Out of Danger!
We're finally out of Iraq! Last night at 3 am an Air Force C-130 landed in Northern Iraq and taxied over to our waiting group of soldiers from the 42nd Infantry Division waiting to go home. We hurried aboard with all of our heavy gear while the pilot kept the engines running. As soon as we were aboard he gunned the engines and we took off down the runway....then suddenly we were up above small arms' range and out of danger for the last time. Whew! I am not eloquent enough to describe what a great feeling it was to get out of Iraq! As soon as we were airborne there was a noticeable sigh of relief...then within five minutes everyone was fast asleep, as if the stress was finally gone.
We are now down in Kuwait processing through on the way to New York. We have been here in the combat theater for twelve months. Having been based in Tikrit at a base named by the Army as "Forward Operating Base Danger (FOB Danger)" the play on words has been obvious and endless. We've been "at Danger", "in Danger", and now we are finally.... "out of Danger!"
The sense of relief is incredible! I do not want to give the impression that I was out there "kicking down doors" or on patrol every day- far from it. I was an economic officer and tens of thousands of soldiers did much more than I did and were exposed far more often to danger than I was. The saying that combat is "days and weeks of endless boredom interspersed by moments of sheer terror" would appropriately represent my year in Iraq. I had some very close calls but they were isolated and infrequent. Most of my time was spent in staff meetings and behind a computer. Regardless, everyone in Iraq has a certain nervousness about the 'unknown' and I was certainly one of them. That "unknown" is finally behind us, and for me it is a huge relief!
History will certainly judge our time in Iraq with the benefit of hindsight. Right now the future is far from certain and we (the US) have limited control, if that, over what will happen in the Middle East. After one year here I am an optimist and I believe we have liberated millions of oppressed people and given hope to millions more in neighboring countries. But in this particular blog entry I don't want to get into the politics, strategy or mission of the war. I'd rather focus on the two groups that I believe deserve the most recognition: the soldiers and the families.
Of all of the experiences that I have had in this incredible year I would say that the most impressive is to have had the honor to serve with thousands of young American serviceman and woman. As is our system, the politicians decide when to send us to war (rightly or wrongly), the Generals and Admirals plan the strategy, but it is the young 20 year old Private or Specialist led by the 25 year old Sergeant that makes the United States military the number one military in the world. They are the ones who win the wars and they are the ones who pay the highest price. In our year in Iraq we had over 1,000 servicemen and women Killed in Action and our nation should be eternally grateful to them. During that same period we had around 7,000 wounded, many of them permanently maimed. No words can express the appreciation and gratitude I have for these volunteers.
It has been an honor to serve in this citizen-soldier unit in combat alongside 150,000 other soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. This will most certainly be one of the most impactful and meaningful periods of my life.
I have found that the war is much more difficult on family members than it is on the soldier and I'd like to thank my family and recognize their contribution. We (in Iraq) know when we're in danger and when we're not and we have time to relax from the stress. The families back home see constant news from Iraq and it is usually just the bad news. For the 70% of the soldiers who are married with their own kids this tour was particular challenging. Being away for 18 months is challenging enough, having the families worry about Iraq is an added burden. Being single I did not have that stress but I did worry about my parents, who became experts on the situation in Iraq and often knew more about events in Iraq than I did!
In addition to worrying every day, my parents were notified by a casualty assistance officer that I was involved in an IED attack and that we'd all been taken to the hospital. Fortunately, we were fine but that experience is something that I would not wish upon any family and I'm sorry that my family had to go through that event. I'm sure they did not sleep well after that phone call. My heart goes out to the families of those seriously wounded or killed.
I would like to thank all my family and friends for their prayers, their thoughts, their emails, letters and packages. I cannot begin to thank all of you and I apologize if I have not personally done so. This was a very strange experience: being on a combat flight or patrol one day and that evening being able to send mass emails to friends. The internet shortened the distance between Iraq and the US. I appreciate all of your friendship, patience and support.
Over the next several weeks I will post some of the blogs that I did not post during my tour. Some I did not post for fear of worrying family members and some for other reasons. For anyone who has read my blogs I appreciate you taking the time and I hope that this in some way helped give some personal perspective to the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq.
God Bless America and the Free World!
We are now down in Kuwait processing through on the way to New York. We have been here in the combat theater for twelve months. Having been based in Tikrit at a base named by the Army as "Forward Operating Base Danger (FOB Danger)" the play on words has been obvious and endless. We've been "at Danger", "in Danger", and now we are finally.... "out of Danger!"
The sense of relief is incredible! I do not want to give the impression that I was out there "kicking down doors" or on patrol every day- far from it. I was an economic officer and tens of thousands of soldiers did much more than I did and were exposed far more often to danger than I was. The saying that combat is "days and weeks of endless boredom interspersed by moments of sheer terror" would appropriately represent my year in Iraq. I had some very close calls but they were isolated and infrequent. Most of my time was spent in staff meetings and behind a computer. Regardless, everyone in Iraq has a certain nervousness about the 'unknown' and I was certainly one of them. That "unknown" is finally behind us, and for me it is a huge relief!
History will certainly judge our time in Iraq with the benefit of hindsight. Right now the future is far from certain and we (the US) have limited control, if that, over what will happen in the Middle East. After one year here I am an optimist and I believe we have liberated millions of oppressed people and given hope to millions more in neighboring countries. But in this particular blog entry I don't want to get into the politics, strategy or mission of the war. I'd rather focus on the two groups that I believe deserve the most recognition: the soldiers and the families.
Of all of the experiences that I have had in this incredible year I would say that the most impressive is to have had the honor to serve with thousands of young American serviceman and woman. As is our system, the politicians decide when to send us to war (rightly or wrongly), the Generals and Admirals plan the strategy, but it is the young 20 year old Private or Specialist led by the 25 year old Sergeant that makes the United States military the number one military in the world. They are the ones who win the wars and they are the ones who pay the highest price. In our year in Iraq we had over 1,000 servicemen and women Killed in Action and our nation should be eternally grateful to them. During that same period we had around 7,000 wounded, many of them permanently maimed. No words can express the appreciation and gratitude I have for these volunteers.
It has been an honor to serve in this citizen-soldier unit in combat alongside 150,000 other soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. This will most certainly be one of the most impactful and meaningful periods of my life.
I have found that the war is much more difficult on family members than it is on the soldier and I'd like to thank my family and recognize their contribution. We (in Iraq) know when we're in danger and when we're not and we have time to relax from the stress. The families back home see constant news from Iraq and it is usually just the bad news. For the 70% of the soldiers who are married with their own kids this tour was particular challenging. Being away for 18 months is challenging enough, having the families worry about Iraq is an added burden. Being single I did not have that stress but I did worry about my parents, who became experts on the situation in Iraq and often knew more about events in Iraq than I did!
In addition to worrying every day, my parents were notified by a casualty assistance officer that I was involved in an IED attack and that we'd all been taken to the hospital. Fortunately, we were fine but that experience is something that I would not wish upon any family and I'm sorry that my family had to go through that event. I'm sure they did not sleep well after that phone call. My heart goes out to the families of those seriously wounded or killed.
I would like to thank all my family and friends for their prayers, their thoughts, their emails, letters and packages. I cannot begin to thank all of you and I apologize if I have not personally done so. This was a very strange experience: being on a combat flight or patrol one day and that evening being able to send mass emails to friends. The internet shortened the distance between Iraq and the US. I appreciate all of your friendship, patience and support.
Over the next several weeks I will post some of the blogs that I did not post during my tour. Some I did not post for fear of worrying family members and some for other reasons. For anyone who has read my blogs I appreciate you taking the time and I hope that this in some way helped give some personal perspective to the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq.
God Bless America and the Free World!
posted by Dan at 11:20 PM
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