hood
04-06-2004, 08:40 PM
I wanted to post a message from an online game playing buddy who's over in Iraq right now:
I am not able to be overly specific at this point, and the great Americans on the SIGINT teams that will rightfully eavesdrop this post before it leaves the pipeline will hopefully allow it… but things in Iraq are stupid right now.
From the 6APR04 NY Times:
“The weekend of violence — which included the deaths of eight American soldiers in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City — did not appear to touch off crisis meetings in Washington. The president was campaigning and throwing out the first pitch at an opening-day game in St. Louis…”
Those 8 guys were from my Unit. I was scheduled to bed down around 9pm that night, but ended up staying up the entire night and like 25 hours later I crashed in my cot, fully clothed with only my boots off. Our guys out there fought like champions, and there were many, many, Mahdi’s Army laying in the streets by sunrise.
The last few nights have been crazy, but we are not getting sucker-punched anymore… Several guys in the unit have been shot in the chest with 7.62 AK-47 rounds, but their Interceptor vests have saved their lives. This is a great thing to know as you swing the heavy (35lbs?) bitch over your shoulders each morning…. We all have them, and our Govt. has taken a hit in the pocketbook for these and other important pieces of gear that are also saving lives. Money well spent, let me tell you. One cool story I heard was about a young Private here whose wealthy parents had bought him Titanium armor plates for his vest, instead of the standard issue ones. I guess he is extra-safe, but that was a typically protective but unnecessary Parenting gesture.
This guy Muqtada Sadr is out of his *&^#$^@ mind, believe me. He will never succeed. They are basically impaling themselves every night, and we are simply maintaining peace, or trying to. No witchhunts on our part, just simply raging back against the same scum who killed the 4 guys in Fallujah last week. One of those guys, by the way, you may remember from that silly TBS show “Combat Missions” a few years ago.
Everyone is very serious right now, and you guys would be proud of your fellow gamers, Import Tuner enthusiasts, techno ravers, and even one or two uber-hacker geeks who have joined the military intelligence and tactical communications communities here. They have hobbies like you and I, but right now they are some of the most calculating, professional, determined, and fierce warriors the world has ever seen. I am deeply honored to be among their ranks, and will collectively say that your words on simple posts and in brief PM and emails mean more than you could possibly know.
Oh yeah, and one of the guys you went to high school with, or sold a DVD burner to at Best Buy last year, scored a 600 meter sniper kill on an armed enemy tonight, in limited visibility, about 5 miles from here.
Hope you guys are ok, and save a spot on the server for me…I’m coming home soon.
God be with you.
-D
I am not able to be overly specific at this point, and the great Americans on the SIGINT teams that will rightfully eavesdrop this post before it leaves the pipeline will hopefully allow it… but things in Iraq are stupid right now.
From the 6APR04 NY Times:
“The weekend of violence — which included the deaths of eight American soldiers in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City — did not appear to touch off crisis meetings in Washington. The president was campaigning and throwing out the first pitch at an opening-day game in St. Louis…”
Those 8 guys were from my Unit. I was scheduled to bed down around 9pm that night, but ended up staying up the entire night and like 25 hours later I crashed in my cot, fully clothed with only my boots off. Our guys out there fought like champions, and there were many, many, Mahdi’s Army laying in the streets by sunrise.
The last few nights have been crazy, but we are not getting sucker-punched anymore… Several guys in the unit have been shot in the chest with 7.62 AK-47 rounds, but their Interceptor vests have saved their lives. This is a great thing to know as you swing the heavy (35lbs?) bitch over your shoulders each morning…. We all have them, and our Govt. has taken a hit in the pocketbook for these and other important pieces of gear that are also saving lives. Money well spent, let me tell you. One cool story I heard was about a young Private here whose wealthy parents had bought him Titanium armor plates for his vest, instead of the standard issue ones. I guess he is extra-safe, but that was a typically protective but unnecessary Parenting gesture.
This guy Muqtada Sadr is out of his *&^#$^@ mind, believe me. He will never succeed. They are basically impaling themselves every night, and we are simply maintaining peace, or trying to. No witchhunts on our part, just simply raging back against the same scum who killed the 4 guys in Fallujah last week. One of those guys, by the way, you may remember from that silly TBS show “Combat Missions” a few years ago.
Everyone is very serious right now, and you guys would be proud of your fellow gamers, Import Tuner enthusiasts, techno ravers, and even one or two uber-hacker geeks who have joined the military intelligence and tactical communications communities here. They have hobbies like you and I, but right now they are some of the most calculating, professional, determined, and fierce warriors the world has ever seen. I am deeply honored to be among their ranks, and will collectively say that your words on simple posts and in brief PM and emails mean more than you could possibly know.
Oh yeah, and one of the guys you went to high school with, or sold a DVD burner to at Best Buy last year, scored a 600 meter sniper kill on an armed enemy tonight, in limited visibility, about 5 miles from here.
Hope you guys are ok, and save a spot on the server for me…I’m coming home soon.
God be with you.
-D