Ladies and Gents,
Yes, it's been a while (too long). I'm sure you're opening up this email wondering where the heck I've been and why I haven't written as oft as I did while I was over in the sandbox. My apologies.
I won't give you some lame excuse, other than that since I am back here with you, I don't have as much access to the day-to-day activities in Iraq as I thought I would 2 months ago.
Becoming a civilian again has been difficult. My wife often asks me "do you miss it?”. I pause, think about it, shrug and say "eh". But truthfully, yea, I do miss it. I think about them over there every waking hour of the day.
I wonder how my replacements are reacting to the last month’s escalation in terrorist activity and attacks. They are experiencing what we experienced back in April-May of 2003. They are now running the supply arteries throughout Iraq that I ran for the past year, and they are having a tough time at it. Yes, we trained them well as we began handing off duties to them as we prepared to leave. But, I can't help but think about them now. They are going thru a lot of the same aspects of the war that I went through a year ago. In many ways I wish I were back there, helping. After all, experience can help save lives.
Which brings me to my point of this email. Draft, SchMaft! Nobody is talking about bringing back the draft. We have plenty of folks in the military now to get the job done. The pentagon is just re-allocating or extending war hardened troops, just like they did back when they told my unit that we had another 3 months added on to our tour of duty. So don’t get wrapped around draft cards and throwing medals over fences. Sheesh! I hate election years.
TOUR OF DUTY, folks. They call it "DUTY" for a reason. This isn't some summer war exercise that has a start and end date. We ALL volunteered. For whatever reason, you are there. So cut the crap. Veteran experience staying "in theater" is essential to saving the lives of our soldiers and is a rational move from the Department of Defense. Sure, it blows. But the soldiers gotta suck it up just like we did. Life isn't fair.
The hair rises up on the back of my neck when I read the one-sided, ratings-focused news stories spewing from my TV. Add an election to the mix and it's just plain bizarre. No wonder all of you were so happy to hear from me (read that as hearing the TRUTH) while I was on the ground over there.
Here’s some straight poop about most of the activity you are seeing and hearing on TV lately. Back when the US was taking Baghdad in April of 2003, you may remember how I wrote you and told you that all of the republican guard and most of Saddam’s military boys disappeared. Well, where do ya suppose they disappeared? Bingo. They headed back to their friendly neighborhood where they grew up and lived. Where the Ba’ath party flourished (Fallujah, Tikrit, West Baghdad – the Sunni Triangle). They waited us out for a year and are executing their last-ditch counter attack along with the support and manpower of Al Queada, Syrians, Iranians and other wacked out supporters of terrorism.
This is called military strategy. Yes, even the bad guys use strategy (or as you have heard Prez Bush say “Strategery”.
These terrorists aren’t stupid, they just want a one-way ticket to Allah-land and know how to use Yahoo.com. What you are seeing is their months of planned out strategy coming to fruition, and its purpose is to take power, sway the American public opinion (which unfortunately seems to be working somewhat) and trash Iraq’s and our own upcoming election.
DO NOT BE FOOLED. This isn’t a Vietnam, nor is it like any war we have ever fought in the past. If you look at all of the wars that have been fought over the past 200 years, none of them have been the same as the as the one just preceding it. There is no book published that can predict how the next war will be fought. We are writing that book now, and it won’t work 10 years from now.
There are those who opine (read that as “arm-chair quarterbacks”) about how they have all the answers to how we ought to be fighting this war. Shoulda’ Coulda’ Woulda’. But none of them are on the field of battle at this moment. I can tell you personally that unless you are on that field RIGHT NOW, and not 30 years ago, your blowing smoke out of your rear echelon.
To second-guess and ridicule based on half-truths and politically motivated agendas will be our downfall as a country… for this war and those wars fought in the future. (sorry, if you think there will be peace and no wars in the future then you are brainwashed).
If we were to be have this kind of real time news coverage back in 1941 during the Normandy invasion or the Battle of the Bulge… we’d have stopped sending boats ashore after the first 15 minutes of battle! So gimme a break! If you base your news coverage just on watching TV (from either side! Conservative or Liberal) then you are not doing YOUR job! We will never succeed in this war on terror if our media is swayed by bias or the almighty dollar. My message to all of those media moguls; Report ALL the news or none of it. We Americans are too smart for you.
Ask yourself this question; would you buy insurance or investments from someone based on how much their commission was? Of course not. Do not “buy” the garbage coming off the airwaves that whore themselves off with that “EXCLUSIVE” report or basing their opinions on talking points from either side of the political aisle.
Get the facts, folks. First or second hand. But don’t get them from emails like mine or just the news only. Base your own opinions on real information – not TV. If there ever ought to be a real TV program, put the embedded journalists back into the fracas over in Iraq. What you are (and I am seeing) is what sells newspapers and commercial time, not what is really happening on the ground over there.
It was a long time ago, but I remember someone telling me once “don’t believe ANYTHING you read, and only HALF of what you see”.
Don’t believe just my writings either. Do your RESEARCH. Don’t trust the pundits on TV, with their high heels and street corner jargon. READ, LEARN and if necessary, go see for yourself. That is the only way to get the real story.
Well, too much at once is always bad for the heart, so I’ll save part two for next month. We’ll talk about creating scapegoats (like my hero Ollie North) who was thrown to the wolves just to pacify the hungry. And We’ll talk about the 9-11 commission, too.
I have way too much to say, but not enough time to say it. So, I’ll close with some administrative thoughts….
Yes, I am making the CDs with pics and I have all your addresses. It is just a slow process. (plus I am too busy having fun w/my family).
Also, I still owe all of you continued thanks for emailing me asking where I’ve been. My nights in Kuwait or Iraq allowed me to write quite a bit, but I find myself now inundated with trying to fall back in to place in the corporate world. So my time is focused on other things instead of my troops and getting the word out.
Finally, I go back to my reserve drill this month. Back to the old “one weekend a month and two weeks a year” mentality. I doubt that will ever be the norm again.
I plan on retiring this September with 24 years of service in Uncle Sam’s Army (cuz my unit is destined to go back to Iraq in 2005 and most of my troops were calling me “Grandpa”). I am way too old (hit 45 yrs last week) and I’ve done my time. It is with mixed emotions none the less that I retire.
I’ll receive a Bronze Star in June (which I will NEVER throw over a fence) and then I’ll quietly fade away…
…Or just maybe, just maybe write a book or become a FOX News Military Analyst. We shall see.
Love to all of you. Take Care and God bless,
John
Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004 = I am done.
Yes, it's been a while (too long). I'm sure you're opening up this email wondering where the heck I've been and why I haven't written as oft as I did while I was over in the sandbox. My apologies.
I won't give you some lame excuse, other than that since I am back here with you, I don't have as much access to the day-to-day activities in Iraq as I thought I would 2 months ago.
Becoming a civilian again has been difficult. My wife often asks me "do you miss it?”. I pause, think about it, shrug and say "eh". But truthfully, yea, I do miss it. I think about them over there every waking hour of the day.
I wonder how my replacements are reacting to the last month’s escalation in terrorist activity and attacks. They are experiencing what we experienced back in April-May of 2003. They are now running the supply arteries throughout Iraq that I ran for the past year, and they are having a tough time at it. Yes, we trained them well as we began handing off duties to them as we prepared to leave. But, I can't help but think about them now. They are going thru a lot of the same aspects of the war that I went through a year ago. In many ways I wish I were back there, helping. After all, experience can help save lives.
Which brings me to my point of this email. Draft, SchMaft! Nobody is talking about bringing back the draft. We have plenty of folks in the military now to get the job done. The pentagon is just re-allocating or extending war hardened troops, just like they did back when they told my unit that we had another 3 months added on to our tour of duty. So don’t get wrapped around draft cards and throwing medals over fences. Sheesh! I hate election years.
TOUR OF DUTY, folks. They call it "DUTY" for a reason. This isn't some summer war exercise that has a start and end date. We ALL volunteered. For whatever reason, you are there. So cut the crap. Veteran experience staying "in theater" is essential to saving the lives of our soldiers and is a rational move from the Department of Defense. Sure, it blows. But the soldiers gotta suck it up just like we did. Life isn't fair.
The hair rises up on the back of my neck when I read the one-sided, ratings-focused news stories spewing from my TV. Add an election to the mix and it's just plain bizarre. No wonder all of you were so happy to hear from me (read that as hearing the TRUTH) while I was on the ground over there.
Here’s some straight poop about most of the activity you are seeing and hearing on TV lately. Back when the US was taking Baghdad in April of 2003, you may remember how I wrote you and told you that all of the republican guard and most of Saddam’s military boys disappeared. Well, where do ya suppose they disappeared? Bingo. They headed back to their friendly neighborhood where they grew up and lived. Where the Ba’ath party flourished (Fallujah, Tikrit, West Baghdad – the Sunni Triangle). They waited us out for a year and are executing their last-ditch counter attack along with the support and manpower of Al Queada, Syrians, Iranians and other wacked out supporters of terrorism.
This is called military strategy. Yes, even the bad guys use strategy (or as you have heard Prez Bush say “Strategery”.
These terrorists aren’t stupid, they just want a one-way ticket to Allah-land and know how to use Yahoo.com. What you are seeing is their months of planned out strategy coming to fruition, and its purpose is to take power, sway the American public opinion (which unfortunately seems to be working somewhat) and trash Iraq’s and our own upcoming election.
DO NOT BE FOOLED. This isn’t a Vietnam, nor is it like any war we have ever fought in the past. If you look at all of the wars that have been fought over the past 200 years, none of them have been the same as the as the one just preceding it. There is no book published that can predict how the next war will be fought. We are writing that book now, and it won’t work 10 years from now.
There are those who opine (read that as “arm-chair quarterbacks”) about how they have all the answers to how we ought to be fighting this war. Shoulda’ Coulda’ Woulda’. But none of them are on the field of battle at this moment. I can tell you personally that unless you are on that field RIGHT NOW, and not 30 years ago, your blowing smoke out of your rear echelon.
To second-guess and ridicule based on half-truths and politically motivated agendas will be our downfall as a country… for this war and those wars fought in the future. (sorry, if you think there will be peace and no wars in the future then you are brainwashed).
If we were to be have this kind of real time news coverage back in 1941 during the Normandy invasion or the Battle of the Bulge… we’d have stopped sending boats ashore after the first 15 minutes of battle! So gimme a break! If you base your news coverage just on watching TV (from either side! Conservative or Liberal) then you are not doing YOUR job! We will never succeed in this war on terror if our media is swayed by bias or the almighty dollar. My message to all of those media moguls; Report ALL the news or none of it. We Americans are too smart for you.
Ask yourself this question; would you buy insurance or investments from someone based on how much their commission was? Of course not. Do not “buy” the garbage coming off the airwaves that whore themselves off with that “EXCLUSIVE” report or basing their opinions on talking points from either side of the political aisle.
Get the facts, folks. First or second hand. But don’t get them from emails like mine or just the news only. Base your own opinions on real information – not TV. If there ever ought to be a real TV program, put the embedded journalists back into the fracas over in Iraq. What you are (and I am seeing) is what sells newspapers and commercial time, not what is really happening on the ground over there.
It was a long time ago, but I remember someone telling me once “don’t believe ANYTHING you read, and only HALF of what you see”.
Don’t believe just my writings either. Do your RESEARCH. Don’t trust the pundits on TV, with their high heels and street corner jargon. READ, LEARN and if necessary, go see for yourself. That is the only way to get the real story.
Well, too much at once is always bad for the heart, so I’ll save part two for next month. We’ll talk about creating scapegoats (like my hero Ollie North) who was thrown to the wolves just to pacify the hungry. And We’ll talk about the 9-11 commission, too.
I have way too much to say, but not enough time to say it. So, I’ll close with some administrative thoughts….
Yes, I am making the CDs with pics and I have all your addresses. It is just a slow process. (plus I am too busy having fun w/my family).
Also, I still owe all of you continued thanks for emailing me asking where I’ve been. My nights in Kuwait or Iraq allowed me to write quite a bit, but I find myself now inundated with trying to fall back in to place in the corporate world. So my time is focused on other things instead of my troops and getting the word out.
Finally, I go back to my reserve drill this month. Back to the old “one weekend a month and two weeks a year” mentality. I doubt that will ever be the norm again.
I plan on retiring this September with 24 years of service in Uncle Sam’s Army (cuz my unit is destined to go back to Iraq in 2005 and most of my troops were calling me “Grandpa”). I am way too old (hit 45 yrs last week) and I’ve done my time. It is with mixed emotions none the less that I retire.
I’ll receive a Bronze Star in June (which I will NEVER throw over a fence) and then I’ll quietly fade away…
…Or just maybe, just maybe write a book or become a FOX News Military Analyst. We shall see.
Love to all of you. Take Care and God bless,
John
Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004 = I am done.
