Thanks Guys;
I am proud of him and am waiting to see him , possibly tonight or early in the morning...told him to stop by gramp's & Gram's house, no matter what the hour..
I am not nearly as excited perhaps, as a certain little Blonde lady...don't expect to see those two anywhere but together for the duration of his leave...LOL
Powderman asked for our "first person accounts"...
My brother and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary last Sat night.
My nephew Scott, their son , is an Army Sgt. just returned from there.
He says that when he sees the info we are getting on the major networks, he has to ask himself, "Where's THAT Iraq?"
THe "strained" news just doesn't hold much reality in relation to the real thing.
True: The Iraqi troops were at first, quite unsure of themselves, perhaps afraid that the tyrants would come back into power and they did not realize what "freedom" was or meant.....BUT...
Now they are catching on and are really starting to "stand and fight".
He estimates that at least 80% of the Iraqis like and appreciate us and are glad we're there.
Yes, there are some soreheads, but not near as many as CBS,NBC, ABC and CNN would have us believe.
Almost all the real troublemakers are from Iran,Yemen, Jordan or Syria etc. etc.
When on a long convoy, if it came time for lunch or vehicle service, they would leagure up (form vehicles into a circle), then half would eat or service while others kept watch.
Just before he left, there were two times when they were leagured up that Iraqi civilians came to them and pointed out where some terrorists were hiding...so they sent out a detail to "deal with" the terrorists..
Now, when they see a dead goat or cow or a suspicious car or cart along side the road, they check it out and if it looks suspicious...they "put the .50 cal. on it" a few .50 cal rounds usually detonates or de-activates any IEDs..
BTW Scott has been to war in the Gulf three times with two different branches of service;
He was in action in the Persian Gulf with the Navy during the Iran/Iraq conflict...switched to Army and has spent two tours in Iraq in the current conflict.
Didn't get involved in the first Gulf war, he was "between branches" at that time...
