The End

No, he didn't have a training related casualty -- he's got his ETS orders and will be home on the 18th of October.

End of blog. Glad to have him home. Maybe he'll take it up as a platform for his photography. Regardless, thanks for taking the time to read, keep him in thoughts and prayers and wishing him well.

As US forces withdraw....

Thank you to all who have served.
Credit to Michael Ramirez, Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily

Bling, blang, pimped out

The dude is sporting some serious stuff. He's done well during his time in service. I am proud of the man he's become, although he could clean up his language a little :D

Memorial Day

A moment in memory of the 2nd Cav heroes who fell in Iraq during Daniel's time there, with special remembrances of Spc. Orlando Perez and Sgt. 1st Class Randy Johnson.

Rest in peace gentlemen. Those you left behind miss you and will never forget what you did.

Mom chiming in

Daniel isn't blogging and as he's out of the sandbox, I don't write for him much anymore, but I wanted to link to my blog for his accomplishment today. If you get the RSS, enjoy!

EIB Accomplishment

Cell Phone

I talked with Daniel today! He doesn't have Internet or VoIP access while at WLC, but they were allowed to buy cell phones. If you want to talk with him, hit me with an email (if you don't know me and don't know my email, I'm not likely to give you the number -smile-) and I'll pass it on.

Caveat - while it doesn't cost *him* anything, calls to mobile phones in Europe incur extra costs to the initiator of the call. My phone plan costs 4 cents/minute if I call a land line in Germany, but 21 cents to a cell. Plan your talk time accordingly :D.

WLT or some such collection of letters

Daniel will be out of contact for the month of April as he is shipped off to Warrior Leaders Training. Any mail sent will be held for him - same address.

Christmas in Germany

Well sadly no snow has fallen, although the forecast for the day is snow, maybe I will be surprised. I'm happy just to be safe and with (some of) those I love, after coming home from deployment. Life has returned to some sensibleness here in the army, but I'm still looking forward to the day when I will be home at last and getting on with my future.

Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!

Oh, slight recommendation, for those of you who are caught in a good snow and have time to read a good book; "A Haunted Bookstore" is a must for all book lovers.

Snow and Stripes

Daniel bought a couple of new lenses and took this picture of snow on a branch. He was quite proud of it!

Also to be proud of, he got his promotion yesterday and now wears sergeant stripes!

Wilkommen aus Deutschland!!

He's back "home!" On IM with him right now. They got into Germany about 7 hours ago. Flight out of Baghdad, 18 hours in Kuwait, and a plane ride home.

From my other computer when I got home (obviously before we chatted):
Daniel says:
I guess you are already gone, so I will just say, we are back in Germany. Internet is hooked up, but I have to get a router tomorrow. I probobly won't be on tonight, but tomorrow, I should have a full connection.
I'm happily, and safely home from a 15 month endangerment to life. Glad it's done; learned alot from it and hope never to do it again.
Talk to you later