Charlie's Weblog

Yesterday evening was the graduation from the Professional Leadership Development Course (the first career course for junior NCOs). The 344th was well-represented there and then again later in the evening with the NCO induction ceremony (all of this section's enlisted troops participated in some fashion). The hospital sergeant major came down from Abu Ghraib for the event and invited unit officers to attend. Speaking was CSM Mellinger, who is the sergeant major for GEN Casey, commander of the theater here in Iraq. Mellinger spoke without notes and discussed the historical precedents of the NCO's role, dating back to Baron von Steuben, whose "Blue Book" trained General Washington's forces in the style of Frederick the Great. He also challenged the officers to look toward promotion of their enlisted soldiers and to the development of their NCOs.

The 344th hospital's CSM Villa came by today and gave me a challenge coin for the work the section here has been doing.

We're still getting occasional rain but the temperatures are now in the high 80s during the day and the high 60s at night.

Two weeks in Aruba were just what the doctor ordered after seven months in Iraq. It was a wonderful vacation and everything went right. Kate was there to meet me at the airport and already had the hotel room booked. It was Carnaval time and we watched the parade from our hotel balcony. White sand beaches, Mary Kate's cooking, magic shows and cabaret shows, boat rides, driving all over the island and swimming in the ocean. For all that, the very best time I had while in Aruba was going to the drive-in theater to see "King Kong" with my wife.

It was just right, except for the fact that the Army wanted me back in Iraq at the end of it. Fortunately, there should only be a few months left to this deployment (one of the advantages to taking leave late in the cycle).

Three books to recommend while on a journey of 10,000 miles:
1) Tom Clancy's *Without Remorse* hypothesizes what would happen if some lowlife messed with the girlfriend of a Navy Seal. Chapter 3 has a detailed, fact-based account of a project Sikorsky Helicopters assisted and was related to me by Bob Kelly, former VEEP and now with Radford Habitat for Humanity, Virginia.
2) Ken Follet's *Place Called Freedom* started in a Scottish coal mine in the mid-1700s and ended in early Virginia near Lynchburg.
3) Fletcher wrote a non-fiction account of the life of *Bill Wallace of China*, an account of a medical missionary who was martyed in the late 1940s. It is a wonderful read for anyone needing an example of a life inspired by the Holy Spirit and the author is a Hardin-Simmons man.

Also, check out the blog of another soldier here in the 344th. SSG Martinez is our unit photographer (both historical and forensic) and is pretty handy with his camera: http://iraqiconnection.blogspot.com/

There are five days left before I leave Camp Bucca to go on leave in Aruba. Mary Kate is still staying with Mother and Grandmother in west Texas. Mother writes that Kate has already packed and re-packed twice. My view on the packing issue is to go "minimalist."

Today marks 30 years of uniformed service for my friend 1LT Sam Hoffman. It's a pleasure to serve with this veteran.

We have a new psychologist here at Camp Bucca - LTC Gary Southwell is an active duty psychologist at Landstul in Germany. He has 18 years with the company and he will be taking over care of all Coalition Force troops, leaving the care of 8,000 detainees to me. It's good to have such an experienced Army psychologist on board. Unique point - he lived in India for two years while his parents were Baptist missionaries there. The picture has 1LT Hoffman, this author, MAJ Williams, 1LT Zabielinski (actually an MP officer but with a lot of counseling and psychology education and experience), SPC Goode, SPC Preston, SGT Matthews, LTC Southwell and PFC Liedeke.

Speaking of the ministry, both chaplains on post thought they would be out of town the Sunday before last so they let me deliver the 0930 sermon. It was rewarding to be able to use my Methodist lay ministry training and the chaplain had me assist with the communion service this last Sunday.

There will be changes by the time my leave ends. Most of the people I know will be gone. COL Schmidt, FOB Commander, gave me a commander's coin for service here, as has LTC Lynch of the USAF. That's okay, though, because the second part of this tour will be shorter than the first part.

As close as I am to my leave date, only half of my mind is in Iraq anymore. The other half is with Mary Kate.

This is a shot from Camp Bucca that really caught my camera one morning. It seems to speak of hope for a creation that has been through a painful process and is now in a formative phase. Even amidst the ugliness of the concertina wire and specter of the guard towers, hope and beauty are where you find them.

A few lines by Robert Frost bear repeating today:

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village though
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow

My little horse must think it's queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake
The only other sound's the sweep
Of gentle wind and downy flake

These woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep

There is still a lot to do here in Iraq. The U.S. mission is far from over, so please keep the troops in your prayers this Christmas.

There was a banquet this afternoon hosted by Sheik Fadel Kamel al Daraje and attended by about 20 officers of Camp Bucca. He brought lamb, goat and fish with a delicious assortment of compliments. The sheik wished to relay his gratitude to those serving with the Coalition Forces for the work we are doing here and the sacrifices that have been made. He also wishes to relate that the houses of the 300,000 people in the al Daraje tribe will always be open in welcome to the troops and their families.

For my part, this was only the third time for me to have Iraqi food since being in this country. The other two times were because Mortada (the Sheik's brother) brought lunch from Umm Qasr when he brought his daughter Miriam to our clinic for appointments.

The little Iraqi girl Miriam came onto Camp Bucca with her sister Fatima today (the girls are eleven and nine). Her father Mortada wanted to talk with us about some buses the U.S. is buying to start a bus service in nearby Umm Qasr. So, the three of them met an American contingent for lunch. COL Schmidt is the base commander and was warmly receptive to the idea of having lunch with these folks, especially since he's the one who is signing the government checks for the buses.

The bus service is going to carry students from Umm Qasr to university in Basrah, about an hour and a half away. Until now, the students have been pooling their money for taxis to take them that distance. The bus service is only one of the American programs we are seeking to implement. We are also trying to get schools established, bring in water purification units to desalinate the water, hire them as contractors to work all of this equipment and also build a clinic or two.

The clinic piece is something COL Schmidt asked me to help implement. The medical staff here has some reservations about going into Umm Qasr, but our hope is to overcome any objections and be able to make some good recommendations as to what sort of medical facilities are needed there. It would be so satisfying to do something over here that would have a lasting impact to the local population.

One piece of really good news - Mortada had a purple index finger. Miriam confirmed that her mother had also voted. After sitting and thinking about it, that really was the best gift they could have given us.

This is the six-month anniversary for my wife and me. Here's a shot of us on our special day. The passage in the Bible is I Corinthians 13, a natural for wedding ceremonies.

Though separated by the distance of 7,300 miles, our hearts have always been next to one another. It just took me a while to discover that. My grandmother treated Mary Kate to lunch at the club with my mother and a few lady friends, then a singing quartet seranaded at Kate's tableside.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Here at the hospital we have turkey and dressing with the officers serving the enlisted from Mermite containers. The weather is a little cool today - low 70's - but the rain and mud from ten days ago is past us. Yes, it rained for a full day in southern Iraq, after which we were greeted to the sight of a beautiful rainbow - an omen of hope over this ancient land.

Thanksgiving wishes have arrived from so many. Mary Kate is spending the day with friends in Anchorage and a special Thanksgiving card came from Henry, Lisa, Eric and Ethan.

We in the mental health section will be reading Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, the words of which carry as much poignancy for Iraq now as they did in October of 1863.

With that, know that you all have my thanks for your support during this deployment. May God's blessings rest with us all.

Charlie