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Operation Iraqi Freedom
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Ok so first off I want to clear up something.... I WAS NOT AT THE CLUB!!! :) Just wanted to put that out.
Ok so now, some scary stuff so you may or may not want to read, but the point is that I'm here and no one in the military got hurt.
So we went on our 3-day convoy up north to go to where we are going to be staying for about the next week or two. The first day was a great eventless day where we pulled into a place called Navstar Kuwait. It’s about 2 or 3 miles from the Iraqi boarder and that's where we stayed for the night. There was no place to stay so we had to stay on flatbeds of the transportation unit that was convoying up w/ us. So that was nice, but at least now I can tell my grandkids that I've slept on a transfer truck. Which by the way I have pictures of, so expect those in a couple weeks.
Day two was just as great. It was a long convoy up to a military equivalent to a truck stop. We stayed there and again, I stayed on a flatbed.
Day three was the fun one. We got about 45 min outside of where we were going and all of the sudden we had to stop in the middle of the highway. We pulled up and blocked off all traffic and watched the angry Iraqis use the other side of the highway as an alternate route. Yes, that's right, when we blocked traffic; they all turned a one-way side of an interstate into two-way traffic. Very nicely too I might add. No accidents. So we sat there hidden in our vehicles making sure that no one was going to try to shoot at us. What had happened we later found out, is that up ahead of us, someone had layer out an IED (which I explained in the last post) and when the convoy that found it stopped for it, they started taking on sniper fire from a building about 400m away. Let me explain two things first. Number 1 the dog is one of the lowest animals on the pole here and they use them as bait because they know Americans love dogs. This IED, along w/ others, was tied around a dead dog. There were others right beside it and they had them lined up all the way down the highway. Second, sniper fire isn't what you see in movies. It just means one person shooting from a long way away, so they guy wasn't accurate at all and didn't hurt anyone. All he ever hit was the tire of a passing civilian vehicle. One of the IED's went off and completely destroyed an oncoming civilian vehicle as well. We’re not sure if they survived, but it's sad to see what these people are doing to their own people, even if we are the targets.
So if that isn't enough action, we get to our last stop before we get to where we're going and when we leave we all get stopped again. So I hop out of the vehicle and pull security watching all the civilians walking about only feet away and an IED goes off about 400m away from where I’m standing. Now what had happened is that EOD had found it and they were destroying it, but it didn't get back to us that that was what was happening until it went off. So you can imagine my surprise, along w/ my heart sitting on my tongue. But nothing happened badly; we got back into our vehicles and went on our way. You think it's over. Hehe, NO!
So then we get to the base that we're at, and last night we got 2 mortars and 2 rockets shot into the base. This is apparently a regular thing here. But I don't want anyone to get scared because they don't have artillery strong enough to make it into the base, they only hit the outskirts and the gates to try to scare us, so not many people get hurt by these attacks.
But now for some good news. This place is very nice, very. We’re only going to be here for a week or so, but I here where we're going is just as nice, so it will be nice to get into some nice billets and have some personal space for a change. Not to mention the food here is twice as good as it was in Kuwait.
So that is my story. I told you that I would keep this posting honest, and I will, so if these stories upset you I beg you; please do not read them, because the action is not over. But I will try my best to be safe, I will not do anything stupid, and I know that you are praying for me while I’m gone. I love you all, and I thank you for keeping up w/ me. God bless
Ok so now, some scary stuff so you may or may not want to read, but the point is that I'm here and no one in the military got hurt.
So we went on our 3-day convoy up north to go to where we are going to be staying for about the next week or two. The first day was a great eventless day where we pulled into a place called Navstar Kuwait. It’s about 2 or 3 miles from the Iraqi boarder and that's where we stayed for the night. There was no place to stay so we had to stay on flatbeds of the transportation unit that was convoying up w/ us. So that was nice, but at least now I can tell my grandkids that I've slept on a transfer truck. Which by the way I have pictures of, so expect those in a couple weeks.
Day two was just as great. It was a long convoy up to a military equivalent to a truck stop. We stayed there and again, I stayed on a flatbed.
Day three was the fun one. We got about 45 min outside of where we were going and all of the sudden we had to stop in the middle of the highway. We pulled up and blocked off all traffic and watched the angry Iraqis use the other side of the highway as an alternate route. Yes, that's right, when we blocked traffic; they all turned a one-way side of an interstate into two-way traffic. Very nicely too I might add. No accidents. So we sat there hidden in our vehicles making sure that no one was going to try to shoot at us. What had happened we later found out, is that up ahead of us, someone had layer out an IED (which I explained in the last post) and when the convoy that found it stopped for it, they started taking on sniper fire from a building about 400m away. Let me explain two things first. Number 1 the dog is one of the lowest animals on the pole here and they use them as bait because they know Americans love dogs. This IED, along w/ others, was tied around a dead dog. There were others right beside it and they had them lined up all the way down the highway. Second, sniper fire isn't what you see in movies. It just means one person shooting from a long way away, so they guy wasn't accurate at all and didn't hurt anyone. All he ever hit was the tire of a passing civilian vehicle. One of the IED's went off and completely destroyed an oncoming civilian vehicle as well. We’re not sure if they survived, but it's sad to see what these people are doing to their own people, even if we are the targets.
So if that isn't enough action, we get to our last stop before we get to where we're going and when we leave we all get stopped again. So I hop out of the vehicle and pull security watching all the civilians walking about only feet away and an IED goes off about 400m away from where I’m standing. Now what had happened is that EOD had found it and they were destroying it, but it didn't get back to us that that was what was happening until it went off. So you can imagine my surprise, along w/ my heart sitting on my tongue. But nothing happened badly; we got back into our vehicles and went on our way. You think it's over. Hehe, NO!
So then we get to the base that we're at, and last night we got 2 mortars and 2 rockets shot into the base. This is apparently a regular thing here. But I don't want anyone to get scared because they don't have artillery strong enough to make it into the base, they only hit the outskirts and the gates to try to scare us, so not many people get hurt by these attacks.
But now for some good news. This place is very nice, very. We’re only going to be here for a week or so, but I here where we're going is just as nice, so it will be nice to get into some nice billets and have some personal space for a change. Not to mention the food here is twice as good as it was in Kuwait.
So that is my story. I told you that I would keep this posting honest, and I will, so if these stories upset you I beg you; please do not read them, because the action is not over. But I will try my best to be safe, I will not do anything stupid, and I know that you are praying for me while I’m gone. I love you all, and I thank you for keeping up w/ me. God bless
