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August 08, 2004

Update from Fallujah

Here's an e-mail from a Marine near Fallujah. Can you tell that he's looking forward to coming home in September?

Hello Friends and Family,

I have been waiting for this week to come for a while. Why, perhaps would the first week in August be significant? Could it be

a) the anniversary of MTV which made it's debut during this time back in 1982,

b) the beginning of WWI back in 1914,

c) the birth of the Jeep back in 1942, or

d) the birth date of Jerry Garcia?

There is actually little significance in the date to me other than I can now tell myself that I leave next month. Of course by just making such a bold declaration I have probably jinxed myself and I will have to stay longer, but I knocked on wood so that will never happen.

I still have to travel back through Camp Pendleton so when ever I do leave here, I still have another week in California before I get to return to Georgia. Oceanside California will get a boost to it's economy when I hit the deck though. I am already making a list in my head of all the local restaurants I plan to eat at. I can see it now...my body will likely go into shock after 7 months of "clean living".

I didn't send any pictures of myself last week because of the fight I lost with the barber, but I figured out a way to still send you a picture without you laughing too much. I am counting on it growing out by the time I return but until then, I'll just wear my cover for the next month and a half.

Anyway, I thought a nice sunset over Fallujah would make for a nice picture. I have to admit it looks so peaceful, but minutes before we were observing US jets "helping" the bad guys in their quest for martyrdom just to the right of the setting sun. Air superiority is a great thing.

Let's see, what else happened. We did get our water turned back on midway though the week so that was a welcome resolution only to have it turned off within two days again.

That spray on armor team I wrote about finished their pilot program and we sent them back home. Long story, short...they proved my hypothesis that it was too much of a burden on the MEF to do. Too bad I don't get paid for my opinion.

On a personal note, I received an email from Meleia this week that was interesting. Earlier this week, she had another snake incident and this is a person who can't even look at snakes in a picture. This is the second time she has had to deal with snakes since I left. The first one actually made it into the house and she wouldn't have noticed it if Sadie wasn't playing with it.

Those of you who don't know Sadie, she isn't the smartest dog you will ever meet. She is also the only black lab you will ever meet that can't swim, but that is another story.

The latest snake was in the garage. She was able to get a neighbor to kill it, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that my family has moved to Hawaii when I get back if she has another encounter with a snake. I think she deserves the imminent danger pay more than me.

This weeks article is about MajGen Mattis and the Marines of 1st Marine Division. I took the liberty of highlighting what I thought was important in the event that you just want to skim through it. The big take away is that regardless of what you hear from the Michael Moore's back there, the Marines believe that what we are doing is important and support President Bush.

But then again...maybe Marines are not average Americans. Until next week...

Luis

The USMC - where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the Marines are above average.

Posted by Deb at August 8, 2004 05:14 PM