Sleep is a weapon

I had coffee today with the mother of one of Daniel's friends, also curently deployed in Iraq. He's with the 82nd Airborne, although apparently he's sitting in trucks a lot these days. Despite doing training jumps, he's not done any combat leaps.

Alan and Daniel went to high school together, ended up in Airborne school at the same time and are now sharing the joys of the Sandbox, albeit in different locales.

When I told Daniel I would be meeting with Alan's mother he asked that I pass a message to Alan through her. It was "Tell the [starts with 'b,' ends with 'astard'] to stay alive!"

Alan's mom told me to tell Daniel, "Sleep is a weapon," wisdom taken from the Bourne series. When you are tired, you are less aware of your surroundings, less likely to make good decisions and more likely to put yourself in harm's way. I thought it was sage advice.

Chicken Little

Daniel says:
well, I just survived another mortar attack
Diane says:
For which I am grateful, as I'm sure you are. Were you out or was this close to home?
Daniel says:
I was outside, coming back from getting my laundry, the base defense sounds off with an "incoming, incoming" and I hear and see the mortar round whiz over my head, and hit about 100 meters in front of me
Diane says:
Wow, laundry and a chance to be blown up. That's awesome multitasking.
Diane says:
Seriously, I'm glad you're OK.
Diane says:
Obviously
Daniel says:
no kidding
Diane says:
Did it mean more laundry?
Brown Trouser Alert!!!
Daniel says:
these ones are already stained, hence the picking up laundry, I still need to take a shower and change into some NOT nasty cloths
Diane says:
LOL!
Daniel says:
oh yeah and we found another 20 lbs of HME IED, and a few mortar rounds on a patrol
Diane says:
Wow, they've been busy little blow up beavers.
Diane says:
Is any of this in response to the Sadr City raid?
Daniel says:
yup
Diane says:
Hammurabi's Code strikes again
So did the bomb guys blow up the IED?
Daniel says:
yeah, they blew the mortar rounds and the HME in place. we were standing about 20 feet from it when they blew it, it was kind of annoyingly loud
Diane says:
LOL. Annoyingly loud. It sounds like the neighbors are having an all night party and you're being forced to listen to Motley Crue when you've had a tough day pushing paper.
Daniel says:
its just another day at work

Big Boom

Daniel says:
well I wonder when you are going to get up today
Diane says:
Good morning
I am up, but I have kitties to take care of. It takes about 1/2 an hour
Daniel says:
just so you know, my vehicle hit an IED last night.
Diane says:
OMG
Obviously you're alive and kicking
Daniel says:
yeah, it was a small one, and it exploded a bit early, so it just took some armor off the vehicle
Diane says:
Did everyone do laundry or do the brown trousers hide in the camo?
Daniel says:
lol
I actually need to turn mine in [to be laundered], we have been...very....busy recently
Diane says:
Oh. You don't have to do it yourself?
Diane says:
It's like living at home only with live ammunition!
Daniel says:
in the last three days I've gotten about 9 hours of sleep
its been...a little bit trying
Diane says:
No joke. How can you make good rational decisions when you can't see straight?
Daniel says:
oh yeah, and there was a rocket attack on the FOB early yesterday morning
Diane says:
OI!
Any damage from the rocket attack?
Daniel says:
not that I know of, but they were close to the tents
Diane says:
What do you do about your styker armor?
Daniel says:
get another stryker untill that one can be fixed
Diane says:
Oh great. The one with the other guy's brown trouser stains. That's totally awful.

A Night at the Movies

Daniel said they had been fired on, returned fire and one person was killed. We had the following exchange by IM ~~~~~~
Diane says:
I often wonder what happens when you are the one responsible for killing someone. I know you're trained for it, but it still has to affect you
Daniel says:
it was interesting....to say the least....definitely something I wouldn't mind never seeing again
preferably no.
Diane says:
kk
Yeah, you should leave that sort of thing to Hollywood. They do a much better job of it, right?
Daniel says:
not really....death is too quick in Hollywood.
and you don't have an opinion about the guy laying on the ground bleeding to death
Diane says:
an opinion? or an option?
Daniel says:
opinion
Diane says:
Not sure I understand
Ah, you don't care about them as a "character"
Daniel says:
when you watch a movie, and you see "Japs" or Nazis getting splattered, you don't think much other then the special effects team sure did a good job.
here...you know that that person has a life, you see him bleeding out right before you. he tried to kill you, you hate him, yet you feel some guilt. you think afterwords about his family, and his life. you think about the wife, or girlfriend that lost someone today. its different.
Diane says:
Yeah. I think a lot about that from afar when I put up the names of 2nd Cav when DOD announces they aren't coming home.
Daniel says:
you picture yourself getting wrapped into a body bag, under the same circumstances, just because of a difference of opinions
Diane says:
Not a good thought, is it?
Daniel says:
no
Diane says:
So I continue to picture your angels in baseball uniforms, doing batting practice with the bullets.
Daniel says:
lol
....
Diane says:
Very nice!
Any requests for the next one [package]? I have a box out and ready. We put things in when we find good stuff
Daniel says:
actually, canned chili is really good, ML sent me some in her last package, and it worked great for going out on patrol, I just bring my combat spoon, leave the can out in the open for 30 seconds, and voila! cooked chili on patrol
Diane says:
LOL
Canned chili we can do. How do you feel about ravioli?
Daniel says:
eh...its food, really, I'm not too picky, but bland food I can get in an MRE
Diane says:
I'm wondering if I went to Uwajimaya if I could find interesting canned food. I assumed it wouldn't do you well because it wasn't "walkabout" food, but now that I know all it takes is 90 degrees and you're happy .....
Daniel says:
pictures are very much appreciated, I'm trying to get as many as I can, just so I have familiar faces to go with all the stories
Daniel says:
anything really is good, I'm not picky, and since my diet is always off, I tend not to eat too much at the chow hall, and more when I'm off on patrol, or just coming back at midnight
Diane says:
I wonder if we had one of those "seal a meal's" if it would stay OK long enough to get to you. Maybe ask around and see if anyone else gets packets sealed from home. I know Aunt L has a sealer. We could make some Thai curry noodles or something.
Daniel says:
mmmmmmmm thai
lol
Diane says:
I will if I can get it to you. Other than that, I'll see if I can't wrangle up some more yakisoba packages.
Daniel says:
I know some guys that got sealed Mcyucks in basic
Diane says:
hahaha. Why go to the trouble of sealing fast food?
But it worked out OK?
Daniel says:
yeah I guess so
Diane says:
Maybe I'll ask Aunt L if we can use hers to give it a test run.
Daniel says:
that would be sweet, everyone would hate me lol
Daniel says:
not like they already don't hate me enough. although it has gotten better since getting here, they actually see me outside of patrols, instead of Germany, where they would never see me after work
Diane says:
I'm glad they're getting to know you. You're a cool dude. At least I've always thought so
But I'm biased.
Daniel says:
lol

Angels in the Outfield

From an IM today: I'm alright, kinda jittery....we were in a good sized fire fight today, and I was about 2 feet from a sniper's shot at me and the LT

It's hard to picture your son with a bullet 2 feet away, but I still take solace in the fact he's got some hard working angels sent by the awesome men and women who keep him blanketed in prayer. Many thanks to the group at Shoreline Covenant who meet Wednesday morning's, Rose C's group, Bobbi B's group and many others both individually and collectively who lift Daniel and the rest of the troops up.

As to his angels, I picture them giggling as they pull on their baseball socks and do batting practice with the incoming bullets. If you have trouble with the image, read Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness. :)

The lights on the water

This is a "mom" post, not from Daniel, although to him.

One of my autopilot items now is to visit Stryker News in the morning. I hope there is nothing newsworthy, but some mornings, like today, I am disappointed.

What I check for are the names of those who have given their everything so that I don't have to worry about IED's in my front yard. It is the names of those who should not be forgotten. I add them to the blog, and pray for their families.

One of the things we do as parents whose children (yes, they will always be our children) are serving, is hope that we never have to answer the door to find two people in uniform on the step. Each one of those names has a door knock associated with it and a flood of grief .

Last night, driving over the 520 bridge, I was thinking about how beautiful Seattle is, how much Daniel loves it and how I long to make that drive with him and have the comfort of him safely returned. You've been in my thoughts a lot lately Daniel. Be safe and come home soon.

I love you,
Mom

Hugs and Kisses

It was "tomorrow" when Daniel called, 1am Baghdad time. He sends thanks to G/G Ohlsen for the phone time :). He had just returned from a 24 hour patrol, one of those where you're so tired you can't sleep.

His story for today was a young girl sitting on the roof of her home close to where he was also roof bound, keeping a sharp eye out for "issues." The girl started waving and blowing him kisses. This went on for about 20 minutes until her mother or another adult female came onto the roof, slapped her face and dragged her inside.

I said that was sad she reacted in such a harsh manner, but Daniel seemed to think the whole thing was rather funny. I suppose it is one of those stories we'll have to flesh out when we have time to sit down far away from sandy streets which are light years from Seattle reality.

From a Condolence

This was posted on a comment log for Sgt. Johnson. I thought it was profound.

Lost, Lest I go my uncaring way
Help me to remember
That Somewhere out there
A Man Died for me Today.
So Long as there be War
I must ask and answer,
"Am I Worth Dying For?"

The kitty which bites

Some time ago Daniel told me about their translator Meemo. He said he enjoyed going on patrol with him because the guy was funny and pleasant. We decided the kitty he wanted when he got back should be a sand colored cat and he would name it Meemo. There are probably a myriad of jokes about what he was doing when the cat was missing (I'm finding Meemo!).

When I spoke with him this morning he seemed subdued. We chatted for a while about nothing until he finally said, "Oh there was something...remember our translator Meemo? He was arrested this morning for working with the local militia. They are the ones trying to kill us."

I think it really shook his confidence in human nature, his propensity to be trusting and the ugliness of betrayal.

Further information

The fatality was Sgt. Johnson who had been Daniel's squad leader while he was in Ft. Lewis and also most of the time in Germany. Daniel thought he was a great guy.

When I talked with him this morning we began with the platitudes of, "Well it happens and then you move on," and ended with the reality of losing someone as mortality hitting you upside the forehead.

He is scheduled for leave in April, coming home to celebrate his 21st birthday! That's a little beyond the halfway point of the deployment so he'll be on the home stretch after that.

If someone would like to donate to the care and feeding of a distant but yet lovable Nano, he says the best connection with home is the phone and if you email me (Mom), I'll give you the information to allow you to refill his phone card for him!

He sends his love, sounded reasonably upbeat and misses everyone.