Being Thankful

My wife knows that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (because she knows everything about me). There are many reasons why I love Thanksgiving - the time of year, the food, the fellowship, the football - but the number one reason is the concept. To me it's, "Okay....HOLD EVERYTHING!" It's time to stop and remember everything good about our lives.

Did you know that our first President designated the fourth Thursday of every November as "Thanksgiving"? Because my wife knows everything about me, she knows that my favorite American hero is George Washington. However, I'll bet she does not know that George Washington was NOT the first American President. Recently, a friend sent me an e-mail about the first American President, a guy named John Hanson (under the Articles of Confederation). It was John Hanson who designated the Thanksgiving holiday.

George Washington was a man worthy of hero status. However, it's a worthy endeavor to learn more about our other fathers too. Sharon just sent, "Revolutionary Characters", by Gordon S. Wood, and "American Gospel", by Jon Meacham, because she knows what I like to read. You should Google John Hanson, or read about him at: http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html. Here's a little bit from that web site:

Hanson, was elected, unanimously, by Congress (George Washington was a voting member of that body). As President, he ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents. President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. He was President for one year. There were six other Presidents under the Articles of Confederation after him.

Did you know that the United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation for eight years? While our "founding fathers" were some of the MOST BRILLIANT political minds in history, nobody talks too much about the short period of time under the Articles because the government was a FAILURE. How is it that those brilliant men created something that failed miserably? BECAUSE they were MEN! Men make mistakes! Fortunately, they were smart enough (and HUMBLE enough) to go back to the drawing board and get it right. At least we think they got it right (with the Constitution), but the jury's still out. I mean, isn't it called, "The Great Experiment"?

So, now that we know all that, what makes any of us believe that IRAQ can get it right the first time and in just three years? Let me tell you...there are NO brilliant guys over here (Iraqi, American, or other). So, I recommend you stop listening to that crap on the news - those "brilliant" talking heads on "Face The Nation" and other shows. They don't know squat. I do recommend, however, that you be THANKFUL that we seem to have gotten it right in America. Just give thanks.

Only one picture on this blog today. Can you guess what it is?



It's a gate, at Rustamiyah (that's where the military academy is), behind which is a soccer stadium. A few years ago, the Iraqi national team lost a critical soccer match. The sons of Saddam Hussein were involved with recruiting and running the team. They had the team come here, to this soccer field after that game. The team met at this small stadium expecting to be given a tonuge lashing about how they had embarrassed the nation. Instead, they were machine gunned to death in the middle of the field. Their bodies were cut to pieces and spread across the country. That's what Iraq was like before we came to town.

I'm so THANKFUL to be American.

"Here in Topeka" or "The News From Lake Wobegon"

NOT. But we have ended another week in Besmaya.

Before I go any further, I want to tell you that the last picture I've included in this blog entry is very special. It was taken earlier this week by Captain Kangaroo and I told him that I think it is good enough for National Geographic. Please view it last, and long. I call it "Beautiful". He's so lucky with his little camera. When I look at it I think of that Peter Gabriel song, "In Your Eyes".

Me and CSM Law took a trip up to Taji to pick up some radios and pick the brains of some of the smarter Lieutenant Colonels; friends of mine, running schools in Communications, Engineering and Logistics. They've cracked the code - I haven't. We're so far behind getting our school going that it makes my head hurt. I guess if I were in America, doing the same thing, you could say I had "job security".

Our ride....courtesy of 1st Cav Airways

While me and the Sergeant Major were in Taji, some of the guys here went out to a local village (name protected) and visited a school. They gave out stuff we've been collecting for these kids from people back home. Some of it came from the Treat's of Fayetteville, GA, and the Strouds of Winston Salem, NC. Many others contributed too, including Wal-Mart, HBO and folks from dozens of states. It was a good day for the troops and it's probably better that I had to be somewhere else. I'm not sure I'm emotionally equipped for these kinds of missions.

The Iraqi Army students are winding up their training and will begin their final week tomorrow. Here are some pictures of their training. A Pink Floyd song comes to mind, "We Don't Need No Education." And that's the news from Besmaya, where the men are men and there ain't no women. So, you never have to lift the seat, there's no one here but men men men men.

Broke down (again).





Somebody's enjoying this search a little too much.




Planning a military operation takes a lot of time and hard work. The up-side is.... you get to play in the sand.

This is a planning matrix. I have no idea what it says.

Yea! It's time to go in for some Chai (tea).

And finally...BEAUTIFUL

Home for the Holidays

The Multi National Security and Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I), pronounced “min sticky”, finally approved my leave request. Looks like I’ll be home for Christmas; that is, if there are no lock-downs or revocation of travel orders for that period. I have to admit, it’s hard to stay focused knowing that home is just a few weeks away.

A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Rustamiyah (Rusty) to do some work with the NATO advisor to the Iraqi Military Academy – Rustamiyah (IMAR). He’s a British “chap” that I’ve gotten to know pretty well over the past few months. Also, he and I hit it off like long lost friends, so I always look for a reason to visit with him. The other good thing about going to Rusty is I get to see one of my best friends, LTC Eddie Palmer. Eddie is the Senior Coalition Advisor to IMAR and works hand in hand with NATO.











This is Eddie, outside the Military Academy where he works.

I got my leave approval just before I left for Rusty, so on my flight over, all I could think about was home. I can’t wait to get on that Blackhawk that will be the first leg of my trip home.

When I got to Rusty, I jumped out and ran over to the pax terminal. I noticed a bunch of 4th Infantry Division and 101st Airborne Soldiers just hanging around, but I did not see Eddie and my ride. The 4th ID and 101st are in the process of rotating out of Iraq. They share the Rustamiyah base, a real hot spot, with the Iraqis. They’ve been here a year and now it’s time to go home. They will be replaced by units form the 1st Cav, 1st Armored and even some 1st ID soldiers who have just begun arriving in theater.

More and more Soldiers were coming towards me and I asked the kid that manifests the flights what was going on. She said, “Oh, sir, the next leg of this flight is a VIP flight.” Wow, a VIP riding on the same helicopter I just got off of. Then, I saw the vehicle approach very slowly and realized the VIP was a Soldier who had been killed in action a few days earlier. As the vehicle backed into place, about 100 Soldiers formed two lines from the back of the vehicle out to the door of the Blackhawk. No one had called a formation, the Soldiers take it on themselves to escort their fallen comrade to his place of honor. More and more Soldiers join in as the procession moves down the block to the terminal.

As they pulled his body out of the vehicle and carried him to the Blackhawk, each Soldier raised his hand in salute as he passed by. The Soldiers in line and all about the LZ remain at Present Arms until the body is loaded, secured and the Blackhawk takes off. Then, they hold their salute and slowly turn in the direction of the departing helicopter as it moves beyond the horizon. Finally, when the bird is out of sight, the Soldiers drop their salute and slowly meander, silently, in a hundred different directions, back to work. It was the first time I ever saw this unscripted and graceful routine.

It turned out that I got to see two more VIP flights that same day. Each time, I broke down and cried for those 4th ID and 101st Warriors. I could not help but think of the families who, a few days earlier, had been looking forward to the return of their loved one, by Thanksgiving. May God give comfort to those families and peaceful rest to those Warriors. And please, celebrate them home.











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