Hey Mom,
Just wanted to say thanks for all the support. I didn't want to make too big a deal out of it, though. Its just easy to get down I guess. But there is good news! We've got hot water now, so things are looking up!! We haven't had hot water since we got here, so we've all really enjoyed a hot shave and shower. And there was turkey for chow today instead of bologna, so I guess that's a plus. Seriously, though, things are still really hot here. I wonder if things will ever be normal here, if there even is "normal" in this place. There have been another string of attacks, and we've suffered more casualties, some of them fatal. It just doesn't stop. The insurgents overtook two mosques south of here, and used them for a fighting position. Once we overtook them, bullet holes and blood trails were found all through the inside in the back rooms where there was no fighting, which could only mean that it was a hostile take-over. The Imam of the mosque couldn't be found, so they are speculating that he could've been killed too. Large weapons caches were found inside, so they must have intended on being there for awhile.
Early this morning we were coming back in for a re-fit, and our XO's vehicle was hit by another bomb. There were no casualties, but the vehicle was out of commission. I was driving at the time, and was the next vehicle in line behind him. When they go off, obviously smoke and debris go everywhere and you can't see anything. Well, the standard procedure is to floor it, and get out of the area, unless you can engage the enemy, or the vehicle can't move. Well see, the last bomb that we had hit crippled the vehicle completely, to a dead stop. So when the the guys behind us floored it, they ran smack into us at about 40 or 50 miles an hour. See when we roll at night we go "blackout", with no lights. And these Strykers can do about 70 miles an hour, so you've got a 20 ton hunk of armor rolling down the road at interstate speeds without lights on, well you can see the danger in that. So honestly I was more scared of flying through the smoke cloud and rear ending these guys and causing more damage than had already happened. I just told everyone to hold on to something, because I couldn't see a damn thing. As soon as we were through the smoke, there they were...stopped against the curb. I swerved to miss them, and clipped a little road-side market booth, ripping it down. Luckily though, we missed 'em and were able to tow them out of there. And that was another thing...hooking up the tow bar. Its pitch black, and we're in the middle of the road trying to hook these two Strykers together, while the enemy is still in the area. See they remote detonate these bombs, so they have to have eyes on you to do it. So we knew they were watching us, and had they known just had short-handed we were at the time, it could've gotten ugly. But they never know what's in the back of the Stryker, and they do know that we have awesome night-time capabilities, so they are wary of a direct attack in the dark. Anyway, just thought I'd share that one with you, after all, that was a happy ending! I'm sure we're going back out tonight, so I'm going to go get some rack time. I love you mom, hope to hear from you again soon.
Adam
Just wanted to say thanks for all the support. I didn't want to make too big a deal out of it, though. Its just easy to get down I guess. But there is good news! We've got hot water now, so things are looking up!! We haven't had hot water since we got here, so we've all really enjoyed a hot shave and shower. And there was turkey for chow today instead of bologna, so I guess that's a plus. Seriously, though, things are still really hot here. I wonder if things will ever be normal here, if there even is "normal" in this place. There have been another string of attacks, and we've suffered more casualties, some of them fatal. It just doesn't stop. The insurgents overtook two mosques south of here, and used them for a fighting position. Once we overtook them, bullet holes and blood trails were found all through the inside in the back rooms where there was no fighting, which could only mean that it was a hostile take-over. The Imam of the mosque couldn't be found, so they are speculating that he could've been killed too. Large weapons caches were found inside, so they must have intended on being there for awhile.
Early this morning we were coming back in for a re-fit, and our XO's vehicle was hit by another bomb. There were no casualties, but the vehicle was out of commission. I was driving at the time, and was the next vehicle in line behind him. When they go off, obviously smoke and debris go everywhere and you can't see anything. Well, the standard procedure is to floor it, and get out of the area, unless you can engage the enemy, or the vehicle can't move. Well see, the last bomb that we had hit crippled the vehicle completely, to a dead stop. So when the the guys behind us floored it, they ran smack into us at about 40 or 50 miles an hour. See when we roll at night we go "blackout", with no lights. And these Strykers can do about 70 miles an hour, so you've got a 20 ton hunk of armor rolling down the road at interstate speeds without lights on, well you can see the danger in that. So honestly I was more scared of flying through the smoke cloud and rear ending these guys and causing more damage than had already happened. I just told everyone to hold on to something, because I couldn't see a damn thing. As soon as we were through the smoke, there they were...stopped against the curb. I swerved to miss them, and clipped a little road-side market booth, ripping it down. Luckily though, we missed 'em and were able to tow them out of there. And that was another thing...hooking up the tow bar. Its pitch black, and we're in the middle of the road trying to hook these two Strykers together, while the enemy is still in the area. See they remote detonate these bombs, so they have to have eyes on you to do it. So we knew they were watching us, and had they known just had short-handed we were at the time, it could've gotten ugly. But they never know what's in the back of the Stryker, and they do know that we have awesome night-time capabilities, so they are wary of a direct attack in the dark. Anyway, just thought I'd share that one with you, after all, that was a happy ending! I'm sure we're going back out tonight, so I'm going to go get some rack time. I love you mom, hope to hear from you again soon.
Adam
