OIF

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a couple days since I've written, but the internet went down in the trailer and I've been working late so I've been too lazy to come down to the lab. But here I am and I wanted everyone to know that everything's been ok.

We've played two softball games since I last wrote. We finally won ONE. I emphasize one because we got embarrassed the other game. But I'm willing to admit that one of those innings was my fault. I made a couple boo boos.

Not much has happened as far as attacks that I know of. I know we went to the bone yard (I'll explain in a minute) and there was a firefight going on about half a mile or so. A firefight is a gun battle, not a building on fire. I don't think anyone was hurt though, or at least I never heard of anyone getting hurt.

I'm still doing guard duty during the days, and it looks like I'm going to be there for a while. But it's about to change a little bit so I'll be going back and forth between guard duty and the motorpool. No biggie. It's an easy job...sit there and watch the guy.

Ok, now to the bone yard. The bone yard is where they drop vehicles that have been blown up, and people come to scavenge parts off of them. We really don't have a main bone yard here in Iraq, but we have a small one here in Taji.

Once we heard about it, we went and let me tell you, there was some crazy stuff there. There was a tank that was practically ashes. 5 or so HumV's that were toasted. You could see the bullet holes in the glass, or where the bullets hit. It was all armored glass, so it didn't go through. That was another cool site.

In one of the tanks, you could see where it got hit by a rocket. The rocket penetrated the first layer of armor, but barely put a dent in the second one. Pretty cool to see. We got all that we needed, but they went back today and another HumV got dropped off that was completely ashes. They said that the truck got his by a rocket, caught it on fire, and the heat cooked off the rocket launcher that they had inside. Luckily, the AT-4 rocket launcher has to do so many rotations before it'll explode on impact, so it just went through glass. They said that no one died in the attack, and that made it a lot cooler to look at.

Well, I guess that's it. I know it's a lot, but I had makeup to do. I hope you all are doing well, and I thank you all for your prayers and support. God bless.

Hey everyone. Today is a very special day for me. Three years ago today, right after a football game at App State, me and Amy decided to give each other a chance, and three years later, I couldn't be any happier.

As hard as the time was when she went to Ireland for a couple months, and as hard as this last year has been to be apart, we have grown together so much despite our time away from each other. I feel we haven't been given a fair chance yet to see each other and not worry about who is going where, but I know that time is coming.

Amy, I wanted you to know that you mean the absolute world to me, and you have kept my spirits high and my hopes up and though this last year has been the hardest thing I've ever endured, your love has kept me sane. Thank you. I love you.

OK, that's as sappy as I can get on this thing. I just wanted everyone to know how awesome she is :) We have a softball game tonight, we'll see how that goes. Apparently there was a hit right outside of the base last night because the alarm went off. But like I said, it was only close to the base. Not on it.

I'm going through my pictures right now and naming them all and reorganizing them. Plus I'll be putting new pictures up very soon, so look forward to that. I don't have a lot, but I have some.

I guess that's all I have for now. I hope you all are doing well and I appreciate everything that you do for me and the troops. Everything from mail to prayers. Thank you so much. God bless and pray for peace.

Hey everyone. So another couple days gone and a couple closer to being home. We lost another softball game. We’re terrible. We haven’t won a season game yet. But maybe we can pull a Bo Sox.

Our internet went down in our trailers, and that’s why it’s been a little while since I’ve updated everyone and answered e-mails. We’re oh so close to finishing the movie. We have maybe one or two more days work on the trailer, then I’m going to try to find a way to send it to the states so maybe we can get it on the internet so you all can see it. I’m excited.

This morning I went to the gate to get my worker and the gates were closed temporarily. They were closed because they found a car bomb. I don't think it exploded so that's good, but kind of scary all the same. They eventually opened the gates and I was on guard duty for most of the day again today.

I guess that's probably it. I can't think of anything else that is new, but if I think of something, I'll make sure you let you guys know. Hope all is well, I miss you all, and can't wait to get home. God bless and thank you so much for all of your support. Peace.