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


An Open Letter to the AP - From One of Our Readers
This was sent by one of our readers to the AP. It most likely will never be printed but it impressed me so much and conveys my feelings as well. I wanted to include it here for all our 4ID family members and friends to benefit from. (And I am now going to stick to my Forrest Gump philosophy, "That's all I'm going to say about that..." so don't flood me with more opinions on this topic, I'm ready to move on to more positive things).
Regarding the troops time-table of return
To Whom it May Concern:
I am quite disgusted with the amount of negative time and energy your office spends writing articles about the "poor families" and the "poor service members." I am a soldier, a mother and an Army wife, as well as a Family Readiness Group leader. I try to focus my wives on the positive aspects of being a military family. Our family members who are in the military are warriors. They accept the sacrifices and dangers that accompany such a career. The families accept this as well.
This is a time of renewal for Iraq, and renewal does not come without conflict. Our mission there is as critical as ever. Does the logic of that make me feel good about family separation? No. But, I will not subscribe to, nor propagate the negative, melancholy, and depressive attitude the media forces on Americans. The media should be the tool to uplift and inspire the American people and its military families through this time of separation.
Where are the human interest stories? Where are the reports of the positive things the troops have done (ie: fixing a generator at an orphanage or bringing medical care to Iraqi families). Where are the stories of inspiring personal interactions between service members and Iraqi citizens? They exist. My husband tells me. Other wives tell of interactions of their husbands with Iraqi citizens. The Army reports through military channels of school playgrounds being built and fire station communication systems being updated.
As a soldier and an Army spouse, I'm tired of hearing about those soldiers who "fought the war so they should be able to come home." That is crap. My husband came back from Korea in August for five days, went to school for two months, and is now in Iraq. That is military life. Deployments depend on the mission, not on whether it is convenient for the service member to be gone.
The media should express the positives: despite complaints about the military postal system, communication between the service member and the family has never been better. WWII, Korea, and Vietnam never saw the communication we have today, or the medical care.
Honor those who serve their country and their families. Separation would be a lot easier if society didn't propagate the negative. The media should find ways to support the military rather than use it as a line of gossip.
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A Few Words From Bob:
1) Now is the time to start collecting names and addresses of the friends and fellow soldiers your soldier is serving with. Take it from a guy who almost daily tries to help our vets from WWII, Cold War, and Vietnam find the buddies they are looking for. We have literally hundreds and thousands of vets who kick themselves because they didn't take the time while deployed in a combat zone to record all the name and address information about their friends and fellow soldiers they are serving with - and that includes commanders who they may not be real close to now but will love to talk to in the future and rehash old war stories.
Let me suggest the following: Have your soldier write down the name (with correct spelling, including middle initial), permanent home of record, telephone number, and social security number of the soldiers he or she is serving with that they may want to locate with many years from now. They can then send that information home to you and you can store it with the other things (like letters home and news clippings) that you are saving for their future reference about this memorable time in their lives.
Why now? No special reason, I just woke up this morning thinking about it so decided to include it in this update. Don't get caught in the same problem that many WWII and Vietnam vets find themselves in - they have a best friend that they shared a foxhole with for months, knew him as "Tex" and never bothered to write down his real name and how to get in touch with him. And don't let your soldier assume they know how to spell the last name - verify that to be sure. I lost two guys for years until I finally found out how to spell their names - then found them both the same day once I had the name spelled correctly. Middle initials and Social Security Numbers are big helps, too.
And now is also the time to get the information on the commanders who have recently left the unit - you'll want to find your old CO some day in the future, don't forget to get the information on those who have left the unit (for any reason) up to now.
2) And many of you have heard this one before, but for new readers - find a safe place to store the letters and email messages and news clippings you get from your soldier. Today they may be meaningless after you read them but 10, 25, 50 years from now they will be priceless parts of your family history. Don't deprive your kids and grandkids from reading the letters and news about this key time in the life of your family.
Last item on this topic - don't put off properly filing these letters, clippings, pictures, email messages, etc. Find a scrapbook, small metal filing box, or some other safe place where these treasures can be kept together and not lost. I swear, many years from now, your soldier and his family will praise you for doing this.
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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) Today was my anniversary of 17 years with my, at this time 10th MTN DIV soldier, who will be leaving soon. We received letters from our HHC 1/12 4th ID medic son, twice this week so far, he sounds really good considering he's still living in in his 577 the last I heard. Although I just read a msg from another Mom who said he son is in the same exact unit, and she spoke about an air conditioner. Haven't heard from my son since before the 4th of July however. Said he tried to call us on the 3rd but couldn't get a good line, just kept getting disconnected. No new is GREAT news. I've learned this after 3 wars and 2 peacekeeping missions. Have a wonderful anniversary and splurge on the wife. Soldier wife and mom.
(Ed Note: Did Jan tell you to say that last part?)
2) I just hung up from talking to my son, 4th ID, 3rd BCT, 1/68 Ar. He is somewhat homesick (he turned 19 the week before he left and this is his first experience at all this). but other than that ok. They are in an area which is somewhat safer than other places which I am thankful for, but he did say they had been shot at. He is getting mail ok. It is taking a little longer, as the rest of the battallion is in Baghdad area so I guess the mail goes there first, then has to be sent to them. But he is still getting what I have mailed, so that is good. He said there was internet access where he was calling from, so he was going to try to get a chance to email me. Overall, sounded like all was going ok. It was just wonderful to hear his voice and have a nice clear connection!
3) I received a phone call from my husband yesterday, who is in B 2/8 Infantry in Barqubah. He said they have barracks now and was in the process of installing ceiling fans to help keep them cool. It was so wonderful to hear his voice. He says he's doing great, just missing me and home. The guys all chipped in and bought a TV and DVD player-he says it really helps out and keeps morale high. He says he has what he needs, but to send some more junk food. Note to all who keep sending CD players to your soldiers: my husband purchased an MP3 player and memory card, so he doesn't have any CD's to scratch. They run about $40-$100 and you can program lots of songs into the memory card. Just a suggestion to save money!!! I pray for all of us and our soldiers and encourage you all to keep their spirits high-being a soldier myself, I know that morale is VERY important when we are seperated from our loved ones! Take care and God Bless!
4) We are just new to this 4th ID news and have enjoyed getting the emails about what is really going on in Iraq. We also enjoy reading emails from family telling how their loved ones are getting along and hints on what to send over. Our son is with HHC, 1st BDE and is living in a palace in Tikrit. He gets to call every Wednesday around noon for 10 minutes. My husband, myself, and my daughter always make sure we are here at that time. He sounds strong and is always upbeat. One hint I would like to pass along is that last week was his 20th birthday. Early in June I got this idea to have a card shower for him. I put an ad in our local paper, in our church bulletin and had it announced on our local radio station. I had people send the cards to us (by a certain date) and then we mailed them in a big box to our son. Along with the cards we sent snacks, a pre-packaged cake with icing and candles, gifts like a nurf football, nurf basketball, frisbee, water balloons, etc, etc. We sent everything out to him three weeks before his birthday and told him to have a BIG party. The package arrived 2 days before his birthday and they did have a party and he said the guys had a pretty good time. He said it took him 3 days to open all the cards. I think the whole thing was very special for him. Since then two other local families of soldiers have done a card shower. We continue to pray for the soldiers in the 4th ID as well as the rest of the soldiers in Iraq.
5) My husband, who is in 4th ID TF 1/68 Armor, emailed me today (17 Jul 03) to let me know things are going well. They had just completed a raid on the home of Fadhil Salfeege al-Azawi, the uncle of Saddam Hussein. Other than being hot, which he is used to after spending 2 years at Ft Irwin, CA he says he is in good spirits. The soldiers are hanging in there too.
6) My husband is the commander for 2nd Chemical Battalion from Fort Hood Texas, which is attached to 4th ID. We've got your mailings going to all the spouses and parents of 2nd Chem. families via e-mail. Because our soldiers are in many different locations across Iraq, this has been really beneficial. We've been fortunate to be assigned to L'worth twice, the best kept secret in the Army, but if you get your choice fall is the most beautiful time of the year to visit.
7) I would just like to write and let you know that I got two letters today 7-17-03! It had been about two weeks since getting one. One of the ones from today was addressed specifically for my daughter. She was thrilled that daddy had finally written her. It doesn't say much just that the weather doesn't change there and it is very hot. He is with A.co 1/22. He also says that the time for the phone doesn't come up that often as he would like, and their time on it is very limited. He says they still don't have computers or anything of that nature to have other ways of contacting us. This last letters that we got were post dated June 29.
8) I highly agree with you on keeping opinions amongst yourselves. I know we all feel for the soldiers and do want them home safely - but it only hurts the family members watching them on TV or reading the papers when family members speak negatively about the tough job our soldiers are doing in Iraq, which, of course, brings down home morale. I can't begin to imagine what my husband and his soldiers are going through but I know one thing, by keeping their spirits high, staying positive, telling him/her "HOW PROUD YOU ARE", and longing for the day they come home would boost their spritis and give them something to look forward to.
9) I was just writing in response to the wife whose husband sent her a dozen roses for her 21st birthday. Reading your email almost made me cry! LOL. It is such a wonderful feeling to know how much they love you. My husband was here for my 21st birthday but was in Iraq for Mother's day and our 2yr anniversary. When our anniversary came I didn't expect a call of anything because I was almost positive that he forgot (he was never really good with these things but thats my husband!) but that day i received a call and the first thing he said was "happy anniversary" and the day before mothers day i received his homemade mothers day card and of course it made me cry. the roses were such a sweet thing to do...maybe I'll write my husband a letter telling him what your husband did and hopefully he'll get the hint and send ME some roses! LOL
10) My son (with the 223rd Engineer Bn. out of Calhoun City,MS attached to 4th ID /2nd Brigade in Baqubah) was supposed to have called at 8:30 am, but didn't call until 12:10 pm 7/18. The reason was that he had been out since 8:00 that morning and had just come in (9:00pmIraq time) from raids on houses!! When asked why he would be doing that, he said they needed help and it was sort of a volunteer thing. Said it was kind of neat, like he was on COPS. They had arrested 3 generals or something. I told him not to volunteer for anything!! He said he was ok but tired and ready to hit the sack. One comment on box received was that the (Sweet Sue) dumplings were good.
11) I was able to speak with my husband on Wednesday for 30 whole minutes! If he had more minutes on his phone card we could have talked longer! You know I purchased 2,666 minutes (the max ATT would let me buy) He sounded well! To hear his sweet voice tell me he loves me was more joyous than the day we said I DO! He loves your daily reports, which I mail to him once a week in his weekly goody box! He wants to be added to this email list once he returns home to me! ......Thank you for bringing joy into my husbands life with your daily reports! He was more excited that Ernest Hemmingway was part of the 4th! I just mailed him two weeks ago "The Old Man and The Sea" so it was quite fitting that the two of them share this unit! (Ed Note: no unit given, but thought the comment about Hemingway and the link to 4ID history was worthy of including - lots of our soldiers don't know these historical connections so let them know about our proud history when you write them).
12) I received my 2nd phone call this week from husband today, who is with A bttry / 4-42 FA out of Fort Hood, TX. We were able to talk for 39 minutes today, being that he spent $40 on a phone card. I was very happy to hear his voice. It brought out a huge smile from me and my husband knew it. He mentioned to me that they are still in the same area, Ad Wair. He's a little disappointed due to the fact that he still hasn't received the other 2 care packages out of the 4 sent him. He's anxiously waiting for the football my father included in one of the packages. However my letters are getting there much quicker but not in order. I had asked him what the last letter he received from me and he said it was dated 06/30 (which he had received today). The day before he received a letter dated 07/03. It doesn't seem to bother him the fact that the letters are arriving out of order. As long as he's getting letters from me. I just found out that the compound they are occupying does have running water, electricity and there is little a/c. He had apologized to me for not writing as often as he would like. He said his days are pretty long and most of his time is spent doing guard duty, leaving little sleep and energy to write to me. As mush as I would like to know how things are going where he is staying, he would much rather talk about me and things that are happening around here in CA. So I usually inform my husband about news going on around here in Los Angeles, sports updates and family news.Hearing things like this gets his mind off of all the things going on in Iraq. During our conversation I actually heard guns being fired. Both my husband and I paused for a brief second. The firing stopped and we continued our conversation. (A little scary hearing shots being fired on the other end.) My husband said that their chief is doing all that he can to boost the morale for the soldiers in his section. They all want to come soon and I keep telling to my husband, "Take it one day at a time, that's all you can do." After he hears that I can hear a sigh of relief and a smile on the phone. His calling card cut him off as soon as he was telling me I love you. And those were the last words I heard. I just want all the soldiers to know that we are al proud of them and wish for a safe return home. God Bless our brave soldiers!!

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