spc joseph a. brown
Tuesday, May 13, 2003Taji Airfield, Iraq
Dear Curtis and Bev,
Hey guys, how are things back in the real world? I just wanted to get you out a note to say thanks a bunch for the package. It's pretty boring here, but your thoughtfulness put a smile on my face that day. The cookies were great, and I shared them with all my tent mates. The mood here is one of "When can we go home?" Seems like they're always looking for stuff for us to do, but they never really have anything solid.
We just moved to a new spot called Taji. It makes the fifth move since we've been here. We started out at Camp Wolf (a receiving camp); next we moved to Arif Jan, and from there we went to a place called Camp New York. All of these camps were in Kuwait. While I was at New York we rolled up to a place called Camp Bushmaster, about 75 miles south of
Baghdad inside Iraq. Then we moved from New York to Camp Dogwood. We stayed there for a little over a week. Next it was on to Camp Anaconda about 45 miles north of Baghdad. We only stayed there about four days. Now here at Taji. It's an old Iraqi training camp where they used to store all sorts of ammo. They tell us we will be here for a while, but I won't get my hopes up. Taji has the best accommodations so far. We're living in an old mess hall that Saddam used to feed his trainees. It's really run down. They have no windows, and there are packs of wild dogs here that roam all over the place. They have teams that go out at night just to kill the dogs. Aside from all that, the country is pretty safe. We roll up and down the road all the time getting supplies, and I haven't had a single incident yet.
The Iraqi people seem really happy that we're here. They are always on the road waving and smiling. They have shops set up in little grass huts all over the place, where we can buy anything from cigarettes for 15 dollars a carton to soda for twenty dollars a case to liquor for ten dollars a pint. I bought a couple rugs and some whiskey so far, but I'm trying not to spend too much money.
We have about ten people at the medical aide station today. It seems they were clearing a warehouse when some barrels tipped over. The guys all got sick and we're waiting to find out what it was. Other than that it's been a pretty safe trip. We had one girl get sent home for a torn ligament in her ankle. One of the guys never left Fort Lee; he had a slight heart attack. Then we had one guy who was brought here without a contract. It took him almost three months to finally convince them that he had been legally discharged , but they finally let him go home.
I really miss school [the Greenbrier Valley Campus (GVC, Lewisburg, West Virginia) of New River Community and Technical College (NRCTC)]; believe it or not, I miss Dr. Dynak [GVC chemistry and physical sciences professor] and all the staff at the college. You need to tell Mr. Palm [NRCTC Student Services Director] that when I get back, we're going to have our long awaited dinner. Tell anybody who knows me to drop me a line. Mail is the blessing from the gods that keeps us sane here. Tell Ms. Stennett [GVC English professor] that I'm working on my writing skills. They still haven't got me any books; they were on a military conex [CONtainer EXpress, a military shipping protocol] that still hasn't arrived. I'm praying for the day that they arrive. It would make the days go by so much faster to have my chemistry book or a micro book here to read and study.
So have you been doing any fishing lately? I saw in a newspaper where they were stocking all the local streams and such. Looks like it would have been a great summer for fishing. Wish I could be there. I love going out to Tuckahoe and trout fishing. I know it's not the kind of fishing you do, but I enjoy being out there and seeing the flies land on the lake top as the sun is just boiling away.
Well, that's about all for me today. It's real hard for me to sit here and just write. Hope you have a great summer, and drop me a line whenever you get the chance. Thanks again for the cookies. They were great.
Missing home and all my friends,
Joseph Brown, SPC, US Army
PS: If you could, give my mom a call and tell her to send some super glue in the package she is putting together for me.
July 20, 2003
Taji Airfield, Iraq
Curtis and Bev,
Greetings from Iraq (or Hi to all you lucky people back in the States),
So it's July 20, 2003, six months since I first got my original deployment orders and hopefully one day closer to the day I come home. I'm still at Taji Airfield just north of Baghdad and just a little south of sanity. The days here are mostly uneventful.
We (the cooks of the 811th Ordance Company and the 5/3 Field Artillery Brigade) have divided shifts that add a little spice to an otherwise ordinary existence. The first day of our shift is a cooking day. We don't have to be at work till about one in the afternoon. We cook the meal and serve around five and finish up around seven thirty. On our next day of work we get up at four thirty in the morning and drive up to Balad and pick up rations for the troops. This is an all-day affair in the hot sun, where we mostly hand-load cases of water and MREs [Meals, Ready to Eat]. Upon our return we unload the trucks and fill gas cans and do maintenance on generators and so on. On our third day we have what is called detail. This mainly consists of cleanup and mopping a dirt floor (seriously) and making coffee for the medics and the chaplains. We are generally finished around ten am and have the rest of the day to do with as we please, except for when the trucks come back from the log pack (Balad) and we have to help unload them.
As you see, this leaves a lot of free time in which to think about going home. I try to read and study a little chemistry every now and then. We play a lot of video games and watch a lot of movies. Supposedly we are going to receive a satellite hook-up soon so we can watch some American channels. But the fact is, the main problem about being over here is an uncontrollable amount of boredom. The heat (it gets up to 130 degrees some days) makes it kind of hard to focus on any one event all that long, and most of the time we just try to lose ourselves in the monotony.
Well, enough about my present state of affairs. How are things back home with you? I want to make sure I say thank you again for the letters you two have sent me. They always brighten my day and make me thankful for having met such faithful and loving friends. A special note of pride to Bev for having her stories published in the school paper. I really enjoyed them. Can't wait to get back and have the dinner we keep talking about. Tell Michael Palm I'm going to make pasta alfredo that will make him want to slap his mother in the mouth. (LOL, just kidding, but he knows I'm serious about my pasta.) I must say the instant availability of food back home is one of the things I miss most. Never really considered myself a gourmand until I got removed from all sense of taste and variety.
On the side of taste and variety, I think I'm planning to make a trip across the country when I get back. A few places I really want to see: Grand Canyon, Redwood Forest, Mount Rushmore. Figure I'll find me a traveling companion and just set off for a nice relaxing vacation. That is, of course, after our dinner.
Well, thanks again for keeping in touch, and give my regards to everyone at the college, with a special note to Ms. Stennett and Dr. Omolo [GVC biology professor] and Dr. Dynak. Please encourage anyone else who wishes to write to drop me a line. Feel free to post my address somewhere in the college if you want. Mail makes the world go round.
Thanks again for your friendship,
SPC Joseph A. Brown
US Army
HTML Copyright © 2003 Fountainhead Quarterly.
All rights reserved.