Friday, February 25, 2005

Letters from SSG Dan, Part 3

More notes from Staff Sergeant Dan in Iraq. His unit drives cargo trucks called the PLS (Palletized Load System), among other vehicles.
Dan's PLS

More pictures of the PLS here.

January 6, 2005
Taji, Iraq

When we go on missions, our whole way of life changes. We… are usually out all night. We try to sleep during the day and just get up to eat when we wake up. It’s hard to sleep with everyone playing DVD’s and radios. Our chow hall is great and every meal is delicious! I’m really getting FAT! [Sherrie says: I cannot imagine that! Dan has always weighed the same NO MATTER WHAT! Doesn’t even seem fair to me. Jared notes: the chow hall and facilities at Taji are the best in Iraq, with a Burger King, Subway, and Pizza Hut and the largest PX in Iraq!]

As I write this letter, I have a million things to do. I should be up and busy but I have a mission tonight, so I need to get some more sleep. I think it will always be this way while I’m here. Sherrie, please pray for me. I have a tendency to get down. I try to think about all the Lord has done for me and I realize I should never be unhappy, but I find myself longing to be home to the point that I am blue. Please keep me in your prayers.

January 8, 2005
Mosul, Iraq

I am sitting at… Camp Marez waiting to pick up our trailers and racks. We came to Mosul… and spent the night in a mudhole. It was really cold but the stars were beautiful. I saw some mountains off in the distance and they reminded me of Colorado. I can’t wait till I come home and we can go back to the mountains. Northern Iraq is prettier than southern Iraq. There is some grass and a few trees scattered around. It is hilly and rugged and no sand. I think we will start back today.
Break…
Where was I? Oh yes, we’ll be back at Taji tomorrow or the next day. I’ll be glad to get back and take a shower! I’m so dirty and muddy.
I’ll try to call home soon. Whenever there is a soldier killed, they have a three day blackout on the phones so the family can be contacted before news reaches them another way.

January 12, 2005
Taji, Iraq

I did some plumbing today and it was kind of fun. We have to scrounge for everything over here so it was a real challenge to get everything hooked up. Time seems to be going by pretty fast, but I try not to think about it. I got my album out the kids made for me and was looking at all the pictures. Tell them how much I appreciate it. I was looking at some pictures of when we were together in North Carolina and Virginia Beach. Those are really neat memories. Our life has really become interesting hasn’t it? Just a few years ago I would have said it was kind of routine and predictable, but NOT NOW! I really think I’m ready for it to become boring again. Get up, go to work, come home, relax, go out to eat, mow the grass, sit on the deck, go to church, go for drives, go fishing, see my babies grow, vacation, fires in the fall. All these things seem almost like a dream to me. Someday, it will be a reality again.

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