Letters from Iraq

[MargaritaLupita]

Thought I would share a series of E-Mails I receive from my nephew Justin. He is about ALL AMERICAN as you can get. Great high school athlete attending a collage on a baseball scholarship and a father. He struggled with his decision to join the army, but in the end, his patriotic duty won out. I do not support this war in any way. I do feel that the people that serve are incredibly heroic and deserve our full support. I will start with letters from back in December and add more as we go.
12/17
Hea everone I just wanted to say hi. Things are good and im very bussy. We
have had alot of bad stuff happen latley thats why I havent been in touch.
We have also been going out on extended missions. I have to go but I just
wanted to say the dont belive every thing that you see on TV there are some
real amazing things going on here that are not reported any were. I was part
of saving the lives of dozens of people a few weeks ago and it feels good to
be doing something great. Also thanks for the packages and love
12/23
hello everyone. I guess that you all have herd about what happened. Its
been a little rough but im ok and back out on the streets doing my job. This
is a really different world over here unlike any that anyone of you has ever
seen or experanced, I think. Its very cold and muddy like nothing that I
have ever seen in my life witch makes walking very difficult and your feet
to always be wet. The army is going to award me a purple heart for what
happened the other day, is sort of a really big deal around here everyone is
talking about the two guys who were shot in the head and lived. Im fine the
bullet went through my helmet skiming across my scalp and through my for
head leaving two pieces of shrapnel and blowing my glasses in half and off
of my face. I was very lucky. Well christmas is here and life will not
change here. I may not be able to call anyone on christmas eve or mornig I
think that I will be in one of our OP called South House for a few days. I
hope that everyone out there realizes how much we have and how proud we
should be of our familys, ourselfs and our country. I love all of you very
much and thank you for all of the support. Also I dont want anyone to be
affraid to ask me anything that you want. Also sorry if I cant write
everyone a indivuadale letter that would just take more time than i have.
Ok give emily a huge and kiss and tell her that her daddy loves her.


love Justin

12/30
Hello everyone im doing great and miss all of you very much. It really cold
here so im always bundled up its sort of funny because i never thought that
it got so cold in Iraq. Any way I love you all very much and cant wait to
see you

love justin

1/5
Hello everyone out there. Lots of questions i see. Thats ok i like it. Well
not much has changed here sense Sadam was hung suprising though seeing how
these people love him here, and this is a Sunni dominated area. I doing just
fine keep up with each day and doing my job to the best of my abbility. The
weather is still the same the fighting stays the same as well. Thank you all
so much for giving Emily so much love and always saying nice things about me
to her. I hope that you all had a great holliday and the new year brings you
all much happiness. i love all of you very much and miss the same.

love justin

2/1
Hello everyone how are you? Things are moving along just fine here and the
weather is starting to heat up. We are hard at work opening up police
stations, establishing Iraq Army members and taking the fight to the Enemy.
There is alot in the news about more soldiers coming to Iraq, I know that we
all have different beliefs on the war, but if we are going to be here
sending more troops is going to help out alot. Thank you all so much for the
packages and Emails im sorry that I cant reply or send thank you letters all
the time but I truly am greatful. I hope that you all have had a chance to
see Emily latley, she is so special. I love all of you very much and thank
you all for everything that you have done.

love Justin

[horizon200]

Thank You for sharing! Give him our gratitude and support.

[southbound]

Wow, ML -- thanks for letting us peek at these. One of my co-workers had a brother-in-law over there for the first two year (a supply officer within the Green Zone) and he let us read his correspondence as well. These men and women have interesting things to say, even if to them it is just a mundane reporting of their daily experiences. It is invaluable for us (well me, anyway) to have their perspective on what's happening over there.

Thanks again -- thank Justin for me, too.

[Seakony]

Thanks for posting these....It's great to hear how proud the soldiers are and talk about the work they do that the media won't tell ya about. May he stay safe and return home soon.

[monte]

Rita said everything I feel. Thank you so much for sharing something so private and special. It really does help us, who do not have friends or family over there, open our hearts that much more. Those letters are so special.

Originally Posted by Seakony

Thanks for posting these....It's great to hear how proud the soldiers are and talk about the work they do that the media won't tell ya about. May he stay safe and return home soon.

[sctx]

What a brave man! Thank him for all of us. I myself, when seeing someone in uniform, make the effort to shake hands with them. Sometimes people just don't get that without guys like him, we wouldn't have the great life we do here in the states. May God bless him and bring him home soon! Again, thanks for sharing!

Oh Crap...Lil G transposting ....

[Lil G]

Okay guys, on as myself now...don't have a computer right now so have use sctx's when he is out of the room~

[jamesblonde]

Originally Posted by sctx

What a brave man! Thank him for all of us. I myself, when seeing someone in uniform, make the effort to shake hands with them. Sometimes people just don't get that without guys like him, we wouldn't have the great life we do here in the states. May God bless him and bring him home soon! Again, thanks for sharing!

Oh Crap...Lil G transposting ....

My sentimentments exactly Lil G. It amazes me what these men and women go through for their country. ML - please let him know that he has many people thinking about him and many that are grateful for the sacrifices he is making. God bless him and prayers that Emily's daddy comes home safe and soon.

[DavidB]

Thank you for sharing with us. Thank him for risking his life to help others.

[MaripositaII]

Thanks for sharing your personal emails. Your nephew is very brave. May he continue his work and come back safely

[MargaritaLupita]

It is kind of funny how we are so desensitized to the events of the world. I pay way less attention to the events in Iraq than I do to keeping up with baseball scores. I certainly don’t even think on a daily basis about that we are at war. Here’s a few more letters.
2/13 Hello everyone, sorry that I havent wrote in so long. Everything is fine and
moving along well. We have started to see some of the new changes going on
in Iraq in terms of troop numbers and let me tell you it is a great realief.
The more soldiers the better in our eyes because it helps lessen the task
load. I had a great suprise the other day, I was sleeping in my room and out
of no were a familuar voice called out my name. It was James Beck one of my
long time friends from school and some one that I have know for my whole
life played football with and grew up with was in my room. I knew that he
was in the army and sort of new that he was in the same area as me but
wasent shure that we would be able to link up. He is doing well and
adjusting just fine he only got here a month ago so hes still geting use to
the area. The army is a small place the other day I was sitting in a ambush
position and was talking to a engineer oficer and it turns out that he was
from antioch and knew Darshaun. Actualy he sat next to him in Joe Fragas
class in high school, and he remembered dad. I was saying how we were in a
ambush position so I will let you all know how that went, everyone is always
asking me how things are here and what we do so I will tell you guys a
little something. We got called to set up a ambush at a very well know hot
spot to look for IED emplacers and Anti Iraqi forces (AIF) for 24 hours. We
left at about 0100 in the morning on foot and set up for the night in a old
government building overlooking a intersection were almost everyday IED's
are placed or we take small arms fire. Well early the next morning we had
three men that we acting very suspicious, they were pushing some thing out
into the street with a pole and running wire from it, this is positive
identifacation for IED emplacers. We engaged all three men with machinegun
fire and m4 until all three men we nuetrilezed. With in ten minutes our
entire secture was in direct contact with small arms, machinegun and RPG
fire that lasted until the night fall. The attack included our position,
hotel op, south house op and ecp 7 west along with several marine ops and
Iraqi army ops, ops are opservation posts. Well any way we left that night
and the next day we were called back to that same location again with
reports that the insurgents had blown the building up and there we posibably
more explosive devices still in the building. Shue enough when we got there
the building had been blown up and more explosives were still there ready to
be blown as soon as we got there. Any way we blew up the remaining
explosives and left the area. What im trying to get at here is that lots of
people thing that we are just fighting average joe schmoe here when really
we are fighting a force that is capable of conducting cordinated attacks and
has a wide knowledge of explosives and demolition. Well any way I have got
to go but once again thank all of you for everything and I love all of you
very much.

2/24 Hello everyone sorry that I havent wrote or called in so long. The last week
have been very hard for the task force and for me. We have suffered many
casualitys and many KIA. The man who really got me motivated in the army and
who was my biggest insperation and friend was killed two days by a road side
bomb along with two others. He was a great man one of the best i have ever
known, he had a four year old son and a loving wife back home, he is greatly
missed by everyone who knew him. With the new operations we have taken on in
the last few weeks things have been very hard we had 24 killed or wounded
americans in a 48 hour time period. Any way that is all very hard but it is
something that we all have to deal with and knew that we would when we
volentered to come here. I hope that everyone is well and taking care of one
another, I love you all very much and cant wait to see you all. Please dont
worry about me I will be fine ok.

love Justin
3/7 Whats up you all? Im good and looking forward to coming home in about a
month. I have changed jobs and was selected to be the new company sniper. I
will now work in a two man team as the shooter and will be very active in
the fight. Im very happy with the new job and am honored that I was selected
to do it, I really dont have any experance in this type of work but am
learning fast from a man that has been doing for a long time and is very
knowledgable and a good teacher. I fear the weather has begun to make a
change for the worse and is starting to heat up. The weather now is perfect
warm days and warm nights but everyday its getting warmer and warmer. Our
company is about to change sections again and now we are moving into the
heart of the city. We are not looking very forward to it this is were we
have suffered the majority of the Task Force casualitys and is a well know
insurget strong hold. Ow well that is our job and that is what we have been
tasked to do so thats what we will do to the best of our ability. I am very
motivated about the campaign here in Iraq and belive in what I am fighting
for. There is nothing that I have seen or experanced that would led me to
belive other wise. My mom sent me a copy of the Febuary 15 2007 fort bragg
advocate paper and there was a letter to the editor writen by a Cecile
Cutler titled send food not bombs that was extremly desturbing to my self
and all of the soldiers that I let read it. If any of you have the recorces
to read this letter you should, its short but it was upseting to me to have
her say that we a murders, tortures. Yes I know that some people have done
some things that really arnet rite but the majority of us are doing the rite
things. The things that we do to detanies is not torture its called tatical
questioning, torture is stabing someone dozens of times before shooting them
in the stomach cutting of there genatals, burring them in a half dug grave,
partualy sliting there throat before shooting them in the head all done in
the court yard of a elemenetry school. Im sorry for the grafic decription
but in fact this was a man that was kidnapped and we were called to rescue,
unfortunitly we did not get there in time. What im trying to say is that I
hope we all realize that war is terriable and yes we all wish that it never
happend, but it does, weither we agree on why or not. I just hope that you
all realize that the American Soldier is the most profesional well
desiplined soldier in the world yes some have maid some wrong decisions, but
dont look at the occupiers of Iraq as Murders and Tortures because that is
not at all what we are is young men and women who joind to do something that
we belived in. Any way I know theres always going to be people that say and
do things because they are very pashonite about it and thats great that
people have the rite to say what they feel in a public spectrum and not fear
for there life. Let me tell you if a Iraqi was to publicaly go out and say
he was with the americans in Ramadi he would have the same thing done to him
as the man I previousley mentioned.
Any way I hope that everyone has had the chance to see Emily in the past
few months, I know that I cant wait to see her. Im thinking about taking her
to disney land when I get home, she has been talking about it for months, I
wonder who put that into her head (Taj) any way I love you all very much,
take care of your selfs and your familys and if you see Emily tell her that
her daddy loves her so so much, and I love her all the way to the moon and
back.

love Justin

[Just Lucky]

I very much appreciate you posting these and the great job he is doing. I pray all of our folks will be able to return safely home soon.

[tlegray]

I too appreciate the effort and sacrafices these men and women are making. I also appreciate the sacrifices their families are making everyday the soldiers are away. to all of them

[jessiep]

I have talked to some men that have been over thee,And they say the same thing about our media not showing ANY of the many good things that we are doing there.Shame on our media!

[MargaritaLupita]

Our media is a reflection of our society. They only show what we want to see. When we were blowing the crap out of stuff the showed it everyday. Dirty laundry