Our 6Th Anniversary in Iraq and An E-Mail So Far

Well, this past Thursday we reached the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq. I'm sure we all recall watching the "shock and awe" of the war when we entered Bagdhad in 2003. Who would have thought we would still be there 6 years later- and Brian is now there as a part of it. It's pretty unreal to us.

We received a brief e-mail from Brian this morning telling us everything is moving along as planned and he'll get in touch with us when he gets a minute and they get their connections all established (we don't know where he is at this point). We talked to him very briefly from Kuwait last Saturday and said he didn't know when he would get a chance to call again. He told us it could be quite awhile- so we've just been patient. This is the tough part as all you can do is just wait.

He did tell us when we talked to him that on their way out of the country they made a stop at an air force base in Maine. They arrived around 12:30 a.m. and there was a contingent of military veterans waiting for them when they arrived to welcome them, thank them, and wish them well. Brian said it was pretty cool. We can be a really neat country when we want to be.

He said in his e-mail that he would send us a list of the things they can use over there. I'm attaching a link here from MarineParents.com that provides a pretty comprehensive list of items. He did say when he was home that socks are a big item- and he really liked getting the Kool-Aid packets and some of the "quick-food" stuff we sent to him the last time. It's going to get hotter than crap there over the next few months so anything that can help with trying to stay cool and keeping the fluids flowing will be good.

http://www.carepackageproject.com/carepkg-project-needs-list.asp

Some Other Photos I Liked

The landscape of Kuwait (From last deployment) Just a lot of sand.



This is a picture of some kids welcoming home the Minnesota National Guard when they went through Walker on their way home to Bemidji in 2007 (cute kids). If my facts are right these soldiers served the longest deployment in Iraq- almost 2 years- of any other military unit in the country. Talk about sacrifice. It was pretty neat to watch them go through and be part of the whole deal.


We'll certainly keep everyone updated as we hear anything. Thanks for your support and prayers.

Semper Fi