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

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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) Received two letters from my soldier in the 4th ID 2-8 Infantry several days ago. He sounded more upbeat than he had sounded and is looking forward to returning to Fort Hood and wants us to come out and bring him his guitar. He talked about Operation Ivy Serpent and wondered if we had seen any of the 4th on tv. He had seen one of his buddies on a tv over there. He is being discharged in December so we are looking forward to his return sometime in September. He said "the road is open to him now" and is looking forward to looking for a good job and going to law school when he comes home.
2) Yesterday I wrote that my son, with the B-3/29 FA Bn from Ft. Carson, had called his wife. This a.m. I received a call from him. He is at one of Saddam's palaces. He described the marble floors,ornate chandeliers and rich paneling in the palace. I was able to ask him questions such as "What in heck is a "swamp cooler"? (A huge fan blowing over water!) He has been receiving boxes we've sent and also those sent by the American Legion post that has adopted his outfit.He told me not to worry. I told him that was my job and I intended to do it well! (Ed Note: Understand, momma's are uniquely equipped for that worrying job - know mine did lots of it when I was in Vietnam...)
3) I heard from my husband yesterday 8/27 From B 3/29 FA out of Fort Carson. He could only talk breifly, but he wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday! He said that some of the unit is in the field. Of course I had to ask him, "how much more in the field can you get? You're in the middle of the desert!!"
4) Our son is with the 299th Engineer Battalion out of Fort Hood. An addition to the birthday ideas: his is coming up, and I found a crumb cake that he really likes (freshest date possible), and vacuum sealed it, then added candles, balloons, etc. I am also hoping that as the weather cools (WHENEVER THAT HAPPENS FOR THEM!), I will be able to send more homemade goodies that would keep well for a couple of weeks after being vacuum sealed. He e-mailed on Sunday - said the computers are starting to make their way into the brigade - he was off on a patrol - as he put it, a 2-day, 4-day, 2-week patrol - "you know how things go in the Army"! He's very busy, but continues to sound good whenever we hear from him.
5) Our son who is a 2LT with 1-68 Armor, Charlie Company, called on 8/28 at 12:30 a.m.! He said the weather has gotten a little better and his Company may be moving in 1-2 weeks. We didn't ask where to. We filled him in on his high school football team (he was an offensive lineman) and he wants the weekly updates on how the games go. In regards to the person who asked how to make a birthday special over in Iraq, we started "Operation Happy Birthday" for our soldier who will be 23 in Sept. We sent emails to everyone who knows us or him as well as school teachers. We're putting a big box together with a ton of cards (about 50 right now), and little birthday treat bags for him to celebrate with as well as a birthday prince crown! This will look cool on a tanker! Most of our friends have now included little gifts as well, which weren't asked for. His football coach had the current team sign a school flag for our soldier and we're including that! Our son will get a real kick out of all of this. We wish we could see his face when all of these packages arrive.
6) I heard from my husband last night at about 7pm. He is in 1/17 FA Charlie Battery from Ft Sill, OK. He had gotten up early (4am) so there wouldn't be a line for the phone and we were able to talk for 45 minutes!! It was wonderful. Said it was a little chilly (high 80s/low 90s) as we were talking. He also said that every one is doing well, just ready to come home. ........ We are still waiting for word on whether or not he will be able to return home for scheduled leadership training (he made rank 11 months ago so we're hoping). Requested more of the chef boy r d lunch cups and squeeze n' go pudding. Loves the crystal lite I have been sending and Kleenex brand (splash n' go) baby wipes. He said they're nice and thick!!! My thoughts and prayers go out to all our troops and their families!!
7) I'm writing this letter in reply to the woman who wanted an idea for a birthday. For my fiancé's birthday, this being the second time he was away for it since he was in Egypt this time last year. I wanted to make sure he had a cake to eat. So I purchased a premade pie crust that is made of graham crackers, he loves strawberries so I purchased strawberry pie filling, placed a walnut vanilla pound cake that is sealed in plastic and then I placed that in a Ziploc bag to make sure that it didn't break open during the travel, and last but not least, since I was not able to send him whipped cream, I placed a container of white frosting in it. I made a card that went along with it that stated, "How to build your birthday cake in the desert." I put set by step instructions, making it a fun card to also include him blowing up his balloons (which I placed a small package), blowing the horns (which I placed a few in the box) and also mentioning that I didn't place candles into the box in fear that the box would never get to him because it would catch on fire. :) (of course just to add humor). I did tell him to sing "Happy Birthday TO Me!" as loud as he could while he was making the cake. (LOL) I know that was silly, but isn't that part of making this? I also made the box just of birthday treats and gag gifts. I also made sure to place birthday napkins and plates for him to use. I tell you, when he received it he told me that it was a wonderful idea and he did follow the instructions to make the cake and shared with a few men in the unit who had birthdays that same week. I thought that was sweet. He only wished I had sent him whipped cream :) But that is just an idea I did this last June. Everything arrived safe and I had a happy soldier on the receiving end :) Good luck with your package! I'm sure whatever you do it will be great because it is from you.
8) My son is with 4th ID B Co. 1-22 Inf Bat in Iraq, most likely around Bayji. I've been visiting my wonderful daughter-in-law at Fort Hood, Texas for 3 weeks and have been helping out her sister who will be deployed in October and her husband in January, both to Iraq. I helped to babysit their 20 month old boy and a 7 month old baby girl and I loved every minute of it! It's hard on families - especially the children when both sets of parents are deployed. It is a unique perspective visiting an army town and seeing soldiers in various parts of their daily life, whether in uniform at the local Wal-Mart, shopping at the PX, or on base going about their duties. Seeing Appache helicopters flying over head with that distinctive roto sound they make and the constant boom from weapons as troops routinely train for future deployment, is a constant reminder of our mandate to freedom. It fills me with such pride to see our soldiers and wish other people could have this experience........There are photos posted on the site http://www.1-22infantry.org/ from a friend of my son. People can go to the PHOTOS link and there are 2 "B" company links. I've printed some out to use as a bulletin board display at church so that everyone can see what our troops are doing. God Bless our troops and their families! (Ed Note: We can thank Michael Belis for his great work on the 1-22 web site and Greg and Chris Rollinger for their great work on the A/1-8 web site at www.a-1-8.org. There are no other specific unit sites that I'm aware of).
9) Last week, Aug 18-21 our son who is B CO 299 ENG BN currently based out of Tikrit, was on R&R in Qatar. He got to call every day from a military phone and AT&T charged minute for minute..whew..that 500 minute phone card did come in handy. He has been riding on convoys back & forth to Mosul and also guarding an ammo plant in Balad........... He told me to slow down on the "real" food, as he has a stockpile now, but to keep the Koolaid, jerky, beef sticks coming. He switched his requests to things more entertainment related. They now have a DVD/TV, and someone's wife sent her husband his Playstation 2. So of course, he wants games, and made me promise to send him Lord of the Rings 2 Towers. We did a lot of catching up...I forgot how much he makes me laugh..seriously..he is sooo funny and interesting to listen to.. He got his first massage/facial/pedicure in Qatar by a 400 lb woman, (he said she had really strong hands..haha). He kept me and his dad in stitches the whole 4 days, which made it extremely hard to say goodbye again. I am still trying to get back on track, you know, the routine of writing everyday, keeping the boxes going, etc. I hope to hear from him soon. His plane was delayed a day due to small arms fire at the Tikrit airport. On his part, he was ready to get back to his battle buddies. He truly loves those guys, and THAT makes me feel good.
10) I get an e-mail about every day from my son, E troop 1/10 Cav 4ID. It is so great to get that every day knowing he is fine. He said he's been putting in lots of hours but all is fine. Have had mortar fire. For his 21st birthday I sent a big box with boxes of twinkies, cup cakes, 21 candles, balloons, etc to his Capt and his Capt took them to him on the air strip (he is a helicoper mechanic). Cakes with candles, all the guys got a charge out of that. He is asking for LOTS of drink mix and ramin noodles in a cup, speg. o's and such things as that. SO PROUD of all our troops, God Bless them ALL !!!!!!!!
11) My husband is in A Co. 2-4 AVN. Recently I sent a box of used books to our soldiers on behalf of the FRG which weighed about 25 lbs and only paid about $8 for shipping. You have to use a regular box and tape (not the free priority boxes post office give us) and ask for the "media mail" rate. As long as there is nothing else in the box, you can use this rate. It takes about a week or 2 longer to get there but will definitely save a lot of money if you are sending multiple boxes. (Ed Note: Very smart advice, I use media mail rate for all the books I send out - and I've sent out about 3,000 over the past two years - major money savings by using that rate, and it doesn't take that much longer to get there).
12) I got word from my husband at 6:40 a.m. he's with B co 2-8 INF attached with 1-67 Armor. He said he is doing fine and tell everyone not too worry too much and keep up with the prayers to get him and his unit home safe. We only had 5 mins to talk and he called to wish our son a Happy Birthday he turned 5 today. He told me to send him a summer DCU and some cash and more applesauce.
13) Our son, HHC/1-22 Scout Platoon Leader, sent his second e-mail yesterday almost exactly 3 weeks after the first. Again this e-mail was very brief and there has been no other communication from him in between. He said that he didn't have much time to write and thanked us for all of the boxes and letters.
14) This morning I got a 10 minute call from my husband who is part of 1-66 Armor outside Samarra and although it cut out a few times and was pretty fuzzy, the connection held. He said things are going pretty well over there although they are getting pretty worn down from missing their families and the living conditions (although the conditions have improved quite a bit over the last few weeks from the sounds of it). He said other than missing us like crazy, things are just fine. He was even joking a bit. I also got some film developed that he sent back. It was nice to see some of what he sees everyday (although I've gotta say - I don't think I'd like waking up to those conditions everyday!!!) He said they really aren't allowed to talk about what they are doing anymore which is fine by him because after spending all day doing it, he doens't really want to have to think about it - even if it's just for 10 short minutes. He asked me to send him some Maglites (flashlights) becasue they are going through their's like crazy, a personal DVD player and DVDs, more chewing tobacco (I guess a few weeks ago the entire country ran out of it! I thought that was pretty wild.), and a ticket home. He said to keep the letters and pictures coming because the soldiers really live for each one - it brightens their whole day.
15) We received a call from our son 06:00 CST yesterday (8/27). He is B Co 4th Eng 1/8 TF from Fort Carson. They have been in Balad at the air base for the last 3 days maintenancing their vehicles. They have been really busy with guard duty and patrols as they are a little short handed with soldiers ETSing. Everything is good, getting our packages, and can't wait to get back to camp to see what mail is waiting for him. He had received the camp stove we sent and he was able to cook one of his favorites, creamed tuna over chow mein noodles, he said it was great. We'll be sending more canned goods for him to fix "gourmet" meals with...... HOOOHAHH.
16) My son, who is with HHC 3RD BCT, 4ID, out of Ft. Carson, emailed me yesterday. They are still at Base Anaconda in Balad, still getting mortar attacks at the base almost every night and Balad is still a very unfriendly place. He is getting 3 hot meals a day, though usually doesn't want them, doing PT each morning, getting to sleep late one day/week, can sleep in a/c at night and is doing good. In the past week, he has been on a quick reaction force to protect against religious leaders getting assassinated as they come into or leave the base (apparently a real problem).........
17) I got an e-mail from my brother who is a SSG with 4ID and is currently with the HHB/3-29FA Unit. He is currently located in Balad. His spirits are high and of course misses his family. From reading your page and with the suggestion of one of the family, I ordered him the battery operated shower head. He hasn't received it yet but is looking forward to getting it. Where he is they can go swimming and have air conditioning........ He does say that he is learning not to take things for granted. He doesn't know yet, but I recently went to the store and bought him a lot of silly toys for him and some of his buddies. I got them water guns, balls which you fill with water and toss around, some of the spray strings that you get at parades, and of course some other goodies he requested. I am hoping to at least make him and his buddies laugh and enjoy themselves a little bit.
18) My husband called at 2:00 A.M. this morning. What a great thing it was to hear his sweet voice. He is with B-Btry 3-16 FA from Fort Hood. He is at Taji Airfield in Iraq. He said, he is doing fine and not to worry. He said, they finally have sandwich bread since the mess hall opened there tents last week. Most importantly they have ICE, yes real Ice. He said a lot of his fellow soldiers and some Iraq Citizens were able to get the badly damaged shop back in order. So now they can actually have something cold to drink. I let him know that one of his soldiers in his platoon was a first time daddy as of yesterday (8lb 2oz. baby boy) . He said, this was great to know and he would tell his soldier right away. Because he had just seen the soldier and he was just talking about his wife being due any day now. He said, to hug our two boys for him and he loves and misses us very much.
19) My brother called yesterday,HHB-3/29FA, from Samarra airfield. He says they finally have A.C. and that he actually has to cover up at night when he sleeps! He's loving the packages we send. He said they have cooks now, so they get a hot meal for breakfast and a hot meal for dinner. I'm already planning Christmas for him. I'm sending him a battery operated fiber optic small tree and I plan to mail him a present once a week starting in Nov so he'll have small things to open on Christmas day. Also, I will send small in-expensive wrapped gifts for him to give some of his buddies on X-mas Day, so hopefully this will make them feel like their Christmas won't be so bad this year.
20) Received a call this early morning from our son (3-66 AR) who is on R & R in Tikrit. Said that the palaces are lovely but nothing like what we've seen in Germany....more stark, I guess. He couldn't stop talking about the wonderful food and air conditioning. I guess these guys, who have grown up with so much, will not take anything for granted....bless their hearts. Anyway, he sounded upbeat and relaxed and we were able to talk for over an hour. He also was able to talk to his dad who had a lot of sound advice. (His dad is often at work when the calls come through). I'm grateful for the communication (third call this week). GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND THE FAMILIES WHO SACRIFICE SO MUCH!!!
21) I heard from my husband (1/68AR, HHC Medics) by mail yesterday. He sounds well and loved his Old Man and the Sea. He requested Waldon Pond, so you know I have purchased and mailed it off to him. He was also happy that I have sent him a "camp espresso" maker. He loves his espresso and is looking forward to receiving it. He, like you, is counting the days until April.....
22) Heard from my son (1/68 Armor B.Co.) on Sunday night. It was about 11pm central time and he said it was 8am (Monday) in Tikrit. He got his first R&R since arriving in early April. Says he's gotten all of my packages and really loved the pillow I sent recently. Didn't have anything specific he was asking for, said to slow down on junk food as they weren't doing much PT. Also said the heat was terrible, but he could endure till it was time to come home. He did sound really homesick. We got to talk about 30 minutes on the satellite phone and then he wanted to try to reach his girlfriend too. Said he was still in Balad, staying in a cleaned out ammunition barracks. They now have a generator, some fans, a TV and DVD player. Water still comes from a 50 gallon barrel for showers and toilet is still an "outhouse". I'm so very proud of him.....
23) We got our 1st picture from our son in Iraq (A Co 1-8 Inf 3rd BCT from Ft. Carson), he looks so good!! It was so fun to get!! Some Iraqi's are in the picture with him...they love to have their picture taken with the soldiers. His letter was written 8/11, post marked 8/15 and today is 8/28, not bad!!! Mentions the extreme heat 126 during the day cooling down to 90 - 100. He's lost 30lbs. As of the date of the letter no A.C. He sounded good over-all, can't wait to be home. God Bless Our Soldiers and their Families.
24) Received a letter from my son today. He is in the HDC, 204th FSB. He said he is doing good but complained about the heat. I sent him a questionnaire and he finally replied. Said he is sleeping in a tent and washing his clothes in a bucket. He is also doing a lot of guard duty but didn't say where. Said everyone around him is getting mail so that is good to hear. He asked me to send him t-shirts, around 6 CD's, 5 magazines, Polaroid camera, drink mix, and cigars. Said I didn't have to send everything at once. This brought tears to my eyes - he said I was the best mom and he really appreciates all I am doing for him. And he is so thankful for the packages. We Are So Proud Of Him And All the Soldiers!!! Stay Safe And Come Home Soon!!!
25) We heard from our son at 3:45 :o) this morning (8/28). He is with the 1/68 Armor. He sounded tired and a little homesick, but still okay. It was good to hear his voice and know that he is okay for another day. He is asking for batteries for the camping fan I sent him (the generator in their tent went out after only one week) and books and cheap DVDs if we can find them. That was about it . . . but we'll take what we can get.
26) What a blessing I got tonight! I wrote earlier to say I had received a phone call on Sunday and 4 letters this week. Well tonight at 11:15pm I received a phone call from my husband (Alpha Co. 1-22 IN BN). We only got to talk for about 10 minutes, but what a shock it was for me. I got to discuss our son's name with him. He said he had been receiving his packages within about 14 days. His spirits sounded high and he said to keep writing but not to spend all our money on care packages. Thank you God for the blessing I got tonight!

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