Letter From Iraq #25

My last full week on FOB Diamondback has come to a close and it was an interesting week around here.  First we had the most rain at any given time that fell in about eight hours.  We had 0.85 inches and it filled the ditches with water and made a really muddy mess.  Most of the mud is dried up now but you can still tell that a lot of rain fell in a short amount of time.  This week I also sent home a couple of boxes with things that I have here that I didn’t really want to have to carry with me all the way home.  When we flew here I had to carry three bags and a weapon case and so I figured that it was easier to mail some of it back so that I don’t have to take all of it back again.

But the best new that has happened this whole week, and really the best news during this entire deployment, is that our replacements arrived this last weekend and now it is only a matter of time until I get on a plane and find myself back home getting reacquainted with my everyday life.  Now the big task is getting the new people trained up so that they are able to provide the same support to our customers as we have been providing in the past.  Last night was the my first night of training the new guy that will be taking over my night shift and once he is completely trained it will be just one step closer to going home.

The only problem with all of the good news is that I now have little left to do other than wait.  I am not waiting to see when I can get a flight out of here to fly to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.  Once I get there I may be able to get on a plane within a couple of days or I may end up spending a week there just waiting for the next flight out of there.  The one upside to having to wait is that it gives me a chance to get caught up on some reading or playing games on my Nintendo DS. 

And to top the whole week off, today is car insurance dropping birthday.  It was a quiet birthday and that was perfectly fine to me.  In all actually it I don’t think that anyone here really knew that it was my birthday.  I am very happy with my present of my replacement arriving.

This week I am going to keep my letter short so that I can spend a little more time getting ready to fly out of here.  I want to thank everyone again for all of the emails, letters, and packages.  It has meant a lot to me and the other members on my team to see all of the support that we have received from all of you not only in New Salem but all of the other towns and states that have readers of the New Salem Journal.  Many times we know that there are people out there that support us but at the same time it feels great when people send a letter saying that they are proud of our service.  Many times the news will only show the people who oppose the war and the soldiers that fight it or the politicians that will do anything but say that they are proud of the hard work that the men and women of the military.  So, in short, all of the support that you have shown us over the last six months has meant the world to us.  Thank you.

This may be my last letter to the New Salem Journal for a couple of weeks just due to the fact that I don’t know if I will be able to send them.  I will definitely send in a couple of letters once I get back home to let you all know how things are going once I am back.  Just know that the next time you hear from me I will probably be sitting in the comfort of my apartment.

If you would like to send an email to say hi I can be reached at john.iraq@hotmail.com.  It may take me a little while to reply back but I will try very hard to get back to each of you.  Thanks again for all of your kind words of encouragement.