[WetShrub]

This guy is my co-worker, friend, and a reservist. He just left here a couple months ago...

-Shrub

Hello all,

I am here in Iraq and not really doing much right now. Let me
explain. We left from Kuwait to Iraq and made several stops getting to where
I am now. Our first stop was at Navistar, it is right on the border where we
had to stay over night because they do not want convoys running at dark.
Then from there we entered Iraq and went to a place called Cedar II. We had
to stay 2 days there because the fighting was so feirce on the roads they
litteraly shut them down to all traffic northbound and southbound. From
there we went to a place called Scania where we stopped to refuel and
continued our mission to Baghdad. When we arrived in Baghdad we took a wrong
turn and found ourself misorientated in the heart of the city and every
Iraqui knew we were lost. We had to stop the convoy in a neighborhood (all
36 vehicles) and regroup. That meant that we had to exit the vehicles and
lay on the ground and pull security incase anyone wanted to fight us. As I
was laying there looking down the barrel of my weapon, I was looking at a family of 5 through my sights just praying that God would get us out of here without a fight. By this time there wasn't a house or shop with people in them. Everyone was outside
watching us and some even taunting us and spitting on the ground. We
reorientated ourselves and with the help from the 1st Cav, we made it out of
the city without a shot fired. This is truly a miricle since days before a
convoy was lost in the same area and were ambushed! From there we went to
BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) and stayed the night. We rolled out at
about 0600 on our way North to Camp Anaconda where we were shot at 6 miles
from the camp and stopped twice because of IED's (improvised explosive
device)in the road. Thank God we didn't hit them because we would of lost
some lives if we did. We have been at Anaconda the past few days now
enduring morter attacks almost every night, you can hear them explode in the
camp and then the alarm sounds to ta
ke cover. Sometimes they come so close to our tent that they seem like they
are right outside. The closest they have come are 2 blocks down from us.
Still too close for comfort. We had to put one our vehicles in the shop
because of the alternater and we are not sure how long it will take for the
mechanics to recieve the ordered part and fix the vehicle. So now we have to
go back to Baghdad International Airport where we will be working for the
next 5 or so months. Our mission is to locate all of the containers that
belong to the 1st Armor Division and make sure they get to where they are
supposed to go. There is rumor that after that mission we will be going west
of Fallujah to the Iranian border for the remainder of our stay here
although we have learned that tings can change litterally overnight. We are
enjoying our down time and making sure we get our rest while we can. Still
living on a cot in a tent but I sure am sleeping good. I sure hope everyone
is doing well and I h
ope the softball team is a success... I long to be back and enjoy the
wonderful California lifestyle.. 10 months to go~~~~

I love you all and I appreciate all of your support. It is truly getting me
through every day..

Love you all,
Curtis (Sergant)

[luvtolean]

Man, makes the small problems of daily life seem so inconsequential...

Tell the your friend THANK YOU for us!

[WetShrub]

I'll definitely be thinking how good I have it next time I take a wrong turn down a dark alley in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

-Shrub

[luvtolean]

Don't these guys have GPS?

Damn, if they let them have 'em we could get together on the site and buy him one.

[bwhip]

Our prayers will be with them!

[Pete]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

Man, makes the small problems of daily life seem so inconsequential...

Tell the your friend THANK YOU for us!

Same here, couldn't have said it better myself.

Tell him that we are all pulling for his safe return!