DRIFTER HAS LANDED
All,
The team has moved (as you could tell by the new address) from East Ramadi all the way over to... West Ramadi. We are now on Camp Ramadi, about 6 miles west of where we were. Yippee.
The bad news: moving sucks, and it sucks more when you have the chance to hit an IED or get shot at. The good news: we all made it safely and we are working with Marines for the first time since we got here, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, out of 29 Palms, CA. They seem to be a really solid unit, don't have as much heavy assets as the Army does, but they are Marines, and that is a breath of fresh air. It's like driving back onto base after being out in the civilian world too long (you Marines know what I mean). We are back with our people.
I will try to knock out a post later. We moved last night about 0230, got here about 0330, got up at 0830. We're beat, and we still have to unpack. I do have some good pictures, though.
Talk to you soon; time to go to bed.
The team has moved (as you could tell by the new address) from East Ramadi all the way over to... West Ramadi. We are now on Camp Ramadi, about 6 miles west of where we were. Yippee.
The bad news: moving sucks, and it sucks more when you have the chance to hit an IED or get shot at. The good news: we all made it safely and we are working with Marines for the first time since we got here, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, out of 29 Palms, CA. They seem to be a really solid unit, don't have as much heavy assets as the Army does, but they are Marines, and that is a breath of fresh air. It's like driving back onto base after being out in the civilian world too long (you Marines know what I mean). We are back with our people.
I will try to knock out a post later. We moved last night about 0230, got here about 0330, got up at 0830. We're beat, and we still have to unpack. I do have some good pictures, though.
Talk to you soon; time to go to bed.
posted by Sisyphus actual at 8:09 PM
7 Comments:
Thanks for the update. Hope you got a bit of rest.
Do 3-7 know about AnySoldier.com?
Stay safe,
Good to hear all are safe and in a better environment. Get some rack time guys and enjoy what you can when you can.
I hear you've got a great picture of my husband trying for his cool scars he missed when he got hurt. Be safe, stay healthy, and keep on truckin'. You'll be home before you know it.
Dear Team Med Fah, I was trying to send this to my old fried A Rad, but the mail was returned, so I am going to try and post it here. It is a little long to be stuffed in this small space, but it is worth it...
Alex, I want to say thanks to you and all of our Brother Marines out there, so I am going to forward this poem to as many people as I can. I didn’t write it or anything, but I think it is awesome. So please tell all of your guys there that someone in PA said thanks, Merry Christmas, and Semper Fi.
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
WE ALL NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL EVERY NIGHT!
Bob Gowens
ITS/NSO Project Manager
602-357-4361 or T/L 273-0061
Pager 800-759-8888 pin 1166275
rgowens@us.ibm.com
Sorry I just posted that poem, and the guy who must have wrote it has his name at bottom. Just for clarification, Bob Gowens did not post this here, I believe he wrote it, but Mark Koop posted it here.
Semper Fi
MAK
To Our Adopted Marines,
We are happy to hear that you received your Care Packs, and that
Master Guns is happy w/ the balloons. We hope that everyone enjoys their stuff. Christmas is
coming, and since you have an 'embarassment of gedunk', we will be sending letters and cards to show that we care. Take care and be cautious; we pray for y'all every day. We know that you're in the thick of things, esp. with the elections: so please stay safe!
Thank you for your guardianship.
Cub Scout Pack 173
Bowling Green, VA
Steve Scarlett, Wolf Pack Leader.
Thank you for all you do!
Thank you too for having this blog of yours so we can read first hand how you are doing!
Stay safe!
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