Lass than 30 days!

It is impossible to have a proper countdown when you are dealing with the military. Less than 30 days is about as specific as it gets. Brad was supposed to get R&R in Qatar before coming home but he will need to stay a few days longer in Iraq and train the incoming personal. No R&R for Brad, but we are going to be spending a week in Catalina!

I must say, I CAN'T WAIT to have my husband back. I have missed talking to him, calling him when I have a bad day, complaining about random mundane things, reading books in bed together, taking walks with the dog, BBQing, going to church then Greek food, so many things. It feels like he has been gone for a very long time, so many things have happened since he has left. Bradley got a job and is in a musical, Justus has been taking art classes in the evenings producing lots of great things, I have been gearing up to start Nursing school and teaching at a Montessori school...

Thursday Justus and I are going to a concert up in Bellingham. I was able to score tickets to a fan appreciation show for Death Cab for Cutie in their hometown. Justus is such a fun kid, he was quite excited about this show.

Brad mailed home a flag and letters for Ethan's 4th grade classroom. His class had all written letters to soldiers after I did a presentation about Brad and his work in Iraq. Brad replied to the kids in letters (ALL OF THEM) and then passed the letters on for other soldiers to keep. Most soldiers don't write back so he really wanted to make sure some of the kids received letters back and answered specific questions. They were quite excited about the letters and the flag. The flag came with a certificate about the mission it went on and the pilot who flew it. The pilot offered to come and talk to the class in May with Brad once he returns home. Some of the boys told me they wanted to ask him about what guns he uses... boys will be boys :-)

Brad was given an award and a gold challenge coin from Soldiers Angels, a non-profit group we have both been involved with for quite some time. If any of you have been in or around the military you know about the challenge coins. In uniform the soldiers are to always have a challenge coin on them. These coins are generally given to them for being a member of something with a specific emblem on it, or given as a token of appreciation. The history dates back to WWI when a flying squadron were all given coins as a token of their involvement and appreciation by their commander. This coin was carried by a pilot who was shot down and captured. He fled having lost all his identification and made it the French patrol. The only thing he has to attempt to identify himself was his challenge coin. One of the Frenchmen recognized the insignia and he was returned to safe hands. (Wow, that was quite a detour) SOOO, Brad was given an award and a challenge coin from the Soldiers Angels Organization. To receive that award you have to be nominated. Brad was nominated for his constant return on letter writing and his involvement with the DVD project. I have personally written probably almost 200 letters to different soldiers and NEVER received a letter back, Brad has so far written everyone back! He has been receiving letters from different people in the organization weekly the entire time he has been there.

So I am busy at the house getting it ready for the welcome home party. We will be doing an addition onto the house shortly after Brad gets home so there are areas I am not doing much to. Warm weather is on the way and I am excited for the kids to be out of school spending time with me gardening and at the beach!

DVD update and Brad is coming home soon!

Last report we were at 367 DVDs. Since then the momentum has really picked up. Brad has announced that he is at 700 DVDs. Random donations have been sent to him all the way in Iraq! I want to thank Stacy Monahan (her friends and church), Brad's mom Fyrne, Russ and Wanda and our UU church for the continued donations.

It seemed like 1000 was an unattainable goal initially but I think we will make it! Brad is set to come home soon (mid- May) and he will pass the project on. Hopefully we will be getting out of Iraq soon and the need for movies will not exist anymore! Some random soldiers will pack away with hundreds of DVDs when we do finally leave... Thank you all again for your support! Having mailed out hundreds of DVDs I know that it took a lot of people to make this happen. It reminds me of my favorite saying, many hands make light loads.

I have talked to Brad often, and he sounds good. He has personally been touched by multiple soldier suicides, that is an aspect I didn't think he would have encountered as much as he has. So sad.

I am busy working on the house so we can have a welcome home / Birthday party for Brad. We are planning a remodel this summer so I am trying to be mindful of not doing projects that will just be "redone". There are 6 of us living in a house that is too small so we are going to bump it out a little. I will be sendind invitations in May for the day long event!!

(from Brad)


This is the C-ram next to my POD shooting down a mortar that was coming at us. Very cool but loud. I love the Army!


(I have no idea what a C-ram is, all I know is that this disturbs me.)





Hello again from Joint Base Balad; March 4, 2009

So here I go again with my thoughts and observations about this adventure we call Iraq. So the big news around here is that Obama is saying we will be out by Aug 2010. It seems impossible based on the amount of work we have going on each day here that in just a year and a half we will all be gone.

Joint Base Balad is a place where they fix things that get broke in Iraq (including us). We are the main hub in the country and we are the busiest port cargo in the world (for cargo).

On Mollies urging I went and hit the different things that you can do to get fixed up. First stop was the barber shop, I have written about that before. Next stop was the Muscle Therapy Shop (Massage Parlor) head to toe massage from the buff Russian ladies. There are 5 of them working 12 hours a day tending to guys who come out of the field. My lady did not speak any English, which was fine. She was strong and fast and I left feeling sore and loose. Cost for this 1 hour work over was $32.00.

Next stop was the beauty shop; yes it is full of men, so what? In there I had a lady from the Philippines give me my first facial. I was scared and she told me that it might hurt if I was not tough. I thought wow; how bad can it be. The facial lady told me it’s amazing how deep the dirt gets imbedded in the faces of some of the Army and Marines that come in. She told me stories of getting, glass, metal and rocks out of their faces for them. This lady deserves a medal. Cost of a complete facial with back massage was $22.00. My next stop was over to the foot lady who was really pretty till I realized she was a he. S/he was already working on my feet when I figured it out and I thought; who cares the gender when you need help. You see, I broke a bone on the top of my foot the second week I was here running and as such, I have been limping for weeks. My feet are hamburger and needed to be worked over. So I rolled with it and I am glad I did. I asked her how long she had been in Iraq and she said 5 years with only 1 day off every 3 weeks working 12 hours a day. She was from an island in the Indonesia area and would be killed for being gay. So she has been sending money home and just living. She says that 97% of the soldiers are fine with her and gave good tips. To be honest, I was impressed with her and tipped her well. She is just a human wanting to survive this life and not hurt anyone. By the way; my feet felt great and the break is healing well.

So a bit of the odd personality things I have seen here. I have seen a few of the single ladies have found boyfriends here. It is not too surprising except that it is a war zone. I think it is impressive people can fall in love anywhere. Some people have hit the gym so much that you don’t even recognize them. A few guys are huge or have lost 30 or more pounds in the last 2 months. I find it interesting to see how people cope with stress. Some people have begun to live at the hospital and help unload the wounded. They are the weirdest as it is competitive in an odd way. They have to track their hours (for PTSD, infection control and other reasons) and when a group of them get together they ask each other how many hours have you got total. The more you have the cooler you are I guess. Is it human nature to compete at everything? It’s like when I run into other divers and they want to know how many dives I have logged or how deep I have been. Who cares? Well, they do because they want to judge you. 2 of the guys I work with daily have received notice that a divorce is waiting for them when they get home. Kind of sad but I think that some of these wives do a lot of thinking with their spouses deployed mixed with stress and it seems like the thing to do. I feel for them.

On to the DVD project progress. I am so pleased to tell everyone it is a huge, huge, huge success. We have over 300 titles now and everyone seems to love and use it. I am so happy about this. It has been so good to see so many people benefit from a simple idea. This really appeals to the Buddhist in me and I thank everyone who has helped me in this endeavor. We have outgrown our current cabinet in Outbound Cargo Office. I was worried about this but the managers (some of whom who told me this was a waste of time) have authorized a custom cabinet to be built to hold them all with room to grow. It will be custom made; 45” wide by 72” high and will hold about 600 DVD’s. Also, I made the official decision that all people should benefit from it and (with some grumbling from a few) have opened it up to TCN’s (Third Country Nationals). This will mean that guys like Neal and Abul from Nepal can take video’s out of the Port. Also, the folks from KBR can take them as well. I made this decision based on my belief that no one should be excluded from anything that makes time go by here in Iraq.

Some people have asked me about body armor and what that is like. The armor I have is really good and I think it would keep me safe if I was being shot at. The plates in it are very heavy but you can take a few off if you don’t need them (crotch and hip plates). It makes me feel like a turtle some times as I sit in my chair or drive with it. Due to the fact that I don’t go outside the wire I don’t wear it much. It is hard to sling my M-16 over my back with it on and I am not sure how long I could run in it on a hot day without passing out. Other than that it is not bad to deal with. The helmet is very modern compared to the last time when I was a Cop. It is heavy but very well padded and you can move all 7 of the pads around on Velcro. It fits very well and is held in place by 5 straps. You can run in it and it does not bounce around. I can answer the phone in it and I think it would protect me from most things the locals throw at us where I am. Overall I give the AF high marks for giving me the gear to stay alive here in Iraq. I am not too sure how other branches feel about their set ups.

So I am approaching the midpoint of the deployment and that feels good. Mollie always sends me fun boxes of things to make me comfortable. She is so amazing and kind. I wonder how she finds the time to do so much. She sends me pictures of my kids, tells me about issues and asks my opinion just like I am out of town for business. If I have a bad day then she lets me vent. All I can say is that I am so lucky to have her and want everyone to know what a terrific woman she is.

I guess that is about all I have for now. I keep working 12-13 hours a day and I am often mentally tired. I do get a few days off a month, about 1 every 6-8 days. I don’t really work hard physically but I have walked out of work feeling like chewed gum. My job back home will feel like a vacation. I have forgotten what an 8 hr day is like. I have forgotten what it is like to sleep at night. Can’t wait to get home and remember. Love you all! –Brad/Dad

DVDs at 367

56 DVDs came in from the Edmonds UU church - way to go, we are at 367 DVDs!

There is a storage unit being make to house most of the DVDs, it will hold 600 for the project.


I have been mailing out the DVDs as they come in. Mailing Lentil soup and mac and cheese among other things for the poor vegetarian! Brad will be coming home mid-May and it is quite exciting for us at home!

They asked Brad to stay on for 4 more months in Iraq, he said he almost started laughing. I imagine a lot of the guys will stick around. Some were impacted with job loses in the changing economy before leaving. Brad has 29 months left until retirement! I am grateful for some many things, thank you all for your ongoing support!

40 more! 311 DVDs

Brad received 27 more DVDs from Soldier's Angels, a non-profit group I am a part of where they pair civilians up with deployed soldiers for letters, care packages, pet sitting, you name it....

More rolled in from our church too, thank you Edmonds Unitarians! 13 DVDs

We broke 300~!!

DVD update 2-25-09 - 276!

Brad has sent out fliers around the base about the DVD program. He has been interviewed about the project and continues to be thanked by people who are really enjoying the program. As of right not it is a closet filled with 250 DVDs on the honor system with soldier sign outs. He has received donations from the soldiers there who brought movies with them and in the mail from friends.

Our church began a collection and the basket is filling up! Justus will be doing a skit on one of the Sundays coming up, should be fun! Thank you for helping and following along with this project!

244 DVDs
+22 Brad's boys
+ 4 Airmen
+ 6 me
= 276 DVDs

Looking ahead, Brad's birthday is on April 28th, I am going to be asking a lot of you to send him birthday cards since he will be spending it in Balad.

Good news for us! When Brad returns the 2 of us will be spending a few days in Catalina! We are going to scuba dive and relax so Brad can decompress some.... Airfare and hotel only ran us about $450 per person!!! Great time to vacation. If any of you have been there and have suggestions please drop me a line.

Also, if you are looking for his mailing address (it is a regular 42 cent stamp) it is at the bottom of the blog, he really enjoys getting mail!

The DVDs will be rolling in...

The Social Concerns group at our church is helping to get the word out about the DVD drive Brad is undertaking in Iraq. They have been generous enough to provide a collection site for the DVDs and post project information. Justus and I went and talked to the group about the DVD drive, they were so excited about it! We already made it to 230 DVDs! I am sure we can hit 1000 with there help.

Brad has reported that the guys are so excited (and quite impressed) that Brad pulled this off so far. So many of you have been generous with sending him care packages and DVDs, a huge thank you to all of you!