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I'm not a praying person, but maybe you are....
2006-08-31 16:25:43
Our platoon is close knit, many of us have now known each other for over two years and would do anything for each other. More recent additions to our "family" have been our Iraqi interpreters. Some of them we haven't gotten along with as well as others, but the ones we have gotten along with we've come to be good friends with.
Our interpreters for security reasons never use their real names. So keep that in mind when you read this.
A night or two ago one of our patrols was hit by a small IED, the IED caused no damage and standard procedures were initiated.
One of our terps, named OP is a young guy, his 21st birthday is in a few weeks. He was actually going to get married a few days ago but his girlfriend basically left him at the altar because she was afraid of what might happen to him at his job (i.e. our interpreter) and that he was never home.
Our guys in the same humvee told OP that there were other women out there and maybe he should just let her go. OP from what I understand tenatively agreed and stepped out of the humvee.
Ten minutes later he stepped on a pressure plate IED.
The explosion blew off his right leg and most of his right hand. It peppered him with shrapnel. He was rushed to the hospital where I am told he is still in serious condition. He may lose his left leg as well. There is also a possibility that he may not survive the next day or two.
I'm not a religious man, but any good thoughts or prayers you send his way would be appreciated. -
I will destroy your past (or maybe mine)
2006-07-09 19:31:56
My Xbox 360 is dying.
The system was purchased a few months ago while I was home on leave. Perhaps due to the fact that the system came to Iraq with me or that it simply had bad hardware in it, the system no longer reads games. This SHOULD piss me off, but I've already gone to working on my labtop.
Also, my camera went missing, I think some Iraqi snagged it after it fell out of my IBA (body armor). But the jokes on them because I have the charger and the battery was almost dead anyway.
Our platoon was involved in a three hour firefight, just so you know if you ever want to get your blood pumping get in a firefight. You will never feel more scared/excited in your entire life.
My lack of anime is still bothering the ever loving hell out of me. I purchased Pilot Candidate at the PX.
I hate Pilot Candidate.
That is how bad this has become, the lack of anime threatens to push me into buying anime I would normally not touch. Dear god, by this time next week I could be buying Full Metal Alchemist.
I must be strong... -
Sometimes in the desert, a glass of urine can look like lemonade
2006-06-12 03:49:15
Dear lord I miss anime.
I bought an Iraqi version of the show Bleach. Do you know HOW DESPERATE I am for anime to sink to that level? To give you an idea, there are no dubs on the dvds, and the subtitles are misspelled at some points. Some of the characters mysteriously have the same name.
"What!? How dare he try to harm Ryosuko and Ryosuko!"
The quality is something that looks like it was pulled from AMVs made with Windows Movie Maker and I'm not sure, but I think the Iraqi guy I bought the dvds from is probably laughing at me as he goes out to spend my 17 bucks (for the ENTIRE show) on a bomb that will blow up next to my humvee.
Did I mention that there is something like 20 episodes or what not per DVD? I don't think ANY DVD can contain that much information. Which leads me to believe that either these DVDs will "crash" when I get to the fourth or fifth episode. Or the Iraqis have somehow given Einstein the finger and crammed more matter into space that doesn't possibly exist.
I bought the DVDs because I was desperate, THAT desperate. The title of this entry is basically how I feel. At this point I will take virtually any anime I can get my hands on. What doesn't help matters is that I read magazines that review anime and I hear about the awesome anime that is being released back in the states right now or very soon.
The greatest problem is that the PX over here has anime, they just like to laugh at my pitiful attempts to get the first DVD of a series.
It's not that I'm not interested in watching say, Elfen Lied (spelled it wrong, I KNOW IT), it's just that when you ONLY HAVE the fourth DVD, of the show, it makes it difficult to purchase THAT DVD.
It would be like someone who has never seen Star Wars walking in on Empire Strikes Back and hearing, "I am your father."
Enough ranting.
Katara away!
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Luck
2006-05-22 10:17:25
I posted this on the forum I go to, I have put it here because it is basically everything that happened a day ago now in a nutshell.
So far in our deployment, our platoon has been shot at, taken IEDs, and been patrolling what is considered one of the most dangerous and violent sections of Baghdad. Through all this, we have never had a KIA.
Up armored Humvees are nifty things, while the damned things can get hot and are cramped, you can rest assured that they can stop armor piercing rounds all the way up to a 105mm IED.
The Iraqis of course get around the armor by using bigger IEDs, a 155mm mortar round used as an IED will be enough to knock a humvee out of action, and if you hit it in the right spot, kill one or two people inside if not more.
The Iraqis last night put together FOUR 155mm rounds and detonated them simultaneously. The resulting explosion caught the lead humvee near the rear of the vehicle, literally ripping the entire end apart. The gunner of the humvee was ejected from the vehicle due to the explosion and thrown through the air where he landed, fracturing his skull.
The driver suffered cracked/broken ribs, I've heard that the TC of the vehicle was either not injured or suffered very minor wounds.
Our luck has held.
Both are doing fine and are back at the company recovering right now having been treated and both are expected to make a complete recovery.
Our Platoon still has no KIA, while we now have our first Purple Heart recipients, considering the circumstances, I think thats a something we can be thankful for. Had the IED been detonated a foot or so towards the middle of the humvee, it would have killed all of the occupants instantly.
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May is National Dump a Body month in Iraq
2006-05-09 05:22:16
Yeah, so I've now seen more dead bodies in the past week then I have in my entire life.
The ratio is something like this, bodies in past week - number seen in civilian life = same number seen in past week.
THe plus side to this whole expirience is that i've now figured out what song to use for my video about my platoon's deployment. I plan to start working on it any day now and am greatly excited.
well, I must be off, this damned keyboard is bugging the crap out of me.
cheers,
Katara
JOURNAL: Katara (Matt Reppert)
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