Thursday, December 04, 2008

A long time between posts....


My blog really kind of dropped off the face of the earth after Seth and Eli returned from Iraq. The blog was my release...my therapy...my way to stay connected with the boys while they were in harm's way. When they returned my need to write and keep up with the news disappeared with the fear that I carried in my heart each and every day they were gone. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to say.....I just didn't have the NEED to say it!
Life has continued. Seth and Eli are happily embedded in their homes, Eli in North Carolina with Katy and Seth is living in Virginia with Brittany. Eli is working at a private school as a "jack of all trades" while Seth continues to try and finish his education at James Madison University. Josh is now living in Baltimore, Maryland working as a Guidance Counselor at an inner-city middle school. The family was rather obsessed over the last several months with the election of Barrack Obama. In June, Seth talked me into another blog, Left Leaning Right Minded, and you could check that out to see the level of his involvement with the campaign.
We celebrated Thanksgiving as a complete family and truly counted our blessings. Seth and Eli will end their committment with the National Guard in five months. We're counting the days. As soon as the Christmas season ends it's my intention to finally put this blog to bed for good. I plan to put the blog into book form for Seth and Eli to keep. My working title is: "Twins with Guns....our small part in the war on terror." I'll let you know how it goes.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

A Picture's worth a thousand words....






A parting shot and remembering history....

I don't recall exactly how the saying goes, but it says that those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat history or repeat mistakes. Seth and Eli have been in the Guard for about five years. I say that we learned early on that nothing is definite in the Army until it is over and done...I say that....but I apparently don't believe it. I always get excited when they tell me something and I always believe what they say. They're getting their parting shot. Expecting the boys to arrive in Woodstock at 2:00 PM we left a few things undone until this morning. Plenty of time to get up and get a some stuff done. Seth called at 7:00 to report that they were already in Virginia and would be arriving at Woodstock around 11:30! I'd love to write a few more words, but I gotta go!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Returning to Woodstock

Seth and Eli and the rest of Company B return to Woodstock, Virginia tomorrow. A place that saw many tears last spring will see them again....different tears, better tears. Here's a news release about their return:

Press Release 04/22/08: Charlottesville Troops Returning

Updated: April 24, 2008 10:56 AM

News release issued April 22:
Charlottesville, Leesburg and Woodstock area Va. Guard Soldiers return from Iraq

Soldiers from infantry companies headquartered in Charlottesville, Leesburg and Woodstock assigned to 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team returned to the United States April 20 and 21 after serving in Iraq and Kuwait since September 2007. The Soldiers flew into the demobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss., and will conduct a number of different administrative activities to transition from active duty back into traditional National Guard status prior to returning back to Virginia. Approximately 150 Soldiers are assigned to each company.

The units will spend four or five days at Camp Shelby, but the exact arrival date for their return back to Virginia has not been determined at this time. The Virginia National Guard Public Affairs Office will issue a follow up advisory once the return date has been set.

All three infantry companies were assigned to convoy escort duty in Iraq and had numerous enemy engagements via improvised explosive devices, small arms fire and complex ambushes. A and B Companies operated in Al Anbar Province or Multinational Division West. A Company operated and in some of the most dangerous areas in Iraq to include Fallujah and Ramadi, and B Company operated in hot spots west of the Euphrates River and the far western portions of Iraq near the Syrian border.

C Company provided convoy escort in Multi-National Division North and operated in some of the more recent danger areas around Mosul and Kirkuk. Nine of the 10 Soldiers wounded in action from the battalion were from C Company. The battalion had no fatalities.

In addition to the three infantry companies, the Battalion is made up of approximately 100 Soldiers from the Winchester-based Headquarters Company, approximately 125 Soldiers from Fredericksburg-based D Company and approximately 125 Soldiers from Fredericksburg-based F Company, 429th Brigade Support Battalion. These three units will return to the USA in the coming weeks. Additional information about their return will be provided once the units have landed at their demobilization station.

Additional Background Information on 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry

The 3rd Battalion, 116 Infantry, also referred to as Task Force Normandy, was alerted Feb. 3, 2007 for mobilization and overseas deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This alert came 19 months after the battalion returned from Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion entered active duty in late June 2007 for mobilization training prior to leaving the United States.

In the span of four months, the unit was able to staff and equip the battalion for the mission, calling upon Soldiers and equipment from 42 different units across the Commonwealth to form the largest battalion task force the Virginia National Guard has mobilized in support of the Global War on Terror. The battalion numbered nearly 800 Soldiers when the embarked upon their mission.

The battalion's deployment was also the first time a Virginia National Guard rifle battalion ever deployed from Virginia with the new organizational structure of the Army's new modular brigade system.

The battalion deployed with its Headquarters Company, three rifle companies, (A, B and C Companies), a special weapons company (D Company) and a forward support company (F Company).

While at the mobilization station, Camp Shelby, Miss., the battalion was unexpectedly forced to accelerate the deployment timeline for two of its six companies. Due to urgent needs in Iraq and in support of the troop surge, A Company and C Company were required to accelerate their training timeline in order to arrive in theater to begin combat operations.

Both A and C companies successfully completed six back-to-back collective training exercises with no rest in between.

"These exercises were physically and mentally intensive ranging from mounted combat patrols to urban warfare," said Lt. Col. John Epperly, commander of 3rd Battalion. "This is significant because the change from light infantry to mounted warfare represented a significantly new way of fighting for these Soldiers and one which they had never been trained in previously Fire teams and squads were re-organized into gun truck crews and trained in new tactics, techniques and procedures for mounted convoy escort. Under intense time pressure, both A and C companies validated for deployment and departed the United States on time under the new schedule."

Upon departure from mobilization station, Task Force Normandy deployed to both Iraq and Kuwait. The three rifle companies were assigned to convoy escort duty in Iraq. Each rifle company was assigned to a Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and provided convoy escort to an area of operations ranging from 750 to 1,000 square kilometers.

Headquarters Company, D Company and F Company were assigned to Security Force (SECFOR) missions in Kuwait. D Company provided protection to the strategically important deepwater port at Ash Shuaybah. F Company provided port security at Kuwait Naval Base and protection to ammunition sustainment operations and re-deploying coalition forces at Kuwait Naval Base. The Headquarters Company provided command and control to the battalion's port security missions as well as the Area Reaction Force for all of southern Kuwait, an area that covered over 6000 square kilometers of battlespace known as SECFOR South.

"During its time in Kuwait and Iraq, 3rd Battalion was integral to the success of several operations, events and activities," Epperly said. "The units stationed in Kuwait made significant gains and innovations in securing critical infrastructure vital to the war effort in all of southwest Asia."

For a period of over 8 months, Headquarters Company, D and F companies, in concert with Naval Coastal Warfare Squadrons 5 and 21, provided joint security to the two strategic deepwater ports in Kuwait. "These ports were absolutely critical to the entire coalition war effort in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan since over 95% of all supplies coming into theater used these ports," Epperly said.

While securing these ports, the battalion searched over 100,000 vehicles and 300,000 people without disruption to the ports. The battalion's local combat patrols around the port facilities logged over 10,000 vehicle hours without a serious incident. The battalion also secured the loading and unloading of over 8,000 combat vehicles as several brigade combat teams flowed into and out of Iraq.

The Headquarters Company provided an Area Response Force for all of southern Kuwait. Soldiers provided personal security detachments for distinguished visitors and aerial quick reaction forces for both the President's and First Lady's visits. They worked in a joint security environment with Naval Coastal Warfare Squadrons 5 and 21 as well as the Air Force's 586th Expeditionary Warfare Group.

D Company provided fixed site security and a Quick Reaction Force for the Seaport of Debarkation at Ash Shuaybah, Kuwait. This is the theater logistics center of gravity because over 90% of supplies for the warfights in Iraq and Afghanistan flow through this port. Delta's mission had strategic implications. They also worked in a joint security environment with Naval Coastal Warfare Squadrons 5 and 21 as well as the Air Force's 586th Expeditionary Warfare Group.

F Company provided fixed site security and Quick Reaction Force for Kuwait Naval Base. Their mission secured the Naval Base where all ammunition enters the theater. Further, they secured the deployment and re-deployment of five Marine Expeditionary Groups. They also worked in a joint security environment with Naval Coastal Warfare Squadrons 5 and 21 as well as the Air Force's 586th Expeditionary Warfare Group. F Company worked closely with Navy Inshore Boat Units to provide seamless sea and land side security for the Naval Base.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Touchdown in Mississippi

The boys landed in Mississippi last night shortly before midnight and arrived at Camp Shelby around 2:00 AM. With a 4:30 AM wake-up call there wasn't much time for sleep and after 72 hours on the move in the same clothes I'm sure showers came before sleep. During the next few days there will be medical exams, shots, financial paperwork, counseling and other good things to prepare them for returning home. The process of becoming a civilian again begins. Company B will be returning to Woodstock on Saturday. We'll have times later this week.
Last night, after getting the phone call that they had landed in Mississippi, Jan began to cry. It wasn't just tears of joy......there is a profound sense of sadness for all those families that continue to endure the sacrifice and for all those families who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Our joy is tempered by the knowledge that this war continues to rob our country of so much. While we celebrate the safe return of our children we mourn for damage done to our country and our military.

Monday, April 21, 2008

No news is good news?

Have you ever sat on pins and needles....of course you have - everyone has had the experience of "expectation." Waiting with bated breathe....I didn't have a clue where that expression came from but it's something I've used growing up so I did a little research.
Shakespeare is the first writer known to use it, in The Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock says to Antonio: “Shall I bend low and, in a bondman’s key, / With bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness, / Say this ...”. Nearly three centuries later, Mark Twain employed it in Tom Sawyer: “Every eye fixed itself upon him; with parted lips and bated breath the audience hung upon his words, taking no note of time, rapt in the ghastly fascinations of the tale”.

The term means a heightened sense of expectation so intense that it becomes a tangible feeling....I never knew I was such a literate person to go around quoting Shakespeare and Mark Twain, but now you know how I feel! I'm waiting with bated breath and assuming that no news is good news. If the boys were hung up somewhere I'm assuming we would have heard.
Keep posted for breaking news! I hope soon!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Homeword bound?

Details are few and OpSec requires that specifics are not available, but look to the sky! We have it on good authority that Seth, Eli and the rest of the 3-116th will be in Mississippi sooner than you know!

Cartoon from our paper

Thursday, April 17, 2008




John McCain and the New GI Bill

Having built his own career on his service and suffering in Vietnam, he surely must be aware that the new generation of vets receives nothing like the assistance made available to those who served with him in Viet Nam or in Korea or in World War II -- because the landmark bill (pushed by progressive liberals by the way) has not been updated for many years. The current level of benefits doesn't cover even half the cost of state college tuition for most soldiers. The original bill included full college tuition, books and spending money as well as no down payment, low interest house loans.

Sens. James Webb of Virginia and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska wrote the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, whose cost is estimated at less than $4 billion, or approximately one-tenth of 1 percent in the total expense of the current war. They have gathered 53 co-sponsors, including nine Republicans and three of the four other Vietnam veterans in the Senate, but they need 60 to defeat a likely filibuster by conservatives who've never served.
Incredibly, McCain has so far refused to add his name to the sponsors. His excuse is he has not had any time to read the bill during the past year or so. He has time to glorify his contributions as a member of the "Greatest Generation" but, he has no time for today's soldiers. He has no time to insure that they have the same benefits he had when he returned from Viet Nam. McCain called Obama an elitist for his comments last week about rural Americans and their gun and church. If anyone knows the meaning of elitist surely it's John McCain.

Barney Fife in Iraq.....

I can't help it, but I keep picturing my boys as Barney Fife in Iraq. They continue their paid vacation in the big sandbox awaiting word on departure. All mission equipment has already been turned in including ammunition for their weapons. They still have their weapons, still have to have their weapons with them at all times - they just don't have any ammo. I have this picture of Barney fumbling in his pocket for his bullet and trying to get his gun loaded. I talked to Eli this morning. He said he tried to take some pictures of the inside of their tent this morning because it looks like it snowed during the night. They had another huge sand storm last night and continuing into today. The sand and dust finds it's way into the tents and coats everything. It may be a paid vacation, but it's at the Bate's Motel!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Email from Seth...Pics from Eli!

Two pictures from Eli. The top picture is a sandstorm at Al Asad. Seth and Eli's tent is the second one on the left side of the picture. The second picture is out on the small arms firing range on base...Seth and Eli helped run the M-4/M-9 qualification range three days in a row and this was their crew. The following is an email from Seth:

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this email finds you all doing well and having a great week. Things here are going well, we are just waiting for the word to fly. We recently celebrated over a month in tents. The tents were never comfortable, but at first they were welcome. They signified the beginning of the end, the last stage before leaving Iraq. However as the weeks have passed the tents have become more and more disliked. They are an oven during the day, and with over thirty smelly guys living together in close proximity, the heat is the least of our worries. Not only has the heat and stench drastically increased from a month ago, but we have been having problems with mice in our tents. One soldier went through his rucksack the other day to organize his clothes, and to his surprise he found a mouse in the bottom of his rucksack along with many signs that the mouse had been there for some time. We still find it hard to complain since we are so close to getting out of here, and we know that people have it much worse. But the tents are slowly starting to wear on us and our patience.

We don't spend our days sleeping in, because as soon as the sun starts to come up the canvas tent starts heating up. However we have found creative ways to fight boredom over here. Instead of spending half an hour at the chow hall we spend over an hour. We sit and talk, make sure to eat plenty of ice cream and enjoy each others company. We spend a lot of time in the air conditioned MWR rooms watching movies, reading books, playing ping pong, and just hanging out. As the sun goes down and the temperature starts to cool off everyone slowly migrates back to the tents. In the evening the tents are illuminated from the glow of numerous laptops. I shower every evening to rinse off the days dust and sweat, and then get into bed looking forward to another day, and another day off the final count. The only problem is, with the delays of soldiers getting out of country, no one is exactly sure what the count is. I sleep good with the knowledge that I am a day closer, whenever that day is ,

Take care and have a great rest of your week,

Lots of Love and Peace from the Middle East,
Seth

Monday, April 14, 2008

Hold the presses....John McCain detests War!

During a campaign stop in Jacksonville, Florida, John McCain spent some time talking about war. He said, "I detest war. It might not be the worst thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all description. Only a fool or a fraud sentamentalizes the merciless reality of war." Good to know that McCain detests war, because at other times he sounds like he's very much in favor! Take his answer to a question about supporting Bush when he said we may have troops in Iraq for 50 years....."Make it a hundred...That would be fine with me." Or his now famous attempt at humor: "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." Or how about his statement when he appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "I had something picked out for you, too - a little IED (improvised explosive device) to put on your desk." Who makes fun of IED's when our soldiers are being blown to pieces? So the question is: Is McCain a fool or a fraud?

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The war touches Fairmont Drive

Nineteen American Soldiers won't return home after last week's events in Iraq. While Bush and Bush wanna-be John McCain talk about the success of the surge and staying the course in Iraq, nineteen soldiers were killed last week. That week now becomes the deadliest of 2008 for our soldiers. Our across the street neighbor stopped by this morning to tell us that her nephew was killed last week in Iraq. Like Seth, he married last year before heading overseas. Another life lost, another family devastated, a young bride left to wonder about a future that will never be fulfilled.

A blog comment from LTC John Epperly

The following is a comment that was left on a blog entry. I appreciate LTC Epperly's comments and send my appreciation to him for a job well done! I know how I've worried about my boys - he's had the duty of worrying about 810 boys. I'm sorry I won't get to shake his hand at the homecoming but I offer him my public, heartfelt thanks.

My name is LTC John Epperly and I am your sons' battalion commander. Several of my Soldiers have blogs that I read when I can to see how things are going for my Soldiers. It’s a great window in daily reality. As you put your blog to bed, please know that I have truly enjoyed reading it. You have given our Nation and Commonwealth two very fine young men. Thank You for your sacrifice in these past months. I know the worry you must have felt. I have two sons myself. I’ve worried over all 810 of my troops for many months and by God's providence we'll ALL be returning home soon. I'll miss you at their homecoming in Woodstock as I still must bring out the last of our companies a couple weeks later. But, I wanted to thank you for your support. May God Bless you and your family!

PS Don't look now, but there will be an airplane coming over the horizon soon...as promised.

John

April 12, 2008 2:45:00 PM EST

Cue the music.................the theme music from Welcome Back Kotter....John Sebastian singing "Welcome Back:"
Welcome back, your dreams were your ticket out
Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about
Well, the names have all changed since you hung around
But those dreams have remained and they've turned around
A swell of patriotic music - Perhaps "I'm Proud to be an American" or something equally capable of bringing tears to your eyes.

The music screeches.....remember old 45's and 33's when you didn't quite get the needle lifted cleanly..............and then

The Foundations singing:
Why do you build me up, Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down and mess me around
And then worst of all you never call, baby
When you say you will, but I love you still
I need you more than anyone darling
You know that I have from the start
So build me up, Buttercup, don't break my heart

Break our hearts they did! We learned early on during basic training that the Army likes to mess with you. We developed a saying: Nothing is definite until it's over! The Army strikes again. The countdown on my computer says "Bye, Bye Iraq!...Today is the Day!" I have to reset the counter because the Army says Today isn't the Day. Seth and Eli's departure has been delayed by a week. They had their change of command ceremony, the guys were pumped and ready to leave, and "hold on there - just a minute....not yet!
Why do you build me up buttercup baby
Just to let me down and mess me around!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Putting a blog to bed

I started blogging in October 2004. My blog was titled "American Soldier" and it chronicled my son's experiences while serving in the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Seth and Eli joined the Virginia National Guard in the spring of 2003 - their senior year in high school. Their motivation? A surge of patriotism after 9/11, a firm conviction that giving back to their community was a good thing, a blief in the commercials that you can be a weekend warrior while helping your community, state and nation in times of need. The commercials show citizen/soldiers fighting forest fires, assisting during floods and huricanes. Cool stuff for an 18 year old boy. I still remember my wife telling the boys that, bottom line, you need to be prepared to fight a war. The recruiter countered that the Virginia National Guard hadn't been deployed outside the state of Virginia since World War II. The boys joined against the wishes of their mother, but I have to admit I was proud of their decision.
Long story, short....Seth and Eli enjoyed one semester of college before heading off for basic training - Seth in Infantry and Eli to be a combat medic. Seth returned from basic training in June of 2004 and by September was on his way to Fort Bragg to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan with the 3-116th Infantry of the National Guard. My blog was born - therapy for the soul. When Seth returned from Afghanistan I thought my blogging days were over, but in the spring of 2007 word came that both Seth and Eli would be deploying to Iraq...the blog was revived under the new name, "American Soldiers."
The boys have less than 48 left in Iraq. They will depart sometime this weekend, spend a couple of days in Kuwait then about a week in Mississippi before returning to Woodstock and home. I'll put my blog to bed....hopefully for good. But the question nagging me now is what to do with my blog? It represents a part of the Lovell family history. Can it stay on the internet forever? My oldest son, Joshua, printed out all the pages when Seth returned from Afghanistan and put them in a nice binder - a kind of keepsake for Seth. I tried my hand at self-publishing this past Christmas when I published some of my father-in-laws art into a hard-covered book using a web site called "Blurb." With little effort I turned out a beautiful 40 page book of his art called "A man, a pencil and a piece of paper." Blurb can automatically turn your blog into a book....the problem....my blog would need a 400 page book and would be prohibitively expensive. You can see my problem. As I continue to update my blog covering the return of the 3-116th to Woodstock I'll be thinking about how to put my blog to bed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Email from Eli



We've had some boring days and some busy days lately...today was one of the boring ones. Seth and I just found out that we could bring our personal laptops to the MWR computer room, so I thought I would make the trek and send you some pictures. Yesterday, Sunday, Seth and I went with a group from our Company to visit a part of the base that, according to myth, was a location mentioned in the bible. The place is called "Abraham's Oasis" and there is a plaque there that gives a history of the area and of Al Asad Air Base. The inscription on the plaque is written in both English and Arabic, and a section of it reads, "According to Arab legend, Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew Bible, the Qur'an, and other Islamic writings visited the Oasis at Al Asad on his journey from Ur to Haran (Gen 11:31; Stories of the prophets...) According to legend he stopped at the oasis, drank from its water, and bathed himself. He and his family camped here for a short time before moving on to Haran."
There is a lot more, but I was typing all that while reading it off of some pictures I took of the plaque, and that was getting tiring. It was a cool experience and fun to get some of the history of the base. The base was built in 1985 by Yugoslavian contractors. We also got to see some of the old base and the bobmed barracks and Iraqi fighter jets. I took pictures, but this e-mail can only fit two pics on it. We also hiked around the area of the Oasis, which is full of a variety of date trees, which resemble palm trees. The other thing we walked to was a mass grave, erected for civillians and military during the Iran/Iraq conflict. We spent about two hours on this tour and then went to the Gospel service on base...a service that is very stereotypical gospel, lots of yelling "can I get a witness?" and "can I get an amen?" and very upbeat music. Seth and I love it! We then enjoyed some pizza at pizza hut and spent the evening getting some things together for our platoon party on Tuesday, which we have the Chuville MWR rented for.

It won't be long now until we are home, and it is hard to believe. The end is in sight, and it seems close, but at the same time it still seems far away. Its been over a year now since this deployment became a big distraction to our lives, and we've been gone for close to 10 months now, so what little time we have left when considering all that seems like no time at all. Seth and I are both glad we had this experience and proud of the fact we served our country, but boy oh boy are we ready to get this behind us and be with our family! We always joke that we make good soldiers, but we make even better civillians. I hope you all are doing well and we will see you soon!
Love you all!
Eli


Sunday, April 06, 2008

No News is Good News!

Everything you read about blogging and maintaining your own web page tells you to update regularly.....after all, who wants to read the same thing over and over....beware! - you'll lose traffic if you don't continually post new content! As far as I'm concerned, no new content is a good thing. I honestly have nothing to post about other than the fact the the countdown on my computer is progressing in a good, efficient manner. Seth and Eli are spending their last days in Iraq and by next weekend will be on their way home. The question I've been asked by many is "Will they have to go back." My answer - "I don't know." I'll pray that they don't and I'll pray for an end to this war because I grieve every time a soldier leaves his family and heads off to war. I read the other day that we now have soldiers who have spent more time in a war zone than soldiers did during World War II. I also read in our local paper that for the first time since polling began to ask this question, over 80% of Americans think this country is headed in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, those responding were more concerned about high gas prices than the war. The war has begun to take a back seat to other, more pressing concerns. That thought makes me one of the 80% who think we're headed in the wrong direction.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy Days are almost here!

On Saturday we learned that Seth was "off missions" meaning no more trips outside the wire. Today we learned that Eli has also been pulled "off missions." Eli had been scheduled for a trip on Monday, but he called Katy with the news today that he was done! Seth and Eli won't be leaving Al Asad Air Base until they board a plane bound for the U. S. of A! The only enemy they'll be fighting is boredom.....an enemy I'm comfortable with. When we got the news today about Eli, Jan and I were sitting in the den taking care of bills and school work. The relief was such a physical feeling that the tears flow easily and quickly. I can only imagine how it will feel to have them back on U.S. soil and then in our arms.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Draft beer, not people

That quote, "Draft Beer, Not People," has been attributed to Bob Dylan. I guess he was an anti-war hippie. What does he know about war. Where are the words about war from the people who know war intimately?

What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world. ~Robert E. Lee, letter to his wife, 1864

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech, American Society of Newspaper Editors, 16 April 1953

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war. ~Pentagon official explaining why the U.S. military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution. ~John F. Kennedy

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war. ~Otto Von Bismark

It still amazes me to hear people talk about "winning the war." Just this morning in our local paper a reader was commenting that the war had to be won or "They" will be on our doorsteps. He claims that someone smarter than you or I may have had information we're not privy to and that the war is justified. I guess he's talking about George and his band of war mongering friends. The war must be won! I don't think I'm alone in thinking that this war won't be won with military might. Every bullet we fire creates more terrorists.....winning this war in the conventional sense won't happen.......

Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace. ~Charles Sumner

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Education News

We spoke with Seth and Eli this morning...two different phone calls. They are finally back at Al Asad after a two day delay returning due to sand storms. We've heard this story before, but this will probably be their last trip outside the wire (except for maybe a short day trip or two.)......This all falls under the category of "I'll believe it when I see it!" Whatever the plans, I know that they will soon be leaving Iraq and returning home.
I would like to believe that Seth's letter writing campaign had the desired affect with the National Guard's educational reimbursement policy. Whatever the reason, House Bill 524 passed this year's legislature. I don't begin to understand everything it says, but here it is.....I've highlighted some of the important parts:

Any person who (i) is a member of the National Guard of the Commonwealth of Virginia and has a minimum remaining obligation of two years, (ii) has satisfactorily completed required initial active duty service, (iii) is satisfactorily performing duty in accordance with regulations of the National Guard, and (iv) is enrolled in any state institution of higher education, any private, accredited and nonprofit institution of higher education in the Commonwealth whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate or graduate education and not to provide religious training or theological education, any course or program offered by any such institution or any public career and technical education school shall be eligible for a grant in the amount of the difference between the full cost of tuition and any other educational benefits for which he is eligible as a member of the National Guard. Application for a grant shall be made to the Department of Military Affairs. Grants shall be awarded from funds available for the purpose by such Department.

Notwithstanding the foregoing requirement that a member of the National Guard have a minimum of two years remaining on their service obligation, at the discretion of the Adjutant General, if a member is activated or deployed for federal military service or state active duty, an additional day may be added to the member’s eligibility for the grant for each day of active federal service or state active duty.

This last part is the important part......Now I don't know what it means that it says "at the discretion of the Adjutant General:, but at least we're seeing some movement toward something that is fair and honorable for those soldiers who have given of their time in this war. They should not be penalized for serving their country!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Anna Quindlen's commentary in NEWSWEEK Magazine

Because It’s Right
It's hard to serve your country in Baghdad or Kabul. It shouldn't be hard to pay for college once you've come back home.
Anna Quindlen
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 12:43 PM ET Mar 22, 2008

James Webb, the Vietnam Vet and senator from Virginia who was once secretary of the Navy, likes to share the chart he prepared for five of his Senate colleagues. They are men who fought in World War II and afterward went to college and even law school on the American taxpayer, a free ride in exchange for their service. Webb's chart quantifies how much of their education costs would have been covered if they had served in Iraq orAfghanistan. Not even close.

In 1944 President Roosevelt signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, commonly known as the GI Bill. It was one of the most visionary and transformative pieces of legislation in American history, providing free education for returning veterans. Its champions believed it was the moral response to the sacrifice those service members had made, but it also solved an economic and social problem. An influx of millions of unemployed and untrained men into the labor force could have triggered another Great Depression. But with 5 million of those soldiers becoming students instead, the result was the ascendancy of the middle class and a period of enormous prosperity. Every dollar spent on the GI Bill was multiplied many times over in benefits to the postwar U.S. economy.

But government institutions are notoriously amnesiac. College costs have escalated, and benefits have shrunk. Service members are surprised to discover that the grateful nation that made it possible for Sen. John Warner to go to both college and law school and Sen. Frank Lautenberg to graduate from an Ivy League university won't even cover three years at a public institution, much less a private college. Members of the National Guard and Reserves, who have been a linchpin of the current conflicts, receive only a fraction of that help.

"Watch the commercials," says Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "It looks as though you're going to be able to go wherever you want. People ask all the time, 'Don't you all go to school for free?' "

The answer is no, but Senator Webb is the author of legislation that would help change that. His revamped GI Bill would cover the full cost of the most expensive public institution in any given state; World War II vets like Lautenberg and Warner are enthusiastic supporters, as are dozens of other senators. (Oddly enough, Webb has not been able to get John McCain, who received the ultimate taxpayer-funded education at the Naval Academy, to take a position on the bill.) The source of the opposition is shocking: the Department of Defense, whose leaders argue that offering enhanced educational opportunities to soldiers would hurt retention. Military brass apparently tremble at the notion that multiple deployments, starvation wages and inadequate medical care might not be enough to hold on to their people.

Of course, this is the military brass who have had to lower age and ability standards despite spending billions to try to entice young men and women to join up. It does not seem to have occurred to them that a better long-range plan would be to offer true educational incentives so that more focused and ambitious people would enlist. Webb says, "This will expand the recruiting base because you could approach smart people just finishing high school, who are worried about paying for college, and say, 'If you serve your country you'll get a first-class education'."

Because of the DoD opposition, Webb has had a hard time prying loose estimates of how much these expanded benefits will cost, but at this point he thinks the figure is about $2 billion. That's half what is spent annually on recruitment and the cost of only a couple of days' worth of war in Iraq. But, more important, Rieckhoff says it's one of those costs he suspects the American people would support happily. "If the president stood up tomorrow and said, 'I need $2 billion to send vets to college,' people would be doing bake sales and carwashes across America," he says. "They can find that kind of money in the seat cushions on Capitol Hill."

The original GI Bill set the standard for innovative and audacious legislation. It was right in both senses of that word: the sensible thing to do, and the moral thing as well. And it helped expunge the shameful treatment of World War I veterans, many of whom had found themselves unemployed and destitute. The Department of Defense says it's a different era now, with a war that drags on and a volunteer Army, than it was when the GI Bill was first signed. But it's the same era, too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unemployment among young veterans is three times the national average. Already some Iraq vets are homeless and have substance-abuse problems.

Offering these men and women a college education is the least we can do. It's not free; they've already paid, in Fallujah and Kabul. If Congress wants an economic-stimulus package, this is a great one. A Topeka, Kans., lawyer and national commander of the American Legion, Harry Colmery, was the architect of the original GI Bill. He asked a question that is as resonant today as it was then: "If we can spend 200 to 300 billion dollars to teach our men and women to kill, why quibble over a billion or so to help them to have the opportunity to earn economic independence and to enjoy the fruits of freedom?"

Monday, March 24, 2008

Another Holiday without the boys....


The girls are paying the price for Jan never having the opportunity to dress anything but boys! Matching outfits for Easter. Luckily they live in three different states. Today the counter on my computer says twenty days to go until Seth and Eli leave Iraq and we hopefully celebrated our last holiday without a complete family.

George's Alternate Universe


This comes courtesy of my father-in-law and the Hightower Lowdown, a monthly newsletter edited by Jim Hightower. This picture hangs in the oval office and is a personal favorite of Georges. In his world, it epitomizes his courageous political views and he probably sees himself as the cowboy, charging up the hill leading his men to victory! According to Hightower, he has also described the horseman as a circuit riding minister rushing ahead to spread the word of Christianity. Visitors are left without a doubt that George sees himself in this picture.
He might be right! This painting originally appeared in the Saturday Evening Post as an illustration for a short story, "The Slipper Tongue" about a slick-tongued horse thief. This work doesn't show a courageous leader, or someone spreading the Gospel....it shows a horse thief running from justice. Yep, that's George!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A call to action.....

Please scroll down to my previous post about a "Moral Obligation." Read the comments. I've recently started reading Sojourner Magazine....a Christian advocacy magaizine. I found the article that I reprinted in my post about our obligation to provide care and support for injured soldiers. The story told about Wendell McLeod, a soldier who suffered TBI. Wendell's wife, Annette, left a comment about their family. There are faces behind every story and I've just had the honor of seeing the faces behind this story.
My challenge to every person who reads this blog is to copy the Sojourners article and send it to your representative in Congress. Don't know who your representative is? Click here to be directed to a web page to find that information. Our soldiers deserve more than empty words....let's give our Congress a call to action. It won't take long and they deserve that little bit of time!

Another Anniversary

Today marks the fifth anniversary of a war that has cost over 500 billion dollars so far and almost 4,000 American soldiers. This doesn't count the cost in injured soldiers and dead and injured Iraqi civilians.
Taxpayers in Virginia have paid $12.4 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
3,459,079 People provided with full Health Care OR
10,196,455 Homes built with Renewable Electricity OR
263,819 new Police Officers OR
186,783 Music and Arts Teachers OR
1,537,441 full Scholarships for University Students OR
772 New Elementary Schools OR
6,226,450 Children provided with Health Care OR
1,722,920 Head Start Places for Children OR
179,848 Elementary School Teachers OR
195,233 Port Container Inspectors

It's easy to quanify some costs. But other costs can't be quanified. What about the emotional toll on children and families when their loved ones don't come home, or come home with traumatic injuries? What about the stress of multiple deployments?
What about the loss of our moral leadership in the world when we have a president who condones torture? What about the loss of our privacy as we give the NSA access to our emails, cell phone conversations and other areas of our lives? What about the cost of living in fear as we listen to the fear-mongering of our leaders? How do we quanify those costs and so many others? What about the stress that families live with? I could go on and on......
Has it been worth the cost? I honestly don't think so.......do you?

By the way...for my readers in other selected states:
Massachusetts has contributed 14.8 billion
Texas 42.7 billion
Pennsylvania 9.9 billion
California 66.2 billion
New Jersey 23.9 billion

If you're interested in learning more about our spending on the war and what we could have for the same amount, visit The National Priorities Project

Monday, March 17, 2008

A moral obligation....

I spoke to Eli this morning. He was calling from Baghdad. He and Seth had just completed a little shopping at a local bazar and were now taking the opportunity to make a few phone calls. They don't know when they will depart Baghdad for the return to Al Asad. I asked Eli if they had a chance to see Dick Cheney or John McCain who are both in Baghdad....John expressly says this is not a campaign trip..just a fact finding trip. I think that's wonderful. Maybe he'll actually find some facts to convince him that Little George's war was wrong at the start and is still wrong! One thing for sure, he probably won't repeat his gaffe about Baghdad being a safe place for a stroll (unless you're surrounded by a hundred marines and have helocopters providing ground support!
Since there's not much news I thought I would reprint an article from Soujourners Magazine:
Leading an Army infantry platoon in Baghdad for a year, I was awed by the young men and women serving there. Their dedication to one another, and to their ideals of service, was extraordinary. But when I came home, I was struck by how disconnected many Americans seemed from what troops were encountering in the war zone and the issues they faced when they returned to the United States. I was infuriated to see veterans struggling every day to get the medical care they need, to overcome bureaucratic red tape, and to transition to civilian life.

Caring for millions of combat veterans and their families will be one of America’s greatest challenges in a generation, but throughout the history of this country, people of faith have responded to crisis with love, compassion, and determination. For a country starkly polarized by this war, the church is one place where we can come together and pledge to love those who fought in it.

One of the wounded is my friend Army Spc. Wendell McLeod. Mc­Leod’s head and back were badly injured when he was serving near the Iraqi border in Kuwait in 2005. McLeod was a sharp, jovial man from South Carolina who took great pride in his strength and independence. As a result of his injuries, however, his memory and mood have changed dramatically—and so has his life. He can no longer perform even simple tasks, such as brushing his teeth, unaided. His incredibly compassionate and dedicated wife, Annette, has said, “Now I’m married to a man I no longer know.” McLeod’s horrific experience has extended far beyond his physical wounds. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, his injury was misdiagnosed; it took a year and a congressional investigation to get him the help he needed.

IT TURNED OUT that McLeod had a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), often called the signature injury of the Iraq war. TBI has affected hundreds of thousands of troops and is what ABC News anchor Bob Wood­ruff suffered when he was hit by a roadside bomb while reporting in Iraq in January 2006. The malady is caused when roadside bombs or mortar explosions cause a person’s brain to hit the inside of the skull. This impact can lead to emotional problems, vision or hearing difficulties, memory loss, and—in the most severe cases—brain damage. TBI is invisible and often goes undiagnosed and untreated.

Many troops are also suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). They are exposed in this war to terrifying things that take a terrible toll. At least one-third of Iraq veterans will face PTSD or another mental health problem. If left untreated, the mental health effects of combat can lead to unemployment, drug abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, and even suicide.

Veterans’ families also suffer and, in many cases, are being torn apart. A high percentage of married U.S. troops in Iraq say their marriages are headed toward divorce; 2,200 U.S. children have lost a parent in Afghanistan or Iraq. New studies suggest that deployments have also led to a dramatic increase in the rates of child abuse in military families.

Americans can open their hearts, open their homes, and lend a hand. We can support this new generation of veterans by volunteering our time, donating money, or reaching out to a local military family in need. Offering to baby-sit for children in a family where a parent is deployed, or shoveling snow in a wounded veteran’s driveway, can make a big difference to a family under great strain.

Our country’s newest generation of veterans needs our help and compassion, and it is up to each of us to provide that. Democrat or Republican, young or old, it doesn’t matter whether you’re for or against the war. We all have a moral obligation to care for the troops who fought in it.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Email from Eli

The desktop on my computer has a counter that says "Bye Bye Iraq." It has been counting down the days until April 13 and today it says 30 days! When we got out of bed this morning it was 1:00 PM in Iraq and I knew that Seth and Eli were spending their last day in their room, were probably busy packing and cleaning and getting ready to send some of their gear home. Tomorrow evening they'll be in transitional housing, living in a tent. Last September I worried about how we would survive this deployment. I worried about Katy and Brittany and thought how unfair it is to ask these young brides to deal with something of this magnitude. As the days grow shorter I don't find that I'm worrying any less. I think it's more like holding my breath...waiting and hoping that the next 30 days will pass and Seth and Eli and all the Virginia boys will be back home with their loved ones.



Here's an email from Eli that arrived this morning:
Dear Family and Friends,
I have meant several times to sit down and write another group e-mail, and since I will lose my Internet tomorrow as we move into tents, I thought now was an appropriate time to finally write. Today we will take two duffel bags and a foot locker down to our motor pool to be loaded up into a connex to be shipped home. We're sending off gear we don't need any longer and personal items. Next week we will have to drag all of our stuff back out of the connexes, empty everything on the ground so customs officials can make sure we aren't planning on taking home anything we're not supposed to, and then we will load everything back up. For the next four weeks we will live in a tent with 40 other guys and sleep on cots. We have to pack in a ruck sack and an assault pack (one big bag, one medium sized bag) and live out of just that for the remainder of our time. All this sounds like a giant sized pain in the butt, which it is, but it is also wonderful because it signifies the end is in sight.
Here soon Seth and I will be leaving on a convoy mission to Baghdad, and we've got flags we are going to fly from the ASVs (Seth's flag is the one he carried with him in Afghanistan). That has become the big thing over here, flying American flags while out on missions. Seth and I are also going to go to Saddam's palace while in Baghdad. Seth has not been yet and I have only walked around the outside. We're going to see if we can get inside the palace this time.The palace houses top US military personnel and officials, and you have to find a sponsor to take you inside the palace, so we'll be doing some sweet talking. The last time I was at the palace we walked around with some Australian soldiers and got some pictures taken with them.
One quick story from our last mission. We were out for 8 days and spent over 60 hours on the road...but it didn't need to be that long. We left TQ to drive the 10 hours to CKV, and after four hours on the road the HET crew we were transporting lost some major points in our book. On a security halt to take care of personal business and check loads the HET commander came to our commander, the convoy commander, and informed them that one of his soldiers left his weapon at TQ. That is a big deal over here! We waited on word from Battalion as to what they wanted us to do, and they told us to turn around to retrieve it. So we did. However, on our way back to TQ we ran into a sand storm and had to change our course and go to Ramadi. The storm did not let up and so we were forced to stay there in a tent with no heat that felt like a fridge. Some people actually chose to go sleep in their vehicles so they could at least turn the heat on.
The next morning Seth and I were woken up at 5am to take a four gun truck element from Ramadi to TQ to retrieve the soldier's weapon. We took just four of our gun trucks so we could move at top speed through the desert. We were able to go about 55-65 mph and made great time. We joked around that this was like a modern day Saving Private Ryan...taking a group of soldiers away from their assigned mission to go on a questionable mission because of one soldier. Not exactly the same situation, but you can see the similarities.
I hope you all are doing well and are ready for Spring to arrive. We bypassed that season over here and jumped right into Summer. We have already had days in the 90s! The picture I enclosed is just one I like a lot. It is of two of our gun trucks going through a town called Little Baghdadi on Al Asad road...which is right outside our base. The second vehicle is our third gun truck, which is where I ride. Seth and I will be out of touch until we get home, but might have the chance to go to an Internet lab and write a time or two. Take care and thanks for the continued letters and support.
Love,

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

From the Virginia National Guard Web Site

Combat medics in Iraq ready when needed

By 2nd Lt. David E. Leiva
3rd Battalion 116th Infantry

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq — The minute the roadside bomb exploded, Spc. Eli Lovell’s heart pounded.

Palms sweaty and the adrenaline rushing, the convoy commander ordered Lovell out of the vehicle to evaluate the possible casualties after they failed to respond to repeated radio calls asking for their status.

There was another danger: The possibility of a secondary Improvised Explosive Device placed for first-responders.

Sprinting in the pitch dark along Baghdad’s most treacherous strip, Lovell and the commander came across the vehicle that had been struck.

They each opened one of the vehicle’s doors and stared at the two Soldiers, sitting there motionless, not responding to any questions being asked.

“Are you okay?” Lovell recalled asking them.

“I thought they were temporarily deaf from the explosion,” he said.

They were fine, although their lives had been disrupted by an IED planted by insurgents who intended to harm the Soldiers, not their vehicle.

That night, there was only one bomb.

So goes the life of a combat medic, affectionately referred to as “Doc” because he is the closest thing to a medical doctor out in desolate areas. Issued a 9mm handgun that he is not really expected to use, the medic accompanies each convoy in hopes his skills won’t be needed either.

In Bravo Company 3rd Battalion 116th Infantry, tasked with providing convoy security throughout western Iraq, the medics have logged more hours and miles on the road than any other Soldier.

Even after a two-week leave in January, Spc. Scott Dalrymple of Blacksburg, Va., has the most missions under his belt in the company. In seven years as a National Guardsman, this is his first deployment.

While confident in his abilities, Dalrymple can’t help but be candid. He admits the stress of being the sole person responsible for trauma care can take a toll.

“My worst fear is that somebody dies, and I can’t do anything about it,” he said.

So far, he’s only had to hand out band aids and aspirin.

Sgt. Samuel Anthony, 24, is fine with that. Anthony is Bravo’s senior medic on his second deployment to Iraq. He is still haunted by his first trip, where he worked on a Soldier who was hit by shrapnel during a mortar attack while eating dinner.

Anthony was at the gym when it occurred, and Soldiers rushed in and asked if any medics were available. For 10 minutes, he tried everything, including a tracheomety, a hole cut into her throat to help her breathe. She died on the scene.

“I always wondered if I had gone to chow that night instead of working out what might have happened,” Anthony said. “What if I had been there?”

Along with handling the unit’s medical administrative duties, he ensures Soldiers and medics will have every supply necessary, even if it means ordering more than required.

With only four military-trained medics in the company, Capt. Jeff Sink, Bravo’s commanding officer, ordered each Soldier to receive 40 hours of Combat Life Savers training, the Army’s answer to the medic shortage. Infantry units typically have only one medic.

This preparation, most of which was done at the mobilization site at Camp Shelby, Miss., ranges from starting an IV and splinting a fracture to performing CPR and helping Soldiers breathe through a tube.

Army officials began pushing this type of training last year at the service’s five basic training posts with the hope of reaching 180,000 Soldiers annually. The premise is that the first hour is the most crucial, and some focused life-saving training can keep the number of fatalities down.

According to the Defense Department, as of mid-February, there had been nearly 30,000 Soldiers wounded in Iraq. More than half have returned to duty.

Still, it’s a sobering figure. But the numbers, in many cases, could easily be Soldiers killed had it not been for expedient medical training.

“The most critical 10 minutes in a Soldier’s care in combat is the first 10 minutes. We’ve focused on the skills that would give us the greatest opportunity to evacuate an individual to a higher degree of health care,” said Col. Kevin Shwedo in an interview with The Associated Press last year.

Shwedo served as director of operations, plans and training for the Army Accessions Command, which oversees training.

Taking a page from Plato’s “The Republic,” necessity has proven to be the mother of invention at Al Asad. Through an arrangement made by Sink with leaders of a battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division, Bravo Soldiers who could not complete the course in Mississippi have been sitting through three intensive days of CLS.

Terms like “thinking outside the box” and “use all of your resources” forced Bravo leaders to also look within its ranks for Soldiers with civilian medical skills. Spc. Michael Kidd of Danville, Va., was one of the finds.

Insightful enough to bring some personal medical equipment on the deployment, the husky 33-year-old still figured he would be lugging around his M4 rifle because the military trained him to be an infantryman.

Instead, he is using his civilian skills as a nationally-certified paramedic, three levels higher than his military counterparts. At home Kidd works in an emergency room, where he has treated burn victims and revived people who have had heart attacks by performing CPR.

“I take pride in that my squad leader trusts me,” said Kidd, whose affinity for science started in grade school.

He has completed prerequisites to become a physician’s assistant. When he returns home, he hopes to be accepted at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond.

Cases like Kidd are unusual. But the bond between Soldier and medic mends into lifelong friendships.

Pfc. Stephen Conner, 22, works as a medic at Fort Pickett, Va., the state’s National Guard headquarters. Conner, of Staunton, Va., is enjoying many firsts, including his first deployment and the recent birth of his first child.

During convoy missions, he usually sits comfortably in the back of the combat vehicle listening through headphones to the chatter going on inside the vehicle and within the convoy.

All the while, waiting for that moment when he is thrust into his role.

So far, he’s among the top three busiest Soldiers, but he couldn’t describe what much of the road looks like.

Instead he is forced to rely on his “faith” in the drivers. They don’t mind reminding him he has the least amount of responsibility on the mission.

Conner, gregarious in nature and the subject of constant joshing, bites back.

“Infantry doesn’t really appreciate us,” he says with a chuckle, “until they need us.”

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

View from the Rat Vehicle


During their recent mission, Eli spent some time riding in the rat vehicle. The rat vehicle travels ahead of the convoy scanning for IED's and moving vehicles out of the convoy's way. I'm not sure why the call it the "Rat Vehicle." The only thing that comes to mind is if they run into trouble they're trapped like rats in a sinking ship....far away from help!

A couple of pics from the last mission



Morning email from Seth

Eli and I are continuing the process of getting packed up and ready to go. Even though it is still about a month away, it is all everyone is talking about. Last night Eli and I did something that we haven't done since we first got here in September. We slept with the AC on. For the past five months we have been sleeping with the heat on, and freezing when we step outside at night. The long PT pants and PT jacket are gone, and the heater is no longer needed. While the Iraq heat is not fun, it is welcome since we know we won't be around the see the weather change again. I've decided that Iraq only has two seasons, Hot and Cold!

We had to be down at the motorpool this morning for formation. We didn't really get any new information, just all the same stuff we've been hearing. We're still scheduled to move out of tents this weekend, and send off a good bit of our equipment as well. We worked on cleaning the weapons today, and then doing some work on a truck that has been broken. We went to lunch around 1130, and are now just doing some more packing. I have a sign up on our front door advertising the TV that we are selling. I'll keep the updates coming, even though there really isn't much to report. With the end in sight there isn't a lot going on, so I've got plenty of time to be bored and write emails. I hope things back home are going well, have a great day and I'll talk to you all soon,

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Back safe and sound

The latest email from Iraq:

Dear Family and Friends,
I just returned from my longest trip outside the wire, and also my most stressful trip. We provided security for a transportation unit that was helping to move a company from a small forward operating base near the Syrian border, to a larger airbase in Al Taqaddum, which is close to Baghdad. During the eight days we spent over sixty hours in the vehicles, one of the days saw us in our ASVs for approximately fifteen hours. During the trip we saw a lot of the country, including a couple of trips through downtown Fallujah. I spent the majority of the trip driving, but also spent time as the gunner, and even spent a couple of trips as the truck commander. It was a tiresome trip that seemed to drag on, but it was a good experience. It was an opportunity to see some parts of the country that I haven’t seen, and spend one last extensive mission out with my squad. Our time here in Iraq is coming to a close, and the activity in our motor pool is evidence that the end is near. The unit replacing us already has soldiers on ground here, we are beginning to pack up our equipment, and by next weekend we will be moved out of our room and moved into tents. In the next week or two I will be completely pulled from running missions, and start the long process of waiting for the end. This next month will slowly crawl by, due to the fact that it is impossible not to concentrate on time. When we first arrived in Iraq the end seemed so distant, that it was nerve racking to even think about it. We just concentrated on each day, and each mission. However now that the time is so short, it is impossible not to dwell on the end. The next couple of weeks will slowly go by, and before I know it Iraq will turn into a distant memory. This is a memory that will stay with me the rest of my life, and one that I will never regret having.
While things are going quite well here in Iraq, this past week has reminded me of the distance that I have to suffer from my family. Two different events have affected the people that I love the most. As I’m sure many of you know a student from Wilson Memorial High School was tragically killed in a car accident. I did not know this student well, but the tragedy was still very upsetting. The loss of a life is never easy to swallow, but when it is someone who is young it is even harder. This event has greatly upset my Mom, and has added to the stress that she has been forced to endure throughout this year. I want so badly just to be able to give my Mom a hug, to give some relief to her sadness. It is hard not being able to get a hug from your Mom on a regular basis, it is even harder not being able to give her a hug when you know she needs one.
The bad news did not stop there. Upon my return I found out that Brittany’s grandmother (Todd’s mother) was in the hospital suffering from septic shock. Brittany was very upset by this news, and was having a hard time dealing with it without me home. This morning Brittany’s grandmother passed away. I had to talk to my wife on the phone, listen to her cry, and I had to do this with the knowledge that I was not there for her. I can’t even explain how badly I wanted to be there to give her a hug, to cry with her, to help her deal with this. Brittany was close with her grandmother, and this has not been easy on her. A deployment is tough for many reasons. Today the reason that is at the front of my mind is the fact that I am not around to give comfort to those who I love the most. In a little over a month I will be able to give my Mom and Brittany long overdue hugs.
I hope this email finds you all having a good weekend. Thank you all for the continued love and support, I will look forward to talking to you all soon, and before to long being able to see you all as well, take care,
Love and Peace from the Middle East,
Seth

Thursday, March 06, 2008

A student at Wilson Memorial High School died Tuesday night in a single car accident. She was in 11th grade and active in many things...softball, music, cheerleading. I had her as a middle school student and Seth and Eli graduated with her brother. Here's part of an email from Jan that she sent to Seth and Eli:

Today I spent an hour in the parking lot as students gathered around her parking spot, filling it with flowers and stuffed animals and pictures. Messages in chalk were written on the pavement. Her parents and brothers and grandparents were there. I talked with all the family members briefly. It was very sad and I’m tired before the day has even started.

The one bright spot is that Katy let us know today that she had heard from Eli so I know you guys are exhausted but okay and will hopefully be back at the base by Saturday or Sunday! On Wednesday morning as the faculty was hearing the news for the first time, many teachers said, “I need to hug my children. It hit me hard that I had no idea where two of my children were or if they even were safe so the news from Katy this morning was greatly appreciated.


I walked to the end of my hallway when I read Jan's email. I can see the WMHS parking lot from our school. As I looked at the space filled with flowers I cried for the family and for every family that has lost loved ones. During the time that I've been writing this blog I've been acutely aware of loss and grieving. It's time for Seth and Eli to come home.....if just for a hug.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Waiting patiently.......NOT!

At this point the boys have been outside the wire for about six days. The anticipated length of their mission was never exactly nailed down, so we don't really know what we're waiting for. The only thing I think I know for sure is that they are 38 days away from leaving Iraq! It's getting harder to stay focused I think the weight drags you down a little more each day. Jan has said many times that she doesn't need the boys home as much as she just needs them on U. S. soil. I think their wives would want them home.
Seth was spending his time before this mission writing to different politicians about the problems with educational benefits for National Guard soldiers. Here's what he wrote to our local senator:

Senator Hanger,
My name is Seth Lovell, and I am a member of the Virginia Army National Guard. I am a member of B Co, 3/116th INF currently deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004-2005 as a member of the same company I was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. I have given up two years of my life to serve my country, and to represent my state. I have done so willingly and with great pride. The reason I am writing is to bring to your attention a great injustice that I believe is being done to our soldiers who have been deployed. Numerous soldiers like myself joined the Guard to help with the financial burden of attending college. The educational benefits that a National Guard Soldier is eligible for is the Montgomery GI Bill through the VA, Federal Tuition Assistance, and State Tuition Assistance. All three benefits help to greatly reduce the cost of college, and reward young men and women for their service to their country. I am writing because I believe there is a problem with Virginia’s current setup for State Tuition Assistance. I believe the program is flawed, as it does not take into account the frequent deployments that the National Guard has been dealing with recently. In the Code of Virginia 23-7.4:2 (b) it states that a soldier who is applying for state tuition assistance must have two years left on his contract in order to obtain funds from the state. This system is set up on the idea that Virginia National Guard soldiers are not being deployed, and have the first four years of their contract available to attend school. However in my first six years I have been deployed twice, and have missed five semesters of school due to this. Not only do I believe that there should be no requirement of two years left on one’s contract, but I believe that soldiers who are deployed should have that year forgiven, and allowed that time past their contract to obtain benefi ts. Because of my two deployments I am no longer eligible for state tuition assistance. There are many soldiers who are in a situation similar to my own. It is a shame that soldiers, who give so much, are given so little in their return. I appreciate the benefits that I receive from the government; however, I do not believe I should be penalized for my service. I believe I should have continued access to these benefits upon my return from two combat tours.

I am a strong believer in the power of politics. I have a lot of respect for you Senator Hanger, and you are the first person I have written. I would be honored if you would sponsor a bill to update Virginia’s benefit system for deployed soldiers. I would like to be involved in the process, and give any assistance that I can. I will be home from Iraq in April, and would love to speak further with you on this issue. I understand if you are not able to take this on at tlhis time, and I will seek assistance elsewhere. If you are interested in helping me with this cause please e-mail me back. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my e-mail and consider my problem, I look forward to hearing from you soon,

Sincerely,
SPC Seth Lovell

Friday, February 29, 2008

"Out of touch" can mean different things.....

Seth and Eli will be out of touch for a little while. I haven't posted much to the blog recently because, quite frankly, there hasn't been much to say. It's been kind of a slow time in the sandbox, which is usually a good thing. Seth's been fighting boredom by becoming a political activist. I've written before about the problems with State Tuition assistance for Guard members. Seth's been contacting all kind of people about that issue and has received some promising replys. I'll try to post some of his letters and replys soon. The boys will be leaving Al Asad soon on an extended mission. While gone, they will be out of touch and we'll have to wait patiently for their return and word that they're okay. For Seth and Eli they will be "out of touch" for a while. George Bush seems to be permanently out of touch. Oil experts are forecasting $4 a gallon gas by this summer. When Little George was asked about this yesterday at a press conference his reply was shockingly ignorant: he hadn't heard about that! There's "out of touch" and there's "OUT OF TOUCH."

Friday, February 22, 2008

Al Daher and Seth

Al Dahler writes an opinion column. His recent column is provided below as is a response Seth sent to Mr. Dahler.....Interesting reading:

McCain more like Bush daily
Al Dahler
From a progressive point of view, observing the culling of the Republican presidential primary herd has been quite entertaining.
Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, the two anti-immigrant bashers, were non-starters. Fred Thompson, whose anticipatory candidacy was highly touted, went nowhere once he entered the race. Rudy Giuliani, whose utterances always converged on 9/11 and theReagan legacy, turned out to be an empty suit. Mitt Romney, the businessman, learned the bitter lesson that money does not buy love and affection from the voting public.
Three candidates are left. Ron Paul was never a contender. Tenacious Mike Huckabee continues to hope for a miracle. That leaves us with the self-declared choice of the Republican party — John McCain.
Rush Limbaugh and his cohorts are in a state of funk while President Bush has embraced McCain as the conservatives' conservative. Will the Bush endorsement prove to be visionary or vacuous? Only time will tell.
In his courtship to endear himself with the Republican party establishment, McCain is morphing into a Bush clone. He will nominate only "strict constructionist" Supreme Court justices, e.g., Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia. The economically disastrous tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will be made permanent. Health care will be left to the bureaucratic, multi-billion-dollar health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Civil rights and civil liberties will continue to be shredded.
Hypocrisy best describes McCain's stand on health care. His and his family's health care is assured by four outstanding government-sponsored health care programs. As a military retiree, he and his family qualify for Tricare-for-Life. As a senator, he and his family are eligible for congressional health care. As a veteran, he is entitled to Veteran Administration services. And, his age makes him eligible for Medicare. While McCain and his family enjoy the largess of government-sponsored health care, he is willing to deny this privilege to ordinary Americans.
Victory in Iraq is emerging as the hallmark of the McCain campaign, yet he has never defined the substance of victory. Certainly, Secretary Gates' and General Petraeus' policies have been more successful than those of their predecessors. However, the Bush administration claimed progress in Afghanistan only to have the Taliban reemerge. Al Qaeda keeps growing stronger.
Irregular or guerrilla forces and non-government-sponsored insurgents or terrorists, when confronted with well-organized armed might, simply withdraw from the battlefield to preserve their strength and await more opportune times. Time is on their side. They have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do but wait for more favorable times to continue their struggles. Politically, there has been no cooperation or reconciliation among Iraq's factions. The age-old and well-honed hatreds persist and will continue to nullify and sabotage any peace initiatives.
Financially, the Iraq debacle defies any conception of victory. The American people have been, and continue to be, the losers. The war is costing approximately $343 million each day or two to three billion dollars each week. With an estimated expenditure of $150 billion per year, the cost is fast approaching a trillion dollars. This does not account for repairing and replacing unserviceable and destroyed equipment, or the care of the wounded and traumatized veterans, or the money wasted on homeland security to provide an illusion of safety from terrorism and mass killings. It may be well to remember that recent killing atrocities, e.g., Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, have been perpetrated by Americans and not Islamic terrorists.
The magnitude of this financial hemorrhage becomes staggering when considering the opportunity cost, i.e., the domestic program enhancement and initiatives that are being sacrificed, the enormous debt accumulation that will place our children and grandchildren in bondage to foreign lenders, and the lack of foreign assistance to developing nations to improve the quality of life in the global village.

Al Dahler is a retired Air Force officer and a former college prep school administrator and lay hospital chaplain

Seth's email to Mr. Dahler:
Mr. Dahler,
My name is Seth Lovell, and I am a SPC in the Virginia Army National Guard, and am currently deployed to Iraq. I read the Newsleader online daily, and always enjoy your articles. I especially enjoyed your article today concerning McCain and how his policies compare to Bush. I agree with your article, and the prospects of a McCain presidency worry me. Your point concerning the cost of the war for America is very important. The biggest issue I have though as a service member serving in Iraq is not the monetary cost, but the cost in personnel. Not only are we losing good soldiers through casualties, but also we are losing them through retention. I have been in the National Guard for four years, and this is my second deployment. I was deployed in 2004-2005 to Afghanistan with the same unit. We are working with an active duty company from the 101st, and are serving with guys who are now on their fourth tour of duty. It is America who is carrying this burden, but more specifically it is the military that is carrying the brunt of this. Military leaders claim that recruitment is up, but at what cost? We have raised the maximum age to enlist, and have continually lowered the standards. I worked in Staunton for a year as a cadre member in the regional Recruit Sustainment Program (RSP). Our job was to have enlistees who were waiting to go to basic training come to drill with us for their monthly training. We trained them in rank structure, drill and ceremony, general orders, and other basic information that would help their transition into basic training go smoother. We worked with close to one hundred kids each month. While doing this training I was able to get a first hand look at the type of recruits that were entering into the military. There were numerous kids who had very little chance at being successful in basic training, and even less of a chance at being an asset once they reached their unit. While it is disheartening to see the caliber of soldiers entering the military, it is even worse to see the soldiers that are leaving the military after just one enlistment. We are losing a number of very qualified guys, with a lot of experience. The main reason that many of these outstanding soldiers state, is the fact that they can’t keep putting their civilian lives on hold to go overseas. If we continue to maintain current troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan as McCain claims is necessary, we will be doing a lot more than jeopardizing our nation’s economic interests. Our military can’t continue to sustain these frequent deployments. I believe that it is time to start thinking about what is in the best interest of our country, and in the best interest of its military. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Life is incredibly fragile. I read a quote once by Marcel Proust:
We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance.
Death has a way of sneaking up on you and the death of someone we know reminds us that we're still alive. It forces us to examine our own lives and question the purpose of our existence. Life is tragic, precisely becasue it always results in death. An untimely death tends to magnify those feelings. A friend and colleague of mine returned home yesterday to find her husband dead. He chose the hour of his death. Life was apparently burdensome and painful for him and he made the choice to persue release. Life is fragile.
I'm constantly reminded of the many blessings in my life and the love that surrounds Seth and Eli and my entire family. To my Friend and Colleague....May the lamp of love burn brightly during the time of your need.

The 3-116th Infantry Headquarters Company out of Staunton returns today from Baghdad. Welcome home! Soon we will be celebrating the ruturn of your fellow soldiers - our sons and commrades!