Round Numbers

Checking in, the next blog reader will be #1000! I'm so blessed to have people reading about and praying for Daniel.

If you're #1000, take a screen shot of the counter at the bottom (it's the "print screen" button on a PC keyboard. To put the screen shot into the email, just "paste". I have no idea how it works on a Mac). I will send you back a special thousandth visitor prize! -email removed for SPAM prevention-

Adding to the list

Spc. Orlando A. Perez, 23, of Houston, TX, died Feb. 24 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during dismounted operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany.

All of us here offer our sincere condolences to the loved ones Perez leaves behind.

I have not heard from Daniel since his phone call, but this notice was finally posted on Stryker News. One of the things we do is try and read between the lines. "Dismounted Operations" means the squad had left the Stryker had were on foot. I'm guessing they were all under fire, including Daniel, and they were witness to his death.

I try and imagine the theater which will play behind Daniel's eyes when he's home on leave. He has experience and memories we cannot begin to imagine. I suspect he would wish to forget.

Loss

Daniel called me this morning. They are moving tonight to their undisclosed location, but he wanted me to know that on Stryker News within the next couple of days, I would see a 2-2SCR death from their platoon reported, and it wasn't him. The family had been notified, so communication blackout was over.

Daniel said he would write to me later about it, but said, "it was quite an experience." I am guessing he was there. Pray for all involved.

Oh it's a jolly holiday

They're moving. Of course the location is undisclosed. Get serious. At any rate they have been and are moving so for a while his contact will be spotty, if non-existent.

Keep checking back as I will keep you posted with what I know, and if there is nothing to report, you may get lovely pictures or videos of the best ways to cook okra (answer - not at all).

In the meantime, please keep Daniel tucked safely in your prayers. His mood is down and his outlook bleak. He's really ready for his leave, but I worry if he's seen one too many bloody bodies at this point - those are images which never leave.

Kentucky Derby

No horsing around, this is just a quick post to tell you he's hoofing it away from his computer for a few days. That you understand he's OK is the "mane" reason for the post.

Other than that, there have been semi-official rumors that 2-2SCR will be back in Germany by Halloween, a month earlier than expected. As with all things Army, we believe it when we see it, although you may begin jockeying for position to shake his hand when he returns.

He took this picture with his new camera on patrol Feb 3rd. He's quite pleased to have the camera and is planning on publishing some of his war zone images when he returns.

It's Shmoggy Out

Daniel received a gift of a shmog (head covering the men wear) from one of the Interpreters ('terps) named "Kareem". I told him his own mother wouldn't know him to look at this picture. Oh wait, that's me.

Thank you to Rose C. and her group. The 'terps received VERY gratefully, your package of gloves and other warm stuff. It was a brutal January and they were cold. What a wonderful thing you did!

Anyone out there have soap/shampoo/conditioner samples from frequent stays in hotels? Those are great things to package up and send for the 'terps as well!

Berlin

They're building a wall. Actually they are building several. This is the main occupation of Daniel's squad, when they're not pulling guard duty or walking extra patrol.

The wall is to be the presence in the future, which the Army is currently. It divides ideology. It prevents the flow of animosity down dusty streets which have seen Hatfield/McCoy-like dedication to the anhiliation of the enemy within.

Doonesbury had a comic about the point which Daniel said was "spot on," in his experience. The CLC (Concerned Local Citizen) wanted the Army to blow up the house where an intelligence target was located. The driver asked why and the reply was, "Someone from his family killed someone from my family."

"How long ago was that?" was the next question.

"About 1,300 years ago."

All Quiet on the Western Front

I am out of town for the next few days and wanted to post something so regular readers wouldn't be left high and dry. (un)Fortunately he said nothing is going on.

A Strange Dichotomy

Daniel took a mandatory class yesterday. It was on suicide and why it's a bad thing.

While he wouldn't argue that point, the humor of it was that the Army does not want you to kill yourself, however the very nature of the job is a willingness to give of one's life.

He didn't want to get too esoteric about it, just chuckled and got a cup of coffee so he didn't fall asleep during it.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego

Daniel 3:19 had the king of Babylon (located near present day Baghdad) throwing Daniel and his friends into the fiery furnace for refusing to worship him.

Modern day Baghdad has its fiery furnaces too. Daniel took a picture of this one this morning.

An instrument of Saddam's torture, re-ignited to heat up sectarian violence? No, an oven at a bakery where they stopped early in the morning, just in time to enjoy bread right after being taken out.

Daniel says:
fresh baked bread is wonderful....I only got one piece, but it was mouth watering, warm, and still soft. I ate it not less then a minute after coming out of the oven
Diane says:
Yum. Did it have a hard, but still supple crust?
You're making my mouth water btw
Daniel says:
it wasn't too hard, or crunchy, but it was a nice crust. biting into it, your teeth sink into warm bread, the steam rising from it as you consume it
Diane says:
Do you get to do this very often? Be at a bakery in the middle of the night?
Daniel says:
not at night no, but we do go to bakeries often, when we have the chance anyway. the LT is a bread monger