2009

Happy New Year,

 

Things here are about the same but at least it is now 2009, the year I get to go home.  The weather here has actually been fairly nice as opposed to the first winter I spent in Iraq, which was very rainy.  I think we have only had one or two significant rain storms this time and I can only hope this winter stays dry.  This place gets really miserable when it rains.  The water stays above the ground for the most part and then slowly sinks in creating lots and lots of mud.  It's exciting for me to think that I am almost done out here with only two and a half months to go.  In speaking to Liz over the holidays, I would really like to thank everyone who has stepped up to make things easier for her.  She has received phone calls from random people in my unit who are still home.  One that stands out is Graham Hoffman, a psychiatrist from Pueblo Colorado that has done something like 4 or 5 deployments to Iraq.  It means a lot to me that he calls Liz once in a while just to see how she is doing and if she needs anything.  I have a fond memory of the last deployment where then Major Hoffman was out pulling security with his 9mm pistol at an Iraqi gas station so the local farmers could fill their tractors.  It was poignant to see this Harvard educated Doctor standing in the hot sun with his pistol protecting these poor Iraqi farmers.  Other people have also been helpful and deserve mentioning.  Brian Smith our neighbor helps Liz with the snow removal and Lance, my brother-in-law showed up on the first real snow storm to help Liz out.  Alan Nell, from work came by to help Liz with yard work.  All of these things do not go un-noticed by me and I am very grateful for the help people have given her.  As for New Year's celebrations, we didn't do much.  The base defense system did a "test fire" at 2359.  This  C-RAM (the radar controlled Gatling Gun) that fires thousands of rounds per minute that explode in the air sounds almost like fireworks. Other than that, it was pretty much just another day.  Attached are two photos that someone took while we were all out building a patio next to our building.