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) I have a short update from my husband who is with 1-68 Armor, 4ID, and just recently moved to HHC Medics in the aid station. However, he was with Bravo Co. when the letter was written. The letter was dated July 5, and sent out July 6, just received yesterday the 22 of July. Not too shabby. Anyway, he said that they had caught some "bad guys" in Operation Sidewinder. He said that they had done some raids, gone to Balad Airfield, etc. This letter is old enough that I'm sure this info. is alright to distribute. And he also said that while he was at Balad Airfield, he saw Arnold Schwarzenegger from a distance, and then he drove by in a van. My hubby proceeded to recite some lines from his famous manly movies. Funny guy. But all in all he sounded very upbeat and ended the letter like this: " Well sweetheart, I better go because there's work to be done, and bad guys to catch." I think he was doing alright and in good spirits!
2) I just wanted to thank everyone for your information on your soldiers you tell us. It keeps me upbeat especially for those days that go by with no phone call or letter from my husband. A lot of the stories even bring lots of tears to my eyes especially the one about the little girl who gave a soldier that necklace and he had taken pictures next to some Iraqi children. Others have brought tears as well but that is the most recent tear jerker for me. Keep the information coming, I love it. Each day I look forward to coming online and seeing the update in my mailbox. I wake up a lot of times sad that I wasn't awakened by my husbands phone call but then I think about the e-mail that usually will be sitting in my mailbox from Bob. As for how my husband is doing I can't say much that anyone would be interested in hearing. Most of his last letter was all mushy stuff. But the mushy stuff is always good to hear too.
3) Today is July 23. This morning the phone rang and a voice on the other end said,"Happy Anniversary. Mom I love you." Well needless to say the tears fell. It was my son in Bayji with B-Co. 1-22 4th Id out of Fort Hood. He said he was doing good and had gotten the package I sent on July 8th. So it took it 2 weeks to get to him. He said everything I sent got there in good shape. He also said all the guys were doing okay. And to tell me to send more jerky. I sent extra so my son can share with those who don't get much mail. There are two guys with him there that were in Korea with him, and I have already spoiled them while they were in Korea. They don't have family's to send them anything. All in all he said everything was good and they were all okay. He also said the phone would rotate back to them on Monday, I am not sure if is their Monday or ours here in the USA. The connection we had was much clearer this time. And we got to talk for about 15 mins. Then he had to go and get ready for gate guard. I am so thankful they get to call home. It helps to hear them.
4) Well, I got a call from my husband, he's with B/2-8 infantry out of FORT HOOD , TX. It was 6:05 pm and I missed his 1st attempt (my cell phone is messing up) and I was really mad but also glad that he tried again, thankfully. He sounded a bit tired and not so upbeat as other times so that kind of worried me a little. He only had 3 min because he was using a friend's calling card and he said the satalite phone had broken and didn't wanna miss his chance to call. But come to find out they were up again because later he called his parents. It was his first time calling them since he had left and only got to speak to his dad because his mother wasn't there. She was mad at herself!!! He told me to let him know of any dates I may hear of his coming home (ETSING). Told him all I've heard had been rumors so far. It sounded great to hear him even though the connection was bad! When he knew he had less then a min. He said "I have less then a min so I love you and I'll call you next week, but remember that I love you alot and hopefully I'll see you soon!" As soon as I said "I love you too" it disconnected! GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND CAN'T WAIT TILL THERE ALLLLLLL HOME!!!! KEEP THE PRAYERS GOING!
5) Not only did I get a letter from my husband today from A Co, 1-22 INF BN, but I also got a phone call! What a day! His letter was dated the 13th of July. I can't believe how fast it got to me! He said that he is doing good and that he is getting all of my letters and packages. He also told me that they do not have very much free time to write home. He asked for koolaid, underwear, foot powder, tuna, and canned food. He asked about his two girls (one he hasn't met yet) and told me that he thinks of us all of the time! ..... We only were able to talk for 5 minutes, but you will not get any complaints from me as he has been able to call about once a week lately. It is always so sweet to hear his voice and to get letters from him!
6) I just wanted to let you know that a dear friend of mine in 1-8 inf Co C out of Fort Carson was shot point blank on July 11. Thanks to the wonderful government that we have and the equipment they supply our troops with, he survived. His bullet proof vest saved his life and I am all the more thankful for it. Let everyone know that the gov. knows what they are doing and so do our troops!!! The article was in the Mountaineer at Fort Carson.
7) I received a phone call at 2:00AM this morning.(July 23) It was my husband, he is from C. Co. 2/8 2nd PLT, attached to 1/67th Armor. I have given a couple updates on him before. I have spoken to him several times in the last couple weeks, even as recently as Monday July 20. But the reason for this update is to let everyone know about the reaction he has seen to the news of Uday and Qusay Hussein’s deaths. The unit he is with had just gotten a satellite T.V. up and running, and saw the news about the Hussein brothers as it was being released. He said it was a great boost to all of the guys, and they are hoping it may shorten their deployment.(Hoping) He also said that shortly after hearing the news, they began to hear a lot of gunfire. Not to worry though, it was not directed at the troops. The gunfire was from the Iraqi’s, but it was in celebration of the day's earlier events. I know it is still very soon after the brothers were reported dead, but at least so far these soldiers have experience a positive reaction from the locals. Lets just pray that things stay positive for all our soldiers!!
8) my daughter missed two phone calls on saturday from her fiance (Bravo co 2-8 inf) but he hooked up with her this morning about 10am CDT. They got to talk about 10 min. counting the time they got cut off. Morale booster for both!! Then this afternoon while she was at work he tried 3 more times, obviously B co go their phone back or something. He sounded good, didn't ask for anything in particular, kinda knows by now that it's in the mail........
Last week I got to ship out a box that weighed 45.6 lb of hard candy for the troops or the kids in Iraq. My Wal-mart here in San Angelo ( I work there) donated all the candy from open packages for just a one week period in June and the ziploc bags to pack it in. Cool Beans Huh!! (Ed Note: Maybe this is something you want to approach your local Wal-Mart store with).
9) I heard from friend in the 3rd BCT 4th ID last night at 11:30 pm central time. We got to talk for about 20 min. It was great to hear his voice. He yawned a couple of times and said that they are keeping busy. He thinks maybe they will be staying a while at their current base, he did not say which one. He was excited about the idea of getting AC and access to a PX. Also said he had enough toothpaste to last a year.
10) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030722/168/4r24u.html. On the above site there is a photo of George Kazur, the translator, that you mentioned on July 22nd news update. This is the Yahoo news site that I believe was referenced to before. Also - I have a tip for families sending photos to loved ones. I went to my local food store and places like Target and Walmart looking for small photo albums. They are about the size to handle 5X6 photos or smaller and have plastic sleeve pockets to insert photos into. This way - it keeps out sand and protects the faces of loved ones that our soldiers probably "kiss". These mini-albums are very thin and may have 20 sleeves in them. So they fit great into boxes for mailing and won't take up a lot of space allotted to our soldiers. I also speak to everyone I see about my 4th ID 1-22 soldier (son) and hand out lists of supplies. I volunteer to pick them up and then ship them out for my son to share with his unit. I have my church collecting supplies as well. I teach during the regular school year but do a summer crafts class for small children. One parent came in today with a load of Car and Driver, Road and Track, and other magazines. I gave her a big hug and let her know that the troops will just love getting them to read. Thank you to everyone for great ideas as I have sent a camping pillow and pillow case that I found at Walmart. I also went to a local "dollar" store and found the mini battery-operated fans. So I bought four with plenty of AA batteries for my son to share. I hope my ideas will inspire others as well. With continued prayers, faith, and God's grace, our soldiers will come home safe and soon!
11) Extract from a letter written July 11 by a 2nd Platoon, Alpha, 1-44 ADA officer to his wife:
Sounds like you are still curious about exactly what goes on over here, so I’ll try to give you a synopsis of what the average day is like here.
0130: Woke up to get ready to go on patrol at 0300
0130-0230- Got my tracks ready to go on patrol
0300-0700 Patrol my little corner of Iraq. I am basically the sheriff of the area I am in. So it’s a lot fun.
Although it’s pretty easy to enforce the law when you have five 33 ton tracked vehicles with multiple gun systems.
0730-1100 Slept after a long night driving around Iraq.
1100-1400 Did some paper work and some other officer
1400-1600 Watched one of the DVDs you sent with some of the guys from the Battery.
1700- NOW Got on the computer to write you a letter and do some other paper work.
Rest of the Night: Eat Dinner, maybe watch another movie, and get ready to go out on patrol again.

Most of the days over here tend to be the same and tend to run together when I am pulling long hours, but working a lot does make the time pass by a lot faster. Next week will be spent pretty much working on all my Bradley’s, so I’ll be getting my hands dirty a lot next week.
12) We've had a couple of phone calls our son Matt recently (no unit given) - he's been keeping pretty busy until the last few days. They are staying in an abandoned hospital about 15 miles north of Baghdad & just now had an air conditioner put in! The wounded (mostly Iraqis lately) are treated by his group, then he takes them by ambulance to a hospital in Baghdad. His ambulance broke down one day, which was a little scary! He said that time goes by pretty quickly even though it feels like he's been there forever. Care packages are much appreciated - they mostly need snacks and powdered drink mixes. Sometimes they get to buy food from Iraqi vendors, which is a real treat! He and (his wife's) baby is due any day now - his Captain said he's so excited it's all he talks about. Sure hope he can see the baby soon - we're hearing he'll be there a year, which we sure hope isn't true.
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But, it most likely is true that our soldiers will be there until next March/April. Let's get our despair behind us and get ready for the next eight months of supporting our troops in Iraq. We'll continue to band together to help each other out just like our troops will do for each other over there.

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