mattys281 Report post Posted March 13, 2009 Got another e-mail from my little bro who's serving over in the sand-box. Here's a first hand account: Well we are leaving lovely Ur tomorrow. We will spend about three days at Taji and then our whole task force will be relocating to the peace and quiet of FOB Falcon. It is a built up post with all possible ammenities and they average .4 Significant Actions a month. All are targeted towards Iraqi security forces, more an Al Quaida threat as oppose to JAM that we are dealing with here. So the last 6 weeks of the deployment will probably pretty laid back. As for things here we have been getting attacked more and more everyday. We had one of our trucks get hit with an EFP about 2 weeks ago, blew the whole turret off the MRAP and the gunner was killed, pinned underneath it about 20 meter from the truck. Everyone else inside was fine though, no other injuries, it was perfectly aimed to take out the gunner. Then a few days afterwards one of the infantry foot patrols had a grenade thrown at them, a Bradley had an RPG launced at it barely missing, and just a few days ago 9 mortors were launched at us with one hitting the generators(shrapnel popped the blimp 300 feet in the air!), another hit our snack trailer, and the other 7 landed outside of the walls. Those were all in the last month. Going back further we had an EFP hit our supply convoy, 2 RPG attacks on our towers with one hitting, a few grenade and sniper hits, and several mortor attacks(all landing outside the walls though). All of this has happened since we came here at the end of December. The only incident that anyone got hurt though was that strike on our trucks. 1CAV is here now and they can have this place! Because of the SOFA agreement all we do is walk around and wait to see if someone will shoot at us. Basically all we can do is react to them. JAM has been handing out propaganda to the locals telling them they are back (spent the last year since the battle for Sadr city training in Iran), and that they will kill anyone who helps us. Just perfect timing for us to leave! I am scheduled to be back in Germany by end of May with the whole brigade back no late then the 5th of June. We will all get our 30 days of block leave at that time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azpackhorse Report post Posted March 13, 2009 Glad to see that your little bro is ok, Matt. My youngest son heads to Iraq in a few months and I am the one who is scared to death. I am sure that he is somewhat scared too but he hides it better than his father............ It is good for people to read these letters, for those who do not have a loved one over there I think it adds more realism to it......not some 10 second clip on the news. My prayers are with your little bro as well as the rest of our brave young troops over there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KGAINES Report post Posted March 13, 2009 God Bless your brother and all our troops, I am praying they stay well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest 300ultramag. Report post Posted March 13, 2009 Thats very Intense. Its really easy to forget about what goes on over there on a daily basis. Im glad your bro is doin' good. May God be with him, as well as your family. Beau Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msgbarney Report post Posted March 14, 2009 Congrats to a tour well served and that he is coming home safe. I know how he's feeling, getting ready to go on my 4th tour in December. Glad to have him back safe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted March 14, 2009 Tell your brother that a lot of us thank him for what he did for us and the rest of the country. Welcome home! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattys281 Report post Posted March 16, 2009 As a side note to this, his wife found out she was pregnant a few weeks after he deployed. He's scheduled to get home to her in Germany just about a month or two after his first child is to be born. Regardless of your position on the war, the sacrifices our soldiers make for us is huge & they all deserve our thanks. Appreciate the kind words. Matt S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
