Active Unit News

What our families are hearing:
Bob Babcock - "Deeds not Words"
President, Americans Remembered, Inc. - http://www.americansremembered.org
President, 22nd Inf Regt Society - http://www.22ndinfantry.org
Past President/Historian - Nat'l 4th Inf Div Assn - http://www.4thinfantry.org
babcock224@aol.com


What Our Families Are Hearing From Their Soldiers in Iraq:
1) We received 3 letters from our son in Tikrit, he's with the 74th MRBC out of Fort Hood TX. The first letter was dated May 02, in it he sent rose petals from one of Sadam's rose gardens, said it was the closest he could get to sending flowers for Mothers Day! He is staying at one of the palaces there. In his letters he says all are doing fine, keep the mail from home comming. Can't tell you how proud we are of him and all of our troops. Our prayers are with them.
2) I finally received a phone call today from my son who is in Bco. 1-22 4th ID. He said that they were now living in one of the unfinished palaces in the town of Baji which was alot better that the hole he had been living in for the last month. He said he was doing alright just really HOT!!! He requested food not candy. He said they were able to get candy at times but real food such as prepared cannned item were really a treat. He said to please keep the mail coming he was just now starting to get his letters and the packages that we had sent him over the last 6 weeks. He said the mail was really slow coming out of Iraq so please keep the mail coming even if we didn't hear from him. God Bless all our soldiers and lets hope for a safe and speedy return of all of them.
3) I got a couple of phone calls from my husband in Co. B 890th Engineering Battallion, attached to the 130th Engineer Brigade the past few days. He was in a convoy that went South into Kuwait to drop off rented civilian trucks and retrieve a shipping container they had "lost" in the shuffle I guess. He was able to call from Kuwait because he has a T-Mobile cell phone. I have talked to him for over 2 hours now, and learned a lot about what they are doing in Iraq. He is well, and he says their first sargeant has "hooked them up" as far as safety and security goes. Their 1st SG served in special forces in Gulf War I. He seems to be in better spirits than the last time I talked to him. He told me a story about this family they collected food and other items for and left the box(es) on the front porch. He said the father came out and thought they had dumped their trash on his porch and started yelling at them. One of the guys had to go back and open the box and show him it was gifts for his family. That of course changed his attitude. He said they are trying to "improve public relations" whenever they can. He asked me to send hair ribbons to give to the little girls. And he asked for bug spray, which I had previously put in the mail to him thanks to your little Email newsletter where I heard other guys were asking for it. I took stock of the items I read other guys were asking for and evaluated the list knowing what I had already sent to him, and came up with a list of things I knew he "might" need and just packed up seven (7) boxes in two days time and sent them. Yes, he thinks I'm the coolest wife in the world. I just try to show him I love him. He says all the guys will be jealous when he gets the boxes. His birthday was last week and he finally got three packages and a handful of letters On HIS BIRTHDAY. Finally. Mail seems to take about 6 weeks to get to them still.
4) The phone rang at 5:30 PM on June 11th and this soft, tired voice said, "Mom?" It was the best word I have heard from the most wonderful voice in over 2 months. My son is with C. co. 2/8 Inf. 4th ID out of Fort Hood Texas. They had awakened him at 2:00 AM his time, (I believe he is somewhere in or near Jalullah) so he could place a call home. Sounds like he and his buddies are doing fine. He said it is very hot and when the wind blows it's even hotter. He is getting our letters and packages but has not received them all yet. I thank God for this wonderful country we live in and for our spectacular men and women of the armed forces. My prayer is: Dear Lord, Keep them safe and your loving arms around them and send them home SOON.
5) Our son called last week from Tikrit. He is a medic in E co. of the 4th FSB. It was great hearing his voice. He sounded homesick, but he was well, and trying to keep busy. He hasn't been very busy, which is a good sign, as no one was getting hurt. He said the duty is not that bad, just that the bugs were so bad, and he goes through repellant very quickly. The phone connection was quite bad, and the minutes on the telephone cards are eaten up quickly. We did send him a small fan to help with sleeping at nite. I plan on sending some water guns and frisbies over for a little fun. He did say they are getting pretty good in developing weight equipment to work out and keep in shape on their time off. We have received only (2) letters from him since he left Kuwait. He said he is receiving the care packages, and that they all share with everyone. Beef Jerky and Powdered Gator aide and insect repellant seem to be the most in demand.
6) I finally got a call from my husband yestarday!!!!! He's with 4th ID B/ 2-8 out of Fort Hood TX. It was SOOO nice to hear his voice, soo nice. He did sound a bit different but he reasured me that he was ok. He said that there's a time frame that they told him they'd be back but like all other's I know it's a rumor. He reminded my of sending him his cd player and a few cds,also that he missed us so much and couldn't wait to be back here with us. He told me that we were taking a vacation when he got back! :-) It was soooo nice to hear from him even though he only had 4 min. to talk. I never realized how FAST time really flies, but it really does. He called at 4:09 pm cst and it was only 4 min. long. Just thought I'd share my joy with everyone. God Bless everyone and protect our men and women over there!
7) I received a letter from my husband who is HHC 1-8th Inf. It was written on 3 June and only took 9 days to get to me. Don't know if that will keep up but hopefully they've fixed the mail system. I've gotten several other letters this week and the phone calls are coming in quite regularly with at least one a week, sometimes three of four. He has received my letters within two weeks and packages within three. Hopefully other family members will have the same luck as we have.
8) Hey Bob, I got my first letter today! My guy friend is in the 299th ENG BN! He is doing well. Care packages and mail are getting there better now. The letter was dated May 19th the post mark is faded and the post mark says something like MBS, MPS? what does that stand for? (Ed Note: Beats me, I don't know, maybe Military Postal Service...).
9) MY SON CALLED HIS GIRL FRIEND THIS MORNING, HE IS WITH THE C-TROOP, 1-10 CAV. OUT OF FORT HOOD, TX., THEY ARE ON THE IRAQ/IRAN BORDER. HE TOLD HER THAT THEY ARE ALL DOING OK, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF BEING SUNBURNED AND THE HEAT BEING 130 DEGREES. HE SAID THAT THE SUN SHOWS THEM NO MERCY. WHEN ASKED WHEN HE WOULD BE HOME, HE REPLIED "ALL WE GET IS RUMORS, AND RUMORS RUN RAMPANT IN THE ARMY, LIKE GOSSIP IN A SEWING CIRCLE". LET US CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR ALL OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES, WHEREVER THEY MAY BE.
10) We received both an email and a letter from our son with the 475th QM assigned to 544 Maint Bn. Said very hot and would like to have some music sent to him. He also requested all kinds of reading mat'l. He is looking forward to coming home and returning to his civilian job and to school. He stated in an email that the phone service sucks and he is receiving packages but no mail. Our letter was dated early May.
11) I received a letter from my son today, A Co, 104MI, dated May 11. In it he said that they have been on the move. They stayed at Tikrit Airfield for about 3 weeks and had hoped to complete their tour there. They had set up a latrine with decent toilets and showers made from TOW missle boxes. However, they were called upon to move NE to fly UAV (unmanned aircraft - drones) missions. They were in a place about 30 km from the Irani border, placed between the MEK troops and the Irani Army troops. Apparantly these 2 armies have fought each other for a long time. The MEK is known to support terrorism. Our troops were calling on the MEK to back down, and for the Iranis to back off of the MEK. While neither of these armies are overtly hostile to our troops, they really don't have any love for Americans. My son said they were all doing well, receiving mail calls about once a week, and in good spirits. They crashed one of the UAV's but felt they were still ahead of the game. They had expected a lot more difficulty keeping the little planes flight-worthy under the conditions there. He said he was well supplied and only asked for SNACKS!!!! There was a request for DVDs but he will send me a list and a check in a future letter. God bless these wonderful soldiers!!! A PROUD Mom!!!! (Ed Note: Those who have been reading these updates know that the MEK was disarmed in late May by the 4ID).
12) My husband is with A/3-29 FA, 4ID out of Ft. Carson. I have gotten almost 20 letters since June 4th, and then a short 7 or 8 minute phone call last Tuesday. He is located at an air base/arms manufacturing plant north of Baghdad. He began receiving mail on May 5, and it has been steady since then. The last few letters from him have only taken two weeks to arrive. They're doing good, just doing "ammo details" and not a lot else. Phones have just recently been set up, and he's hoping to be able to call once a week. He just says its hot, the insects are hellacious, and requests the usual drink mixes, along with magazines, cigarettes, photos, CDs, and snacks. He has no idea when they'll come home; he was asking ME what I had heard. Overall, they're okay, and mail really keeps their spirits up.

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