Back at Al Asad

Seth called today just as I was starting afternoon bus duty. One of the most pleasant bus duties I've had recently. Seth and Eli had been out and had just returned to Al Asad. It was late evening there, and they were waiting for the DFAC to open for Midrats before turning in....for those of you who need a translation that's waiting for the Dining Facility to open for Midnight rations. In other words...they were hungry and were planning on eating before going to bed! They have a day off tomorrow and I'm sure they'll put their time to good use......Halo 3 here we come!

Calling Senator Dirksen................

A number of years ago, Senator Everett Dirksen commented on the defense budget by saying "a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking about real money!" What would he say today about the defense department budget that funds our military and private contractors in the war on terror? Little George is requesting a few more billion to fight the war.....48 to be exact. We're spending at the rate of Ten Billion Dollars per month. A couple of weeks ago in Sunday School we were talking about being rich and the obligation that carries. God has abundantly blessed America and we have an obligation to do something with those riches. More than 2.6 billion people - over 40 per cent of the world's population - do not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water, warns a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Around the world millions of children are being born into a silent emergency of simple needs,” says Carol Bellamy, UNICEF’s Executive Director. “The growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots in terms of access to basic services is killing around 4000 children every day and underlies many more of the 10 million child deaths each year. We have to act now to close this gap or the death toll will certainly rise." "Water and sanitation are among the most important determinants of public health. Wherever people achieve reliable access to safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation they have won a major battle against a wide range of diseases," says WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook. The consequences of inaction today are severe, according to WHO and UNICEF. Diarrhoeal disease currently takes the lives of 1.8 million people each year – most of them children under five - with millions more left permanently debilitated.
I recently learned that estimates are that Twenty billion dollars would provide every man, woman and child in the world with clean drinking water and basic sanitation. I haven't counted recently but that a lot of people. Two months funding a war......something to think about. Maybe when this war is over we'll be motivated to do something good with our money.

In the ASV and Home Sweet Home

I'm passing along two pics from Eli. The first shows Eli in his ASV ready to rock and roll and the second shows home sweet home.....middle door. Not much to look at, but all the comforts of home.

Distractions........

Everyone needs distractions from the stress and strain of everyday life. For Jan and myself it was a weekend trip to Williamsburg with good friends. We visited with Josh and Lillian, ate too much, went to a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater (where I won the award for the stupidest solution to the mystery) and walked around the historic area. For Katy and Brittany the distraction involved a quick trip to Denver to hang out with Jan's sister. Brittany drove to North Carolina last Wednesday and they flew flew from Greensboro to Denver returning on Sunday. How do Seth and Eli distract themselves from the horrible reality they live every day? Apparently by playing Halo 3. For those of you who live in a cave, Halo 3 is the newest and best war game for the X-box. Apparently you distract yourself from war by playing war.....a novel concept. Now this isn't just sitting in front of your TV playing by yourself or with a friend. Getting 150 feet of Ethernet cable allows you to wire four cans together and now you can play with up to 16 people from the comfort of your own little room while your friends are happily bedded down in their own rooms.
We talked to Eli this morning and all sounds well. Their room has become a place where friends hang out.....just like home. One of the things I miss most about the boys being gone (and I'm not talking about being in Iraq....I'm talking about being grown, married and having their own places) is all the friends dropping by and hanging out on the stoop. The patio used to be a happening place....now it's quiet. But the tradition apparently continues in Iraq. Seth and Eli have a way about them that draws people to them. Maybe that's their role in this war...just to make the people around them feel a little normal as they hang out together and have some fun. Maybe instead of picturing them as soldiers I'll picture them on a mission trip - building relationships with their fellow soldiers and bringing a little piece of down home hospitality to their can.
Eli forwarded some pictures this morning. Look for them on the blog later today.

From a son to a mother.....

Eli recently sent an email to Jan....the message was don't worry, be happy! Here's a few excerpts:
I don't want you to worry about us....I know that is impossible, but you have to trust that we are safe. I just finished reading "Ghost Soldiers" which is about the American POWs at Cabantuan POW camp on the Phillipines. There is a letter in the book from one of the prisoners back to his parents, and in the letter it reads, "you don't have to worry about me because with all the prayers everyone is sending me there is no way I could be anything but safe." So, don't worry about us. We're experiencing things and doing things most people will never have an opportunity to experience or do.
I am proud of the fact that I am serving my country, even though I do not agree with this war. I will come home a very proud combat veteran, and even though this whole military experience has had its ups and downs, I know it is something I will never regret.

Back to my old ways............

It wasn't too long ago that I declared my blog a news free, politics free zone. I've tried....really I've tried. You don't know how I've struggled with keeping my mouth shut. To tell you the truth, I think it's helped my disposition and improved my already sunny outlook on life. So I'm reaffirming my goal of staying a politics free blog. I won't be bashing Little George anymore and I'm going to avoid delving into the relationship between Dick Cheney and Barrack Obama (although it really is hard to stay away from comments about the ultra-conservative poster boy Dickie and his gay daughter and black relatives.....I mean so much good material there.) The news, on the other hand.....I just have to pass along two items.
The first is the activation of an additional eight National Guard Units for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq. This involves approximately 25,000 citizen soldiers. The good news is Robert Gates commitment to keep deployments of National Guard soldiers to twelve months. The interesting part of this story was the data that as of this summer approximately 185,000 National Guard Soldiers have served in Afghanistan or Iraq. About 28,000 of those soldiers have served more than one deployment (they're talking about Seth.) With that many soldiers being deployed it really is past time for our leaders to look at compensation differences between regular army and National Guard, including educational benefits.
The second item is the news that an independent study questions billions spent on bomb-resistant vehicles for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington wonders if the military is buying too many in a rush to correct earlier shortfalls. I wonder if any of these people who work at this center and conducted this research has children driving around Iraq? Who could seriously question the value of these vehicles when they have cut casualties by 80%. I say send these people to Iraq and have them drive around in soft vehicles for a couple of weeks and see if they still think we're spending too much money protecting our soldiers! All you need to do is compare the picture at the top of this post - Seth as a gunner in Afghanistan - and the picture of the ASV a little further down on my posts and you will see the huge difference in vehicles. Easy to see why our soldiers are safer. And that's a good thing! Apparently the world is full of idiots and the only work they can find is conducting useless research.

The Email Mailbag

We rolled out of bed this morning to the sound of the computer(phone) ringing. Always a delightful way to start your day when you get an opportunity to talk to one of your sons! Seth was taking a break from answering emails and called home to catch up on news and wish us "top of the morning!" Seth said he had over fifty emails that he was answering. Being in and out of the base he falls behind on his correspondence. The emails from friends, family and a few strangers mean a lot to the boys. Seth noted that he had even gotten an email from somebody that goes to grandma's church.
Eli is due back on base today and Seth will be leaving tomorrow for a quick out and back.
Seth reflected on his time in Afghanistan after spending some time going back through my blog and looking at pictures. When he was in Afghanistan he was in a "soft" humvee acting as a gunner in an exposed turret. He notes that the ASV is heavily armored and the gunner is never exposed. In addition they wear so much body armor that they never wore in Afganistan.....oh my have times have changed.

Volleyball and tears.......

Somewhere along the way, Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline which was released in 1969 has captivated a new audience. It's become a favorite party song of a new generation as they sing along shouting "So Good! So Good! So Good! after Neil sings "Good times never felt so good." Picture forty or so people in a garage, singing Karaoke, a mixture of twenty-somethings and old married couples. When Seth and Brittany married this past summer before Seth's deployment we held the rehearsal party at Keith and Betsy's. Rain forced us inside and eventually we ended up in the garage with the karaoke machine going full blast. One of the highlights of the evening for me (and there were many highlights) was singing Sweet Caroline with our friends (the old married couples) and Seth and Eli's friends. What a wonderful bittersweet time as we watched Seth and Brittany sing and dance and enjoy their friend's and family.
Last night Jan and I went to the Volleyball game at the high school. During the warm-up music the team played Sweet Caroline, complete with the singing and dancing. I had to fight back the tears - who would understand an old man sitting in the bleachers crying to Sweet Caroline? I just wanted to be back in Keith and Betsy's garage!

milblogging!

American Soldiers is now listed on milblogging.com. Milblogging.com currently has 1,832 military blogs in 32 countries and Seth and Eli's story is now listed on their site. I occasionally get random emails from people who have read their story. What an interesting place....the world wide web. If you go to Milblogging.com and put American Soldiers or Lovellsoldiers into the search box you get Seth and Eli's story!

Faith and a trip to Baghdad

Our dear friends Fred and Laura work at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center. This Presbyterian Conference Center has been an important part of my children's faith journey. All three boys attended the middle school conferences, worked at the middle school conferences and Joshua has led workshops as a adult. When Seth and Eli left for their deployment, Fred and Laura asked them to think about the scripture lesson that would be used for this summer's conference. Eli wrote to Fred not long ago, and Fred shared his email. I know Eli won't mind me sharing part of it with you:

I have read the bible verse several times and have been doing a lot of thinking about it. I think there are several things in the verse that you could work with, but I think the main theme is faith. The pharisees lack of it and the paralyzed man and his friends abundance of it. I think in this world where so often you hear, "seeing is believing" that faith is a very hard thing to come to terms with. In my spiritual journey I have questioned many things, but the main one has been my faith. I sometimes ask myself, "how do I know that God exists?" I have really learned though over the years that I find God in the intangible things in my life and that I dont have to physically see to believe. I see God when I see people going out of their way to be kind and help other people out, I see God in my relationships with other people and the love that is so prevalent in my life. I see God in all the blessings I have, which have become more visible to me over my years.

Faith is still something I struggle with all the time. When I was travelling to Baghdad I was terrified at first. However, I kept praying and I would say, "Dear Lord, help me let go of this fear I am holding on to, help me have faith in you and your plan for me, help me have confidence that you will watch over me and protect me. Give me faith so that I may not be scared any longer. Help me realize that no matter where I am, you are always with me." I said that prayer over and over again during my 9 hours into Baghdad, and then again as I returned to Al Asad. Everytime I leave the wire I say that prayer, and it has amazingly reduced my anxiety levels and my stress. That is another way I can see God, in the calming and reassuring factor that prayer has on me.

Road Rage Potential?

Here's Seth's latest email....to understand why Seth is pleased with his squad's new name, you have to understand his love of pigs. I don't know where it came from, but Seth has always liked pigs. In fact, during the one art class he took in high school, he made a pig statue, a pig pin for his mother and numerous drawings of pigs! Here' the email:

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well and continuing to enjoy the autumn season. The weather here has not cooled down much, but it will soon enough. While the weather here is hot, it is not nearly as bad as the humid scorching days that we endured while at Shelby. My recent trip off base went well, it was another good experience. We went up to a base up north that is at the Syrian border. Myself and the squad I work with are feeling more and more comfortable every day with the job we are doing. While we were out this last time we had a group discussion and decided on a squad name. Every group that goes out has a name to use as their call sign over the radio, we have decided that our new squad name is going to be "War Pigs!" I was pleased with the decision, I think it will work well. We are looking into getting t-shirts made as well as patches for our uniform. I like my squad a lot and enjoy spending time with them. We work well together and also make sure to have a lot of fun. I'm going to share just some random events and thoughts from my last two patrols:

While unloading some road barriers for the Iraqi Police alongside a road we had two Iraqi men in a truck come up to our location. They stopped their truck and got out of the vehicle. They spoke enough broken English that we could understand them. They wanted to pass us, because they lived on the other side of where we were dropping off these barriers. However because of the amount of military vehicles that were doing this work it was impossible for them to pass. They explained to us that earlier in the day they had left their home and had been stopped at a checkpoint for two hours, now they were heading home and had to wait again. It took us another two hours to complete our work, the Iraqi men sat their helpless because this was the only way to get to their house.

As our convoy moves down the highways no cars are allowed to pass us, and the cars coming in the opposite direction are forced to move off the road. If these vehicles do not comply we are authorized to use force to make them comply. Our convoy sometimes moves as slow as 20 mph due to the heavy loads that are sometimes being moved. The traffic piles up behind us and to the sides of the roads as we move by.

This is their country, but we are the law. I understand their frustrations and feel for the people. Just as they cheered when Sadaam fell, I am sure they will celebrate when the United States leaves their country. It will be a nice day for these people when they can drive down the road without worrying about running across a convoy, when they can drive without being constantly stopped and searched at the checkpoints that frequent the roadsides of this country. Next time you get caught in some traffic due to construction or a slow stoplight just remember, it could be a lot worse.
Take care and I will talk to you all soon,
Lots of Love,
Seth

Early Morning Phone Call

Seth called this morning to report back in from his recent trip. They've been to the Syrian border and back to pick up a disabled vehicle and empty fuel trucks. Seth reports that parts of this trip reminded him of being in Afghanistan with the empty, rugged, and trackless travel. He said parts of the trip reminded him of movie scenes of endless dessert with miles of dunes. They spent the first night in a Forward Operating Base then traveled the next day to a Marine outpost on the border. After picking up the vehicle they returned to the same FOB for another night before returning to Al Asad. Seth was a driver on this trip. He thinks he won't be going back outside the wire until the end of this week. Eli will be leaving Tuesday for a mission. When I asked Eli the other day if he and Seth would ever go out together, he reported that the Commander's sentiment was not to send them out on the same mission. Eli wants to go out with his platoon, the guys he trained with in Mississippi and he has the Platoon Leaders support. Eli feels that he will get to go out with Seth as long as they don't travel in the same vehicle.

Finally....some pics

I'll let the pics speak for themselves......

I thought it might be helpful to put some maps on the blog. This map to the left is the Middle East that will help orient you to the entire area and Iraq's position to its neighbors. The map above is more of a close-up of Iraq. The boy's are in the Anbar province and you can see where that is in relation to Baghdad. The third map shows an unnamed lake and the Euphrates river. Seth talked about traveling over the dam, seeing the lake on one side and the river on the other side. If you put your mouse over the maps and click you will get an enlarged picture.

Back outside the wire - an email from Seth

Dear Family and Friends,

I can't tell you how nice it was to return from five long days outside the wire and find so many e-mails awaiting me. I had planned on sitting down and writing a lot of individual e-mails to people, but as it turns out my squad got picked for another multi day mission kicking off tomorrow. I will be gone for between three to five days. One of the nice thing about going outside the wire is that it makes me appreciate Al Asad and my little room a lot more.

My last trip outside the wire was a good experience. It was a joint mission with the unit that we are currently replacing. I felt like I learned a lot, and our squad is more than ready to take over. We have learned more in these past few weeks then the whole entire time down at Shelby. During our mission I saw some interesting parts of the country. Part of our route took us along the Euphrates River, and then to a place called the Haditha Dam. We crossed over top of the Dam with our convoy, and saw a very beautiful lake on the one side, with the Euphrates on the other, it was quite a sight. Around this lake was quite a number of seagulls, which I never thought I would see in Iraq. Overall it was a good mission and a good learning experience.

I am getting ready to get my haircut by my own personal barber (Eli), then I am going to take a shower, watch a movie (also with Eli), then go to bed. I have an early wake up tomorrow because of our mission. I will e-mail more later, until then take care and I look forward to talking to you all soon,

Love, Seth

Back on the Roller Coaster.......

Just when I thought we could relax a little with both boys inside the wire, Seth calls to report that he going back out for a three-day mission. Didn't he just return from spending five days outside the wire? I'm pretty sure this isn't good for my heart! Jan and I do relax a little knowing that they're at Al Asad, then the stress builds when we know they're out and about in the Iraqi countryside. Back into waiting mode....waiting to hear he's returned.

Home again

Eli called us last night about 9:00 PM. He had just returned from Baghdad and was reporting in safe and sound. As Jan and I were getting into bed I made the comment that she should sleep well, knowing that her boys are home. She kind of put me in my place when she noted "They're not home, they're in Iraq."
Many of you are on Eli's mailing list so you got an email this morning. Even for Eli, he feels home because he has Seth with him. You have to enoy the small things and take confort where you can. Just like this blog is my therapy, writing is Eli's. He's always been a prolific writer and going in we knew we would get details.
Here is Eli's email for those of you who haven't seen it:

Dear friends and family,

Seth and I have now been at Al Asad Air Base in the Anbar Province of Iraq for a little over two weeks....where does the time go? Talking about time, I just returned several hours ago from a four day mission to Baghdad, and I did a lot of thinking about time. April 12th, 2007 is a date that sticks out in my mind, and tomorrow will be exactly 6 months from that date. Why April 12th? That is the day I got the phone call that I was deploying to Iraq, and for half a year now this deployment has been at either the back or forefront of my mind. Seth said it best when he said that a deployment reaches far beyond the actual dates you are gone. It affects you before you deploy; knowing in the back of your mind that the day when you leave home is fast approaching. It also affects you when you return as you need time to get readjusted to a regular lifestyle. Also, tomorrow will be 14 months that I have been married to my wonderful and amazing wife, Katy! One more time issue, in exactly one week from today, Seth and I will have been on this deploment for exactly four months.....a third of the way towards coming home!

As I mentioned I just returned from spending four days in Baghdad. I went on a convoy security mission supporting KBR (a civilian contracting agency getting rich over here) trucks that were taking supplies to Baghdad. On the way into Baghdad we drove past Fallujah and out the window we saw a group of about 10-12 college aged Iraqis dressed up walking down the street. They were smiling and laughing and paid the heavily armed American convoy they were walking beside very little attention. We, of course, paid them a lot of attention as our gunners followed their every move through their night scopes. A little while later we were forced to stop at an intersection to let another coalition convoy pass, and from where we were stopped our gunner spotted what looked like a restaraunt. I leaned up from my seat to take a look (you can't see much from my seat in the back) and sure enough there was a little neon sign with arabic writing and we could peer into a little restaraunt and see people sitting around enjoying food together. These two scenes seemed very normal to me, and I don't know why I found that strange. Maybe because I was literally only several feet from these scenes in a heavily armored security vehicle equipped with an automatic grenade launcher and a .50 cal machine gun, I was carrying an M-4, 9 mil, and a kinfe and wearing body armor? Seemed a little odd to me that there I was, and there they were paying no attention to us at all. An interpreter we worked with at Mississippi had told us that we will run into Iraqis who act as though we are invisible and will pay us no attention. She said they will just go on with their day to day lifes because that is the only way they stay sane...by acting normal. She also reminded us that we (America) have been in her country for over four years now, so people have to act normal because heavily armed convoys are the norm.

The weather is still up in the upper 90s and low 100s over here, but it is slowly cooling down. The evenings and mornings are pleasant. We actually had a thunder storm the other day....thunder, lightning, heavy rain, the whole shabang! This morning at 3:30 am as I was carrying my things back to my room it was drizzling rain and about 70 degrees outside, I closed my eyes and pretended it was fall weather in Virginia I was experiencing. It almost worked until my boot got stuck in wet sand! As I got close to my room I could not have been more happy to be returning to....home? Our buddies over here do not allow one another to refer to anything over here as home, but for me and for the next eight months, my little "can" as it is referred to, is home. When I got to my can I was very happy to see Seth had returned from his mission where he was out for five days supporting marine engineers. I miss Seth when we are apart because he is what helps make our can home. My #1 roommate is Katy but since Seth and I did room together for most of our life he is a pretty good substitute.

I hope everyone is doing well. Seth and I were woken up this morning by our squad leader pounding on our door telling us to get all our mail out of their can because it was taking up too much room.....so, thank you to all who have sent letters and packages, they are greatly appreciated! Take care and continue to stay in touch.

Love,
Eli

Great Day!

One of our favorite musical groups is called "Eddie From Ohio." They sing a song called "Great Day." In fact, Jan and I were listening to them last night and to that song in particular. This morning on the way to work, Seth called to report he was back at Al Asad after five days outside the wire. They escorted construction equipment and operators to a dam project and provided perimieter security. Hearing his voice first thing in the morning made it a Great Day indeed! I'm sure Seth will be doing one of mass emails soon and I'll get it on the Blog as soon as possible.

When is a little communication too much communication?

It is so wonderful hearing from Seth and Eli on a regular basis and I've been introduced to the world of Skype and web cams....wonderful things. And even though I wouldn't change a thing, sometimes knowing what the boys are doing on a daily basis is hard on the heart and the stress level. Seth is getting ready to go outside the wire for an extended mission and Eli will be leaving on another mission soon. While they're gone they'll be out of touch and we'll just wait to hear about a safe return to Al Asad. Seth's mission may be lengthy so patience will be required....patience and faith.

Completely Random

I know this is completely random and has nothing to do with life today, but I was surfing the net a little (I have a student teacher right now) and found this pic on the Bridgewater College web site. Katy and Eli were the mixed doubles tennis champions last year at Bridgewater College. It looked like a good pic to throw on the blog for everyone to see.