Thanksgiving has come and gone, but giving thanks continues on a routine basis. Seth and Eli enjoyed Thanksgiving day on the base, but left the next morning for a quick trip outside the wire. We know that they're back inside, so thanksgiving continues. It's always good to know they're back and safe. Katy and Brittany joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and my thoughts throughout the day were primarily in the past and in the future. I remembered holidays past with the boys...and looked forward to future holidays with the entire family. I am constantly reminded to keep my head up and my eyes on the horizon.....

Camp Korea?....email from Eli

Dear friends and family,

Seth and I got back last weekend from spending several days at a place called CKV (Camp Korean Village), which is up by the Syrian border. I thought since we have a strong contingent of South Korean military in the Coalitions Forces that maybe this was where they were based.....nope. Not sure why the name was what it was for this small base....but one of the Marines we asked that was stationed there said it was named by Marines...so who knows?
The drive to CKV was long...for several reasons. The first reason is simply because it is several hundred miles from Al Asad to CKV..and several hundred miles in Iraq is a very very long trip. Usually we spend most our our trips on unimproved roads where it is slow going, but one of the good things about this trip is we were on a four lane highway for most of the way. The other reason it was a long trip was because of the size of our convoy. We were attached to an 82nd Airborne convoy with over 200 vehicles. We were transporting TCN (third country nationals). Most of these men were Arabic and we only had a handful of interpreters, so there was a language barrier. What was impressive and reassuring about rolling with the 82nd and this size of a convoy was we had air support with us the whole way. At one point we came to unexpected stop (it turned out a TCN truck had rolled over) and all the sudden we saw from our vehicle a helicopter from each side of the road come swooping down to see what the problem was. I have no problems going on a convoy with over 200 vehicles if we have air support with us.
The drive took 12 hours. We did not get to CKV until the evening, and we had the next day off before we went back out. The weather was cool at CKV, as the high during the day only got up into the 60s. During our rest day we all huddled around a computer and watched the movie We Are Marshall and we also watched some episodes from Planet Earth, which just shows that infantrymen enjoy an educational experience every now and then. After watching We Are Marshall we were all in the mood for some football, so we went out to where our gun trucks were parked, got ourselves a couple cases of non-alcoholic Coors, put some country music on the speakers we have rigged up to one of the trucks, and just relaxed and threw football. It felt like a perfect fall afternoon......the weather, the company, drinking near-beer, listening to Brooks and Dunn, and throwing football, everything was good except the location.....in Iraq and a matter of miles from the Syrian border.
We were supposed to be going out on a mission tomorrow, Thanksgiving, but our mission got rescheduled, so instead of eating an MRE tomorrow we get to enjoy some turkey. It won't be as good as my mom's thanksgiving spread.....but none of the food over here is as good as home. We still have work tomorrow. I have a briefing at 8:30, am organizing a new shipment of medical supplies we just got in, going to the TMC (troop medical clinic) to pick up an order and drop off an order to the optometrist.......just another day in the life of a medic.
Katy has her last day of work today at Village Grill where she has been waitressing for the past four months, and she is going to spend the month of December babysitting her nephew, Charlie, who was born in September to her brother and sister-in-law, Sam and Elizabeth Herr. She has been very eager to spend some time with her nephew, so this will be great for her. She starts graduate school in January, so she will become a very busy person...hopefully she'll have time to talk to me on the phone as that i the highlight of my days. I will hopefully get to see my lovely wife soon as it looks like Seth and I will be home on leave sometime shortly after Christmas.
I thought I would share some updates from the war front and the home front. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful thanksgiving and know that what I am the most thankful for, over here and when I am at home, is my family and friends. So, enjoy your turkey, go Packers, go Cowboys, and go UVA! Take care!
Love,
Eli

They Did Good!

Got an early morning call from the boys to report that their presentation on Ira Hayes was well received. Alcolades from everyone including the bigwigs....This is a copy of an email Seth sent to his Uncle Tom:
We did a presentation on a Native American named Ira Hayes, who helped to raise the flag at Iwo Jima. We did a power point talking about him and his life, and then we put together a slid show on Windows Movie Maker that showed pictures of his life and the flag raising. The slide show had an old Johnny Cash song as the background music, the song was about Ira Hayes called "The Ballad of Ira Hayes." It was a competition that was actually judged by the Division Commander and the Division Command Seargent Major. There were also a number of other high ranking officers there to watch. There were eleven other companies that were represented and did presentations as well. ! When it was all over the Seargent Major came up to Eli and I and told us it was the best presentation he had ever seen, and that we had his vote for first place. He then gave us each one of his coins, which in the military is a big deal. Eli and I were very pleased with the response we got, and enjoyed doing the presentation. It was nice to have something to work on over here.

Just another day in paradise.........

A couple of myths about Thanksgiving:
1. The Pilgrims celebrated the original Thanksgiving in November....just like we do. That first celebration was probably sometime between September 21 and November 11. It was quite a celebration however as it lasted for three whole days! The Pilgrims probably based their celebration on their old English harvest festival which was usually held on September 29.
2. Thanksgiving was celebrated every year after the original feast. Abaham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863 with his Thanksgiving Proclamation (only slightly less famous than his Emmancipation Proclamation and his Let's Go to the Theater Proclamation!) Franklin D. Roosevelt set the fourth Thursday in Novermber would be celebrated as Thanksgiving.
3. The Pilgrims invented Thanksgiving. Many civilizations have celebrated harvest festivals for hundreds of years. In the Middle East, people offered wheat to the "Mother of Wheat." During the middle ages Europeans celbrated the Feast of Saint Martin on November 11 giving thanks for the harvest. The Aztecs celebrated a corn goddess. Honoring the harvest is a tradition that spans many cultures.
4. The Pilgrims were celebrating a bountiful harvest....actually, NO. The harvest of 1621 was pretty miserable. However, the Pilgrims were thankful to be alive. I once read a quote that said the Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving

This will be our second Thanksgiving with a son in a combat zone. When Seth served in Afghanistan we had an empty seat at our table. This year we'll have two empty seats but I'll still be thankful. I'm thankful for my sons..all three of them. They have always made me proud. Not because of accomplishments or anything they have done. I'm proud of them because of what they hold in their hearts. This Thanksgiving I'll be grateful for all my family and friends that support us with thoughts and prayers. I'll be thankful for all the men serving with Seth and Eli and the bonds of trust and friendship that are being formed.
And something to think about on this eve of Thanksgiving.....Grace isn't something to utter or chant before your meal....it's a way to live. I've been challenged lately to live a life full of grace and I thank God for that challenge. I would like to think I'm being molded into a more patient, appreciative person. The work in progress continues. A very Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
Seth and Eli will enjoy Thankgiving at Al Asad before heading outside the wire on a weekend mission.

Correcting the old man

What follows is an email from Eli, correcting a few of my mistakes....

Since I love reading your blog and I check it almost daily I noticed a few errors in your thing about Ira Hayes....first of all this was mine and Seth's idea to do the presentation on Ira Hayes inspired by both reading the book, Flags of our Fathers. We were told to do something creative talking about Native Americans and their contributions to our military, and we decided to just talk about this story. Now, John Bradley did not take the picture, it was Joe Rosenthal who was an AP photographer and just happened in a 1/40th of a second capture that picture. When he sent the film off he didn't even know if he had taken any shots. John Bradley was a navy corpsman who was one of the six, not five, flag raisers. The first flagraising was done ceremoniously with the men posing and what not. Then, one of the marine commanders decided he wanted that flag to hold on to, so they sent another group to put a second flag up. They hoisted the second flag up the same time they took the first one down, and Joe Rosenthal just happened to capture that frame. He actually thought he had missed the kodak moment. Most people did not even realize that the six men who were in the photograph were part of the second flag raising, none of them were a part of the first. However, its images and not deeds sometimes that capture the public and that was surely the case here. I am sending you the slide show we did, a frustrating process with our internet connection and trying to download pictures and movies to put in here (none of the movie clips worked out) but I ended up learning how to use movie maker and had a lot of fun with it. Let me know if you got it and were able to open it. By the way, I have and always will think of you as my hero. I am very lucky to have both you and mom in my life and look up to the two of you very much. I love you.
Eli

Still helping with homework.....from 8,000 miles away

The Army likes to celebrate diversity.......at least that's how it appears. Seth and Eli's company celebrates diversity by focusing on a different person, race, culture, gender - whatever - every so often. Different soldiers are asked to make some kind of presentation to help highlight the accomplishments of different people or groups of people. Seth and Eli were asked to do a presentation on Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona whose claim to fame was helping raise the American flag on Iwo Jima. As they've prepared a power point presentation I've had numerous phone calls:
Can you help us find some pictures?
Can you download this song for us and email to us?
How do you insert a song into power point?
Would it be better to use Movie Maker?
8,000 miles from home and I'm still helping them with their homework! Actually it's been kind of interesting learning about Ira Hayes and thinking about what makes someone a hero. Ira's story is truly a tragic one. You can tell it's a tragic story because they made a country music song out of it sung by Johnny Cash.
Born Ira Hamilton Hayes in 1923 on the Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona, he dropped out of school and joined the marines in 1942. Life on the reservation was tough by any description and Ira saw the marines and the war as a way to better himself and help his family. On February 19, 1945 Ira took part in the landing on Iwo Jima and the assult on Mount Suribachi. On February 23, Ira helped raise the American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi. Two days later the same group of five men raised the flag a second time so photographer John Bradley could capture the event. Of the five men that raised the flag, Ira and two others survived the battle for Iwo Jima. The three men were hailed as hero's and brought back to the United States to help sell war bonds.
Ira was wined and dined, toasted as a hero when in fact he felt nothing like a hero. He was only a guy who helped raise a flag and watched his comrades die. He was just lucky to be alive when so many had died. Ira turned to alcohol to dull the pain. After the war he tried to lead a normal life, but didn't have much luck. People continued to seek him out as the hero who raised the flag. He appeared in the John Wayne movie "Sands of Iwo Jima" playing himself raising the flag. An interesting aside...the movie used the flag that was actually raised on Mount Suribachi. Referring to his alcoholism, he once said: "I was sick. I guess I was about to crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than me and they're not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like me." After the war, Hayes accumulated a record of some fifty arrests for drunkenness. On January 24, 1955, Hayes was found dead, face down and lying in his own vomit and blood, near an abandoned hut close to his home on the Gila River Indian Reservation.

The story of Ira Hayes got me thinking about what a hero is. Ira was hailed as a hero for simply raising a flag. If it hadn't been for that photograph nobody would have noticed this Indian from Arizona....he never would have been called a hero. But he was a hero. Not because he raised a flag, but because he served his country. Seth and Eli are my hero's....they chose to do something to help their community. What does it take to be a hero....it's a larger view of the world than simply what's happening to me and what's important to me. I'm proud to say that I'm surrounded by hero's. Friends and family that care about and for others. Don't talk to me about football hero's or celebrities. I really don't care what Brittany what's her-name is up to. I have a different definition of who is important and what is important.

The Ballad Of Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian
A proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And the sparklin' water stopped

Now Ira's folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Ira returned a hero
Celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored; Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
No water, no crops, no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
And when did the Indians dance

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Then Ira started drinkin' hard;
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
like you'd throw a dog a bone!

He died drunk one mornin'
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

[CHORUS:]
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died

Guarding the potty

I've had a number of people ask me about the picture of soldiers guarding the Portapotties..........really happened! Someone wrote something in a portapotty that the commanding officer took offense at. His punishment....make Seth and Eli's platoon stand guard 24/7 until everybody had a chance at this shitty assignment. All he wants is a little RESPECT.

Good News, Bad News, Maybe No News....

It's been kind of a slow week at Lovellsoldiers. Not much news to report. I do know that Seth and Eli are running around somewhere outside the wire (up North is the word I get) and hopefully will return to Al Asad this weekend. We live for those phone calls when we know they've been on a sightseeing trip. It's always a relief to know that they're safe and sound. In a previous post I noted that plans seem to be underway for leave in December...well hold on now...you know that in the Army nothing is definite until its over and done with. There seems to be some indication that their replacements are ahead of schedule and may be arriving in March. At least that's the word from the battalion commander. If replacements do indeed arrive in March nobody really knows what that means. Do our boys come home early? Your guess is as good as mine. The big "IF".....if their orders are changed to come home earlier than expected then there won't be any leaves granted. Of course, I don't put it past the Army to not give leave AND keep them in Iraq until July.
Now here's the kicker. If Seth and Eli came home in June or July they would be out of the National Guard before they would be eligible for another deployment, BUT if they come home in March or April they could conceivably be deployed again before getting out in May 2008.
My advice....pay no attention to the man behind the curtain pulling all those levers and making all that noise. What will happen will happen. Right now we've got bigger things to worry about - like just getting the hell out of Iraq with all limbs and emotional stability intact.

Guarding the Potty and other pics

What's a commanding officer to do when someone disses you by writing on the portapotty wall that you're bipolar? Apparently it calls for a command decision....guard the portapotty.

All the comforts of home....if your home is the top of an ASV!

Eli with Haditha Dam in the background

Most recent email from Seth

Dear Family and Friends,

Just a few random thoughts from Al Anbar:

Today Eli and I both received combat patches for serving in a combat zone for
over thirty days. It is my second combat patch, but it is still meaningful. Our
Battalion Commander and Battalion Sergeant Major came to talk with us about the
importance of this day and our service. They also wanted to wish up a happy
veteran’s day, a holiday that will carry significance for us for the rest of our
lives.

Yesterday was the Marine Corps Birthday, they were founded in 1775. Every year
they have a big to do when their birthday comes around. They had steak, lobster
tails, Cornish hen, and all kinds of other treats in the chow hall. Not to
mention music being played, a huge display of carved fruits, and the statue of
the flag raising at Iwo Jima. But to top it all off they had beer at dinner for
everyone… except for us. Our group Battalion Commander (who is a Muslim) did not
believe that we should be drinking alcohol, so forbade us to do it. Some of the senior leadership here really knows how to crash a party and stomp
out morale.

I enjoy talking politics with random people in our unit because it is nice to
hear the opinions of other people. Some times I say things just to hear what
kind of response I get. I recently asked one of my fellow soldiers from the
101st airborne what he thought about the possibility of Hillary Clinton and
Barrack Obama being president and vice president, his exact response was, “I
don’t think a woman and a black Muslim should be allowed to rule the United
States of America.” I hope this soldier does not represent the majority of
Americans, especially since Obama is a Christian. A little disturbing to think
about how uninformed some voters truly are.

Our last patrol was the longest that I have had to drive an ASV in one day. We
spent eleven hours straight driving. By the end of the trip I was extremely sore
and tired. After eleven hours you would think that we would of ended up in some
distant region near Iraq’s border. The truth is eleven hours of driving took us approximately ten miles from
Al Asad. Where we were sleeping we could see the lights of the base. We had to
cross the Euphrates, and the only accessible route that wasn’t damaged was all
the way up north at the Haditha damn. The bridge that should have given us
access to the outpost we were heading to had been destroyed sometime last year.
There is no doubt when driving around Iraq that this is a country at war.

I miss home everyday, but some days are worse then others. Days with
significance make me think of home the most, days such as birthdays, holidays,
anniversaries, and other special occasions. This past Friday was mine and
Brittany’s five-year anniversary since our first date. I would of loved to have
been at home taking my beautiful wife out for a celebration of our time
together, instead I just sent her flowers. Five years ago, when I was seventeen
and Brittany was fifteen, we went out to Scotto’s for a pizza, and what would be
the start of a wonderful relationship. We were joking on the phone about how the next five years
will be so much better, because I will actually be home for more than half of
them. I’m a lucky man to have such a wonderful wife.

I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well and enjoying your weekend. Take care
and I look forward to talking to you all soon,

Lots of Love from Iraq,
Seth

Feel good story.......not so feel good story

Here's two related stories. First I watched a story on Good Morning America the other day about the money that is being donated by people to help our veterans and our military. Bottom line in the story is that there are a lot of good organizations soliciting money and doing good work. Unfortunately there are a number of organizations and people who are taking money primarily for themselves. Here's a link to the story and the list of national organizations that get a grade of "F" for failing to earn our trust. A not so feel good story if there ever was one.
Now to the Feel Good. I am constantly amazed and uplifted by the generosity of people. People who just want to help and just want our servicemen and women know that they are appreciated. Meredith is the wife of a soldier in Seth and Eli's platoon. She and Brittany have become friends through this shared ordeal. Meredith was concerned about the sleeping conditions for our soldiers.....lumpy mattresses that have already been heavily used, no pillows unless you brought one with you...things we take for granted, but mean something to a weary soldier. Meredith made up some posters and along with Brittany posted them around Harrisonburg and the hospital where Brittany works....they asked for help sending mattress toppers, mattress pad covers and pillows to our soldiers. The upshot of all this is this week Meredith and Brittany sent 40 boxes to Meredith's husband...one box for each soldier in the platoon. The boxes contain things to make their sleep just a little more comfortable..not just physically comfortable, but emotionally comfortable knowing that so many people are caring about them and loving them - sometimes total strangers, but caring for them. Sweet Dreams indeed!

A Subway is a Subway is a Subway.....NOT

I spent enjoyable half hour or so yesterday afternoon talking with Seth. That conversation was followed by an early morning call this morning from Eli. The boys had been out on a mission and when Seth called yesterday they had just returned. They had delivered supplies to a distant FOB (Forward Operating Base) spending the night there before returning. It is a small FOB and Eli spent the night in the ASV while Seth slept on top of his ASV. Today, after sleeping in until 10 AM they ran some errands going to the PX to pick up some things and Seth went to get a haircut. Apparently he's tired of Eli cutting his his hair and wanted something different....how different can you get when you have no hair? He wanted to get a fade, which is different from a high and tight which is different from Eli's buzz cut.
They enjoyed lunch at the Subway today. Maybe "enjoyed" is too strong a word. Subway in Iraq is a little different from Subway in Fishersville! What good is teriyaki chicken without teriyaki sauce? And how can you not have pork products? One kind of cheese, eight different subs.....a lack of choices, but it's still Subway and a nice change of pace. A day off today, light duty tomorrow, off on Sunday except for attending a ceremony to receive Combat Infantry Badges then a probable mission next week.

The morality police take aim at the Pentagon

Every time I stray from my goal of being news and politics free I feel the need to apologize. I know some of my reader's are devout Republicans...heck some of you may even be card carrying members of the morality police. But I've always believed that even Republicans like a little porn now and then....especially in the privacy of your own bedroom. Anyway, sometimes I come across a little tidbit of news that just too good not to comment on. This piece of news strikes home because here in Staunton we're dealing with our own "Porn" issue.
According to an article in USA Today, dozens of religious and anti-pornography groups have complained to Congress and Defense Secretary Robert Gates that military bases are selling adult fare such as Penthouse and Playboy. Now this is a problem because ten years ago, our Republican majority in Congress banned the sale of sexually explicit material on military bases. Believe it or not, the Pentagon has a committee to review material to see if it is sexually explicit. They say they use appropriate guidelines to review materials for sale. What we have is a difference of opinion. The pentagon's Resale Activities Board of Review says Pentahouse and Playboy are not sexually explicit.....I don't know about you, but in the days when I read Playboy (taken from under my father's bed) I was reading the articles, not looking at pictures. Based on my experiences I would have to agree with the Board of Review.....However, Donald Wildmon, head of the American Family Association, thinks otherwise....he's supporting our troops by watching out for their moral failings.
Now this is interesting stuff to me because Staunton just got its first porn store a couple of weeks ago. It's a huge deal, with the local Republican party making this into a campaign issue and some straight-laced, tight-lipped local women hosting protests. Our Commonwealth Attorney is indicting the store owner and vows to run this store out of town. I'm just glad to know that we have no other pressing issues so our Commonwealth's Attorney has time to devote to this important issue. It's almost as if we don't have any shootings, rapes, drug or gang activity to worry about.
What's wrong with people when the only thing they have to worry about is what someone else is watching or reading behind closed doors.

Seth's ASV Buddies

Dear Family and Friends,
One of the great things about the military is the fact that it is a microcosm of American society. You meet people with very diverse backgrounds, from very different parts of the country. When I was in Basic Training my best friend was a guy named Vince Navaro. He was an African American from the Bronx. He joined the military because he had just had twin boys, and didn’t have the money to provide for them. He confided in me that he had sold drugs for some time, but he needed to do something good for his family. I had a lot of respect for Vince, and appreciated his honesty with me. My other friends included a firefighter from Washington State, a student from Illinois, a Haitian immigrant who was trying to become a citizen, and a carpenter whose parents were both from Puerto Rico. These are just some of the many interesting people that accompanied m e through Basic Training. While the National Guard is not as diverse because it represents one specific State and an exact region in that state, you still encounter people from all different walks of life. We are serving with an active duty battalion from the 101st Airborne Division, so our unit has recently become more diverse. Since one of the most important aspects of my life over here is the two other soldiers that I ride with in the ASV I figured I would briefly fill you all in on their stories.

SGT Neil Wood (Truck Commander) – SGT Wood is in his mid thirties, and has been in the National Guard for fourteen years. He has been to Cuba, and the Sinai on previous deployments. He lives in Waynesboro and works at the Target distribution center. His father owns a hunting club in Nelson County, which is where SGT Wood spends most of his free time. He is a very straightforward guy, who is not big on talking. He is quiet, yet assertive when he wants to be. He is a diehard Republican, and gets all riled up when I start talking about Hilary Clinton. He is married and has two young children. He is a good guy and a good sergeant who takes care of his soldiers.

PFC Bill Docherty (Gunner) - Bill is an interesting story. He is a member of the active duty 101st who have been assigned to help support our group. He is thirty-eight years old, and just joined the National Guard last year. He joined after congress authorized moving the minimum age up from thirty-five. He had previously worked in carpeting and flooring for twenty years, and said he needed a break. He jointed the army because it was something he always wanted to do, and he needed a change in his life. He is very intelligent, and is very handy when dealing with the ASV. He is from PA just north of Pittsburgh. He now lives at Ft Campbell in Kentucky with his wife and two teenage children.
And of course there is me, SPC Lovell, the driver.
For me the best thing about the military is the men that you serve with. You go through so much that it is impossible not to grow close. We have sat in our ASV for hours on end during convoys and talked about just about everything. While we are all very different people, there is one main thing we share in common. We love the military and our country, but we are ready to see this war end and get home to our loved ones. For SGT Wood and I that day will hopefully come some day at the beginning of this summer. Bill is here for fifteen months since he is Active Duty, so his time here will continue once SGT Wood and I leave.
I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well and enjoying the start of November. I will continue to keep you all updated as to how things are going over here in the beautiful country of Iraq. I have recently added a number of names to my e-mail list, so I wanted to mention that if you haven’t already, you can see pictures and news about Eli and I on my Dad’s blog at www.lovellsoldiers.blogspot.com. Take care and I look forward to talking to you all soon,

Lots of Love from Iraq,

Seth

A couple of pics from the boys.....

Going shopping

I continue to post emails from the boys even though I know most of you get these....I do know that I get random readers every once in a while and I want to keep a good record of the boy's experience...something for prosperity I guess. Here's Eli's latest email:

Dear friends and family,

Seth and I just returned from spending the past four days in Baghdad. While driving there I once again witnessed very normal scenes which is still a weird sight for me as I roll past this normalcy in a heavily armored and heavily armed military vehicle. While driving down the highway past Ramadi we saw a soccer (or football depending on who you ask) game taking place. There was a crowd of people watching the game and nobody except a few young boys even turned around to pay our convoy any attention. Once again it was like we were not there.
One of the days while we were in Baghdad we went to an Iraqi Bazaar on the base. They had all types of vendors set up with a wide variety of merchandise for sale. Seth bought a copy of the Koran which had both the Arabic and English translations, and I, going along with the theme of football (soccer), bought an authentic Iraqi football (soccer) jersey. The vendor, Amir was his name, and I got into a long conversation about Iraq's soccer team which recently won the Asian Cup. Amir spoke decent English and so we were able to carry on a pretty good conversation. He told me their football team was the proudest thing for their country. He said he would give me any jersey I wanted, whatever number I like. I asked for #10, Katy's number in basketball, and so he went digging through the jerseys he had, but no luck. I then told him to pick his favorite player and that is the one I would get. So, not only did I get Amir's favorite player's jersey, I also got a nice little run down of all Amir's favorite players. The jersey I got was #7, Emad Mohammed, who leads the team in goals scored. Iraq's last match was against Pakistan on October 28 in Damascus, Syria. The game ended at 0-0 and was a world cup qualifier. All of the Iraqi football players are natives of Iraq, but none of the players currently reside here. They practice and play all of their games outside of Iraq, for obvious reasons.
I know Christmas decorations start showing up earlier and earlier every year, and the same goes for the bases in Iraq. The PX at Al Asad and at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) are already displaying all of their Christmas decorations and sales. Crazy! Also, along with the Christmas decorations, the start of a new month (which is always something to celebrate), we had another sign that winter is approaching the desert....cold weather! The other night we were up and at it around midnight to stage our vehicles, we had a 2am mission brief, and our mission started at 3am, and it was in the 50s....which to us was frigid.Even though we were cold, it was a great feeling!
I hope you all are doing well. Thanks for all the support and encouragement you are sending this way...it is greatly appreciated. Take care!
Love,
Eli

Books for Soldiers

When Seth was in Afghanistan, he participated in a wonderful program called Books for Soldiers. He received many books and notes from people all over the United States. Soldiers can log into this site and request specific books. People who have joined Books for Soldiers can peruse the requests and respond by sending requested books. We talked with Eli this morning and he told us about receiving The Winds of War by Herman Wouk from a woman in Arizona. In addition she sent him magazines and note cards. What a wonderful person! I don't know her, but she has to be a terrific person. I looked at the web site for Books for Soldiers. It takes some effort to volunteer to send books....You have to print and complete the application, have it notarized and send it back to BFS. You have to shop for the soldier you choose to provide a book for and you mail it at your own expense. This isn't just give us some money and we'll get the books to the soldiers. This is an intimate, work hard to do good kind of thing.....that's how I know the woman in Arizona is a wonderful person. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for taking care of my son! In this cynical world we live in, I am constantly uplifted by the kindness of people. Support the war or not.....people support the soldiers. Hate the War....Love the Soldiers.
Seth and Eli are back at Al Asad after a delayed return due to sand storms. It looks like things are falling into place for a December leave for both Seth and Eli. Details to follow!

Water Volleyball.....postponed trip.....Our favorite book....

A favorite Lovell family book is Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. Written in 1989 it is a huge, sweeping tale of twelfth century England and the building of a cathedral. You fall in love with the characters and when the book ends after 1100 or so pages, you feel a strong sense of loss. You want the book to go on forever. Everybody in the family has read it, but Josh (and it's on his to-do list once he gets out of school and actually has time for pleasure reading.) In addition we've passed it on to numerous friends and relatives as a book you have to read before you die! Seth learned the other day that Follett had released a sequel...World Without End. His new story picks up the same location, two hundred years later and is set against the backdrop of the black plague. Seth was so excited when he learned this, he called immediately from Iraq to spread the good news! Talk about surreal...talking to your son in Iraq about a newly released book. You would think he would have more pressing matters on his mind, but this is what excited him - and me! I can hardly wait to get my hands on the new book!
Seth and Eli were supposed to be leaving on a mission this weekend, but a phone call on Sunday revealed they had never left the base. Jan and I had a wonderful walk with Seth as he called during our Sunday afternoon walk. We put him on speakerphone and just walked and talked. It was a surprise call since we thought they were out on a mission. Apparently you just can't go driving around in Iraq without first contacting every outpost and sector that you'll be driving through and around. They need to know you're coming.....kind of like "we'll leave the light on for you." Anyway, they hadn't contacted all of the outposts so the trip was postponed. Since they were on base over the weekend they decided to look for a little recreation. Seth and Eli organized a water volleyball game with some of their friends after locating an indoor pool on the grounds of the air base. Leave it to Seth and Eli to find all the recreational outlets available. If I had to be in Iraq, I think I'd like to be with them!

Bigger is not better....an email from Seth

Jan and I had the pleasure of an early morning phone call with the boys. We did a conference call with Seth and Eli on seperate computers so we could all talk. Always a nice way to start the day! According to the boys they've developed a nice routine when they are on the base. They're working out in the gym each evening after supper, showering, shaving and then returning to their room for a movie before retiring. They're back on the base until this weekend when they will head out again. I'm sure most of you have seen Seth's most recent email, but here it is:

Dear Family and Friends,
I just got back from another patrol, this one to a place down south called Al Taqquaddum. This was my first trip down South, and it was my first patrol with Eli. This convoy was also the largest that I have been a part of. I am sure you all are all familiar with the saying, "Bigger is Better," well when it comes to convoys it is not the case. The convoy consisted of about fifty vehicles, which is probably the largest convoy we will be a part of. There are numerous problems that can occur in a convoy that size, and it seemed that we had to deal with all of them. The trip was supposed to take around three hours, but it instead took about seven hours. Some of the problems that come with large convoys are communication issues, slow speeds, and large distances between the element. At one point we estimated that the convoy stretched for about three and a half miles. One of the biggest problems that usually occurs has nothing to do with the size of the convoy, but with the size of the trucks we are escorting. These large trucks hauling full loads are not made to travel on the rough roads that Iraq has to offer. We frequently have to stop for breakdowns, blown tires, and for the truck drivers to make sure their load is still secured. The truck drivers that we escort are a combination of military drivers, and KBR workers. It is interesting to consider that the KBR workers and the military drivers do the exact same job, expose themselves to the same dangers, but there is about a $75,000 pay discrepancy between the two groups. The KBR drivers are typically older, ex-military, and male. They are good guys, but their main motivation is money. The military drivers that we escort are predominantly younger, and are mainly males with a few females mixed in. While money is a factor, it is not the primary reason they are serving. They are serving because it is an opportunity to better themselves, and because they believe in what they are doing. While I do not believe in the reasons for being here in Iraq, and I think our administration has let our military and our country down, I do feel like our armed forces are doing good things over here. I don't believe in this war, but I believe in our military. I respect the KBR drivers for what they do, but I respect and admire the military drivers even more for what they do.
I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well, and having a good week. I am glad to hear that rain has finally graced the valley with its presence, I do not look forward to the day when rain appears here in Iraq. Eli and I are doing well, and have settled into a routine. We think about you all and about home often, and know that it won't be long before we are back in good ole Virginia. Take care and I look forward to talking to you all soon,
Love from Iraq,
Seth