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Gone but not forgotten.....
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Alas my loyal readers! mourn with me, for today is a day of sorrow. 2 medics are leaving our company today, they are being transferred to another company and I will not see them again until the end of this tour. My good friends King and Nygaard, the 2 Minnesota medics who were transferred to this Iowa Infantry unit with me, are leaving me. I am truly sad to see this happen.
I have known Nygaard for 3 years in the Minnesota guard, we served in the same unit, and he used to pick me up for drill weekends and we would go together. When this deployment came up we decided we would volunteer together, so that we could both get the experience we were looking for, but we would have the support of knowing each other as we went through this adventure. As luck would have it, when I was being transferred to the Infantry unit, Nygaard was sent also, so once again we were able to stick together like we had planned, but now we are being split up, after making it through half this tour together.
I met King when Nygaard and I were attached to Charlie med. King has been a great guy to get to know on this tour, and we were brought closer together when the transfer to the Infantry unit came up, he was so unhappy about his Infantry transfer at first. I like to think that Nygaard and I made the Transition a little easier for him, I became great friends with King and we shared our last army pass in Pensacola together (not as a couple, it was a bunch of guys...as Friends, not a bunch of guy couples)...he was the 3rd Minnesota medic chosen to go, so it was us 3 that have shared our Infantry adventures together.
Now I'll be the last one here, not that I'm alone, I've made some great friends here in this Infantry unit, but it was made alot easier having my Minnesota buddies next to me, and I was really hoping that we would all be able to watch each others back, and come home together, having shared the same experiences.
I have said my goodbyes, asked them if there was anything I can do...maybe nygaards alienware laptop was to much baggage to move and I could hold on to it 'til I see him again, but Nygaard has always been one to shoulder a larger load when he can, and found room for it in his bag. King will be able to see a little more time outside the wire where he's going, and that suits him, he doesn't like to sit still for too long. I hope they are both better off, and in a more comfortable place, but they will be missed.
Good luck boys and make sure to check in often, i know that more than just me will be anxious to here about how you guys are getting along.
As I walk them from the tent I give them something that I hope will stay with them for the rest of the tour until I see them again, a Traditional goodbye from me. Good luck guys.
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Christmas in the summer...
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Hello my friends! it's Christmas! or at least sometimes it feels like Christmas. I'm talking about recieving packages here. There are a few people who have sent me packages, and it is really exciting to get one, that may sound a little silly, but you know how excited you get when you order something and one day it arrives in the mail, your so excited to open it and try out your new whatchamacallit. Well that is what a soldier goes through when he or she gets a package only more excited...like christmas, because we probably don't know for sure whats inside.
Now I have told people not to send me stuff if they have to spend money, but in all seriousness I love it. I just say that to be polite. The fact that you took time to put together whatever you send and send it means so much in itself, and we truley do appreciate it.
Some of the people who have sent me packages I'd like to thank...The people I work with at the hospital in SICU, thank-you for organizing the gift fund and buying me all the comfort items, thoughtfully picked out so they travel easily, and the snacks for when I'm on the road. The people from Crossroads church who sponser so many soldiers that it is a full time job, baking goodies, and using their donated funds to ship hundereds of packages full of treats and books and letters of encouragement. My buddies who listen to every request I send and in record time have whatever it is I need (like the cowboy hat in the earlier picture) and send it to me, It really makes things easier having a support system like that back home. Amanda, who I'm sure you guys have heard enough about her......to bad I ain't done talking about her, with her letters, and pictures of what I have to look forward to when I come home, and sending coffee for my buddies even though I myself don't drink coffee, thats just a fraction of how thoughtful she is. Tabitha who has a support military blog, somehow talked a cigar company into sending us soldiers an amazing package of cigars and magazines and cutters..everything to go with them, she is always knocking on company doors asking them to support us over here, amazing determined woman she is.
When you get a package over here you take the long way back to your tent, so everyone sees how special you are to have gotten it, Of course there is singing and dancing as you enter the tent with the prize, and word spreads quickly that someone has returned from the mailroom victorious. As your opening it people gather round, hoping to recieve crumbs from the masters table, of course everybody shares, the people making cookies and sending them don't expect their son or daughter, husband or wife, to actually eat 100 cookies, so you package senders know what your doing, making sure that everybody gets taken care of. The package is slowly emptied of its contents each item examined with smiles or showing a buddy "Hey! look what I got here! yeah, my kid made it!" its all good stuff in these packages we get, we are like scavangers, nothing is wasted, we empty the box and then check twice more to make sure we didn't miss anything, even the box gets saved for later use. Funny how such a minor thing can mean so much over here, but most of us are always thinking of home so to get a package means someone was thinking of us and that feels pretty darn good.
Just wanted to say thanks to those I hadn't said it to yet. I am very grateful to everyone back home making life a little more bearable here for us.
Someone please send Goober a package, a book of crossword puzzles, or a rubics cube, a yo-yo, something that will give him something to do other than read my site, that must get pretty boring (although I bet he will brag about his combat badge when he gets home anyway).
Alright my people, take care of yourselves, think about us over here, as we look forward to coming back to you. your biggest fan Troy. 
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winning the hearts and minds....
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Hello everyone, how are we today? (smiling..nodding to you, with a wink,as you enter the website). As always I'm so glad that you all could be here, the support you show by returning time and again is inspiring, One of the armys' missions here in Iraq is to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, and in a way, that is the goal of my website for myself, I want to win your heart and mind, I want you to care for all of us that are over here by sharing the good and the bad with you, so we will be in your hearts, and I want you thinking of us throughout your day as we think of you back home (thats the mind part...I had to tie that in).
Through the course of this whole experience for me, there has been a little twist added to it, there is a wonderful woman back home that has managed to win my heart and mind completely, and has given me another wonderful reason to do the best job that I can over here, so she will be proud of me, and another exciting reason to hurry up and get home. So many of you support me in different ways, and through the life of this website I have mentioned those things. Amanda is the type of support that I have been looking for a lot longer than I have had this website though. I know some of you regulars have noticed the comments about the girlfriend recently, I wasn't sure how comfortable Amanda was about me introducing her to you all yet, but I have the ok, and I wanted you to know about her, because having Amanda in my life makes this deployment so much more bearable. Some of you readers have known me for years, and I have never been known to have a girlfriend, your thinking.."she must be something special for him to pick her"...your absolutely right, she is. I know its kind of a big jump from the usual to be introduced to 2 new people in 1 week. First Goober who felt so left out of the loop he kinda forced himself into the spotlight...I see you in the corner there Goober, how am I doin'...ok? Then meeting my girlfriend Amanda, I am hoping by introducing her she will start commenting now because I can never seem to get enough mail from her the way it is (even though she writes daily). You have won the heart and mind of this soldier Amanda, and I'm one lucky soldier because of it. Just because I have a girlfriend, don't think that my signature goodbye is being thrown out! I am still allowed to grab asses, so I'll be waiting by the exit in the back as you leave, for that tender goodbye I know you all crave (whether you admit it or not Buhdan, and Holtan). Take care my people, your wondering why I was able to take the invasion of Goober to my website with a sarcastic grin...behind every Bad-Ass There is an amazingly sweet woman.
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my new friend Goober...
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Hello my friends and fans, Today there was a hiccup in the system that needed to be addressed. I recieved a Developmental Counseling Form today for my blog, along with a copy of some of my blogs that had been highlighted and I was told to delete them, so if you notice any changes to past blogs, it is because of that.
I want to tell you a story now...when I was little I used to watch a show called Ripleys believe it or not. I believe they have even revived the series , and have brought back some of those crazy things you here about and are asked to believe it...or not? Like bigfoot, they would show you footprint casts, you would here eyewitness accounts and then you were asked believe it....or not?
Now that I have told you a story from my childhood I'd like to make a couple statements about being here that I should have made earlier. I am never afraid when on a mission, I never feel anxiety, I never have self-doubts in myself, in fact I'm one of the most confident people you will ever meet. I love it here in Iraq. I love the heat, I think it feels great. I love the hot wind blowing in my face, its like a kiss from my sister, and I love the sand in my eyes, it makes me feel alive. There is nothing wrong, everything is beautiful, and birds sing and dance when I walk by them.
I have to tell you what was said about me and why I was counceled today, I happen to have a copy of the statement so I'll quote it, then I will comment on it. First of all, the complaint was registered by....lets call him Goober, to protect his identity. Goober printed out the offending material that I have now fixed, and gave it to the person who counceled me, but here was what he said about me and my blogs..."Here are a few posts, sounds like he has quite an attitude. I don't think that anything about past convoys should be posted, because it gives pieces of info that may give the advantage to the enemy in the future. However, I'm sure this isn't the only post out there...
Ok then he talks about all the other blogs in the BSB and I really like this..."The others on the BSB list are benign and uninformative about mission or other particulars. I only tapped into this one because someone alerted me to it and he is originally from Charlie Company BSB."
Hehehe, dear Goober, I love that you said I have attitude, I guess it comes through in my writing..it is part of what makes me the bad-ass that I am...at least my girlfriend thinks I'm a bad-ass...so it must be true! I love that he said all the other blogs he monitors are benign and uninformative....yes folks I have always tried to keep you in the loop where others might fail. I am going to have to stop writing about some things but I shall still try to keep you entertained and informed while not talking about army matters. If there is anything army that I want you to see, I will quote it from another source, like a newspaper so that I am not giving out any information from this place. One thing that is interesting to note is that somebody went and told our friend Goober before talking to me about the problems he noted in my site...isn't that interesting. I think its great and it raises my morale to new highs. I think now that I have Goobers attention on my site, I will have another fan, I want everyone to welcome Goober to my fan club, as I'm sure he will visit more often. I love how Goober states as one of his reasons for tapping into my site is because I'm originally from Charlie Med. not that I know what that has to do with Opsec, but thats the beauty of Goobers style I think...he likes to keep you guessing.
Budahn, You were right when you gave me the hint a while ago. I should have listened but I have learned my lesson, I will try to be as benign and uninformative as everyone else. It is hard for me, so if you notice that things are getting to informative, please let me know before Goober has too, I will try to do my best. Notice how I craftily masked the identity of this soldier..lets just call him sexy-mofo. he wanted to give a shout out to his parents Mr. and Mrs. mofo, so I let him in without compromising his anonimity. Take care people, your secrets are safe here! Thanks to my new information, and our new friend Goober.
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truckers are funny
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Hello readers, It has been awhile and I'm sorry, I haven't been ignoring you, I have just been lazy. sorta. I had a 3 day mission a little bit ago, so that kept me away for awhile, I went all the way to (somewhere) along the Jordanian boder and guess what, it looks just like the desert outside camp...the whole route there as well. I could easily see getting myself lost out there, if I wasn't highly trained already to find anything starting from anywhere. The people who drive these trucks of supplies back and forth from place to place are under our protection, its mainly what I do here. these truckers are hired hands, locals or third country nationals and they are very annoying. I'm thankful for the job they do, it is a dangerous job, but they don'tthink it is, or they are just plain crazy. It is so frustrating trying to herd these people from point A to point B as fast and as safe as possible, because they are in no hurry to go anywhere. There are times we need to stop for another convoy passing us in the opposite direction, or if we see something suspicious that should be checked out. Every single time we stop, these guys start piling out of their trucks and start cooking meals, and making tea and hugging each other and talking like they haven't seen each other in years, even though it might have only been an hour since they last had one of these happy reunions. Heres the kicker, we are very careful where we drive on these roads because of the bombs, we wear armour from head to toe 100% of the time even inside our armoured vehicles. These crazy truckers get out wearing a T-shirt and sandals, walking back and forth, all over...I swear when I'm watching them throwing one of these roadside parties, I have one hand on my med. bag and my eyes on them watching in fascination waiting for one of these guys to go flying into the air propelled by one of these bombs. We yell at them to get back in their trucks every time! They are like naughty little boys who know better too, we drive up and down the line yelling at them to get back in their trucks while we clear whatever problem is ahead...when they see us coming they get up and hop into their trucks but as we pass by, they pop back out and continue where they left off. It's maddening because they know better. They just don't give a crap. of course once one of them blows thier leg off then they'll be yelling for help, Grrr. Well, it isn't my leg. They know better.
(deleted due to opsec) , it's sad to think about because I'm sure his family was celebrating memorial day weekend and thinking about thier son over here doing his job. It's not easy being a soldier here but it is just as hard being the family or loved one of someone who is over here. they go through just as much. They live with the same fears that the soldier lives with. I'm done with that for now, just when it happens it gets you thinking.
(deleted due to opsec) more days until I am supposed to catch a plane out of here and you can believe I am counting them. I am posting a picture from my last convoy because I look like a badass in it. At least that is what my girlfriend tells me..so it must be true! Take care of yourselves my friends...Oh! Nygaard says the laundry thing isn't his fault, there are people who do our laundry here, its their fault. (wonder how much those poor suckers are gettin' paid to wash my britches). Until next time people...Troy.
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