OIF

Hey everyone. Just another day in the desert. Actually, it wasn't. We had an incident this morning. Someone drove a car bomb into the front gate and exploaded it. The blast woke us all up and it was big enough to shake our tent which was over 2 miles away. Sadly, there were American casualties. I haven't heard how many injured and how many, if any, were killed, but for you who pray, you may want to send a prayer out for their health and their families. Again, I know this is a dreadful thing to have to experience but know that we volunteered to come here and it wasn't the draft that brought us here. These American soldiers are giving their lives, even if they don't get hurt at all, to come here and do a work which may essentially keep our freedoms sacred. Whether or not you believe it is your own convicitions, but I feel like I as well as the other soldiers here are here for a purpose. So please, if you have something to say against the people in power that's one thing, but remember that your freedoms have been protected by men and women who have volunteered since this nation was established. And pray for us. The Iraqi's do not seem to be getting any better over here. They (meaning only a small few) seem to hate us even more now than when the war started. It's to be expected and the casualties have still been very low and our defense measures have been excellent, but some have still hurt and even killed by factors that they could have never stopped. I don't mean to be morbid in this message, everything is still going very well, I just ask that if you pray, to please send one up every night wishing us health and safety.
Ok, I'm going to try to change the mood a little. We finally (hopefully) got our real date and time to get out of this place. It's in the next week or so. It's only a 1 day convoy so I'll be able to write soon after I get there. I'm not going to lie, the route we're going is one of the worst here, but it's still very open and very swept and very protected by the military. So don't worry. I will let you know when I arrive for safety reasons and then we will be able to start our job, get completely unpacked, and finish up our work here and get home. I can't wait. Know that I love you all and I appreciate your support and prayers for me and the other soldiers. Pray for peace and pray for the right decisions to be made by the right people. God bless