost another friend. Dylan was murdered while working in Georgia. Though Dylan was not as close of a friend as my roommate who I had lost this spring it is quite a shock to hear of things like this. I honestly tell you if the Lord didn't have the huge comforting hand that he has I don't know how I would deal with these things. How do nonbelievers survive? I have truly experienced the peace that passes all understanding.
Also while at Tallil I was able to attend Chapel service along with their bible study and praise and worship time. This was the first time since fathers day that I had been able to attend church. It was quite a refreshing feeling. There aren't too many active Christians to be around while over here.
So before we made it home to the farm in Baghdad we made a run over to a British base close to the Iran border in Al Amarah. It was interesting over there. Of course it took us longer to get there than we planned on since we had to escort an Iraqi truck that averaged 35 mph. 5 ½ hours of that gets real old. We did take a new road through the center of Iraq that looked very familiar to the desert southwest with the pueblo looking ruins and all. It is interesting how things can remind of other places.
I am proud to say that I have still been able to keep up with my bible reading since I left home. This is definitely the longest run I have ever made reading my bible. I got a copy of A Purpose Driven Life from a chaplain and started that yesterday. So far my new favorite book of the bible is Ecclesiastes and especially chapter 3 where is says there is a time for everything. That really has hit at home a lot while over here. Good book to read this month, The Passion of Jesus Christ by Jon Piper. It discusses 50 reasons why Jesus died on the cross. It'll make you think for sure.
Well I think I have pretty well covered everything. Not a whole lot of different things but a little bit of what is going on. I appreciate all the letters and packages. My fellow soldiers and I have enjoyed them. I also thank you for the thoughts and prayers. You are in my thoughts and prayers as well. The best thing I have to say right now though is that today is July 31 so that means July is over and that is a wonderful thing.