Greetings from Deep in the Heart of Texas!

[Jim von Krieg]

Earl,

I wish I'd have had the opportunity to meet you at Bangor. I spent most of the time on the cell phones the USO passed out to everyone so we could talk to our family. Of the remainder of the time, I hit the gift shops, which is not something I normally do. I figured, heck, it was a special occassion so i picked up some Maine trinkets to go along with my German trinkets.

We didn't know we were going to hit Bangor until we were on the airplane. It's a very complicated aerial ballet that is streaming troops into and out of Iraq. As we were the leading edge of "surge" we were returning with the other guys that were tapped with the 15 month tours. Several Brigades were headed back, so it was a slow churning and "organized chaos" process with lots of Soldiers in the chute.

Rebel,

Good luck to your son-in-law. A lot of what happens there depends on the general location you are working and the organization you belong too. Some places are low threat environments and others are high noon in Dodge City. It is safer today than when I got there in 2006, but safe remains a relative concept in Iraq.

There is a tremendous support network behind the scenes of people sending things to the troops. I was amazed and the quality and quantity of things sent to the troops by law offices, churches, civic organizations, boy/girl scouts and ordinary folks. We were literally drowing in girl scout cookies and coffee at one point. It is truly amazing the efforts being put forward by others to support the troops. This effort is above and beyond what friends and family are doing.

I've not really followed the news in the States, but I wonder how well that story is out? I don't recall hearing much about it before I left, but to see the packages come rolling in is a big morale booster. In fact, the packages appeared to be coming faster than the ability of the military to distribute them.

Back to the less important things, my daughter purchased Matrix CS for my upcoming B-Day, so I'll be relaxing to the Campaign Series' electronic combat soon enough. Now, I just need to get my body clock adjusted to US time and not Iraq time. I was a night shift guy forever there (you know, "own the night"), then changed to a day shift for the last few weeks, then back to US for another change. So, my sleep rhythm is somewhat screwy at the moment.

Its great to be back... and I'm truly looking forward to Thanksgiving...

See you on the electronic battlefield shortly... Bwu Haa Haa....