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 Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) No recent word from my husband, but I have a 2 suggestions. Use them (or not) as you feel fit. In today's update one mother of a 4th ID soldier said her son would be disappointed in her "whining" about him being there. I am often pitied when people hear my husband is over there, and I am alone with our 14 month olds. My response every time is "This is all part of the military life. I knew what my husband would have to do as a soldier, way before I married him. I have the easy part, I'm here with my children, safe. I thank you for your concern. Please just keep up the support for our troops" It upsets me when people pity me, I'm damn proud of my husband and his fellow troops. They are the ones who have it hard, and we as families of soldiers need to make others aware that we do not need pity, just support. (A pet peeve of mine, and I figure it may help families to know how to respond to such comments.)
The more important suggestion is for the family of the medic who requested Children's Tylenol. It would be worth a shot for them to call McNeil Consumer Healthcare, (since they could give the exact address to send it to) and ask them to donate some to the medics in Iraq. www.tylenol.com I cannot find the customer service number on the bottle, but it will be on the site. I will also be asking the pharmacy at Darnall if there is anything they can do, since they have a contract with McNeil. I hope they will be willing to contribute. Thank you again for your updates. Enjoy your trip to Ft. Hood, your last day here is my 2nd wedding anniversary. :)
2) We got another call from our son in FL Guard 2/124INF stationed at Balad this morning. Actually, this is our third call in 2 days. He was injuried last week in a mortar attack, but is fine now - however, still shaken by the event. Today he sounded better as he heard his picture is floating on the internet. For his 21st birthday, I sent him a gag gift of a 5' blow up blonde female doll. He dressed her in camo and put her in the thuret of their humvee and took her to the check point they were guarding. He said people were taking pictures of her all day. If anyone has seen it, please share what site it is on. Again, my mission accomplished - it brought smiles to their faces! ....... I'm out to find more "smile" items to send. My new mission is OPERATION UPBEAT. Any ideas, please share.
3) My Son is with the 4th ID 1-4 AVN. REGT. somewhere around Tikrit, Iraq. I received another letter from him dated 7-6-03. He said he tried to time the letter so I would receive it by my birthday. It made it two days early. He wrote he is doing alright even though in his mind things seem to be heating up a bit. He asked for a few things but more importantly, he asked me to pass it on that he and his fellow soldiers are most grateful for the support and different things they are receiving from home. He knows they could be in for a long haul and he is ready. He said, "Dad, it`s no picnic here but I will do whatever I`m asked to do". He has said repeatedly he is so grateful for all the training he got at Ft. Benning and at Ft. Jackson. My Son is a mechanic but has been called upon to engage and has not hesitated and credits his training and a couple of drill sergents to help him do his duty. He is most proud to be serving and to be with the 4th from Ft. Hood. God bless our troops, all of them!
4) Mama got a call from my brother who is in the 4ID 1-68 AR. She was only able to talk to him for a minute. Literally. He broke his foot but he is okay. He's mad because he has to wear a cast from his foot to his knee. He says he doesn't see any sense in having a cast that long for a stupid broken foot. He was not able to give her the details but he was able to tell her that it was not a land mine, so that was a blessing. Mama asked him if that was his ticket home but he said that he was going to have to stay. I will be so glad to see him when he gets home.
5) I received a letter from my husband (1-10 Cav, C trp) on Friday, although the letter is not dated, statements that he made make me believe that he wrote it on July 10th, so the mail must be improving. In his letter he wrote about an incident with an Iranian soldier. He wrote:
I am right on the Iran border. The Iranian soldiers get real nervous when Americans are around, but this one Iranian was looking curious. I smiled and waved to show that we had no hostile intention, he then waved back. I then extended my arm across the border (gate) and he shook my hand. It was kind of neat, my arm was in Iran.
6) My husband who is over in Samarra,Iraq (4th ID 1-66 AR) was able to call me 3x this week(army green phone with the bad connection) and his morale call(every 10 days). Here are portions of his letter dated 7-3 and 7-5:
Sorry for not writing lately-past week has been extremely busy-trying to find time to sleep so i can stay alert on duty. You stay alert,you stay alive. They are finally fixing a place for us to stay in. It's taking a while but it's coming along. Please continue sending me salmon, tuna and pizza pringles and coffee toffee candies.
I hope you enjoy July 4th; I wish I was back there to celebrate our country's independence. I feel that if someone does not believe in what America stands for they don't need to live in America.
Our camp is coming along, we now have air conditioners. The electricity goes out every night. It sucks when you're taking a shower because of the electricity going out but I am definitely not complaining(could be worse!). Yesterday-July 4th they served us steak, hamburgers, pepsis, 7Ups, beans and peaches (the kind you sent me-Del Monte canned fruits). It was heaven! A lot of soldiers got upset stomach because they weren't used to eating real food.
I only like the night times here and the early mornings because I don't sweat profusely.
7) Thank you, Jennie. You took the words right out of my mouth. My grandfather's were WWWI & WWWII vets, respectively. My dad and uncles are/were Korean and Vietnam vets, my brother (sitll active duty Navy) is a vet of the first Gulf War. Now my son is in Baghdad -- and he will tell you, he's doing what he signed up to do. I've raised all my children to stick to their commitments, and we will stand beside them. All of our soldiers -- our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives -- they all need our UNCONDITIONAL support right now. Am I afraid? You bet I am. Some days my fear is unspeakable and it's the support of family and friends that I lean on while being strong and supportive for my son. Someday, he may know the myriad of emotions we go through day by day and week by week; but, for now, our letters and packages are newsy, upbeat (and even trivial at times), and full of love and prayers. History will let us know if we should be angry or proud of our nation, but for today our soldiers have nothing from me but love, pride and prayers. Again, Jennie, thanx. I'm sure you speak for many of us. PROUD ARMY MOM, NAVY SISTER, AND COAST GUARD DAUGHTER (Ed Note: It's only since I've been doing these updates that I fully realized the daily pain and worry my mother and wife went through when I was in Vietnam. Soldiers have it easier in the worry department - we knew what we were doing, those at home have to wonder and worry and wait for news).
8) I wanted to let everyone know that I got 5 rolls of film over the weekend from my son, B Co 299 ENG. BN, currently in Tikrit. I'll be honest with you, I was a little emotional when opening each package....They started with the boat ride over & ended with the most current taken on 6-29-03...I almost laughed out loud when I saw the "palace" they have been staying at...It has walls, that's about all I can say.. A couple of the shots were taken during a sandstorm and all I can say it was the most Orange sky I have ever seen....Eerily beautiful...Over all the "guys" looked like they still had their sense of humors. It was also good to see the faces of the other soldiers he spends everyday with. They are his family right now and they seem to be taking good care of him.. It did my heart good to see my son smile....Gold Bless them all, and bring them home safe & soon...
9) We received a call from our son Sunday, the first in 7 weeks. He is with the 1-10 Cav. It was 2:30 am Iraq time and 96 outside. He sounded great and Mom was relieved to hear his voice. Assured us his hands were not broken and he has mailed 10 letters to us we have not received yet. He is getting our mail and boxes and requested only more disposible cameras and CDs. His brother has received a tape from him that I hope to be able to watch tonight. He did warn me he has lost 25 pounds and to disreguard a couple of letter he wrote, that he is OK. It was just so good to hear his voice.

Back to Active Unit Main News Page