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 About Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) I had a great wake up call this morning (Monday, Aug 4). My son with the 1-12 FA BN 17th FA BDE out of Fort Sill,Ok. attached to the 4th ID at the Sustainer Air Field called at 4:30am Texas time. We got to talk for 30 minutes. He sounded so good. He said he had been going out on missions with the 1-22, so anytime I heard about them, I was also getting info on him. His birthday is this coming Thursday(7th). He will be 24. This will be the 3rd birthday I have missed but I am a very proud military mom and that goes along with the job. He told me he got his birthday cards and pkgs. yesterday so at least the got there before his birthday. It had been awhile since I had heard his voice, so I am a very happy camper this morning. It took 2 weeks for his cards and pkgs. to reach him so mail is getting a little faster at times. I pray every night for all our soldiers to come home soon, safe, and sound.
2) I just heard from my Husband at 12:30 Central time (Saturday, Aug 2). He is with 4th MP Co tasked out to 3rd Platoon from Ft Carson. He said he was very tired as they just got back from Tikrit an hour before. He was able to go to the PX there & pick up some drink mix (apperently he goes through that stuff like water!), some chips & ice. I told him I was able to find him a battery operated fan & he laughed (didn’t know they made such things!) & said that it would be great to have. He said they are working on getting them AC but haven't yet. He said he misses us & that he is being very careful.
3) We got a phone call this morning (Monday, 8/4) from our son-in-law who is with 1/17 FA attached to 1/10 Cav. He sounded good and that he was safe. He told us he was able to watch the first group of soldiers from the New Iraqi Army who had finished boot camp get on the bus for AIT. He was impressed. He said there was "bus after bus of Iraqis headed out." His only regret was he didn't have his camera with him to film the event. He liked some of the news things my daughter sent him last month. He asked for more Gordita Meal Mix from Taco Bell, canned chicken and instant mashed potatoes and green beans. He is "cooking." He also wanted his favorite cereal and powered milk.
4) Today, Sunday Aug 3 my daughter got a surprise phone call from her fiance (B Co 2-8), they got to talk for about 10 min before being disconnected. He said they were hot and tired but okay, doing one mission after another but today had been their day off and they all rested. He was excited that it was already August, one more month closer to coming home. 5) A note about the short timer's calendar. In 1955-Mid-1957, in Japan, we utilized the short timer's calendar. We sure did mark up the standard calendars and then made our own with short timer's numbers on the calendars. (Ed Note: I thought they were probably around before Vietnam, good to hear some history from our Cold War vets).
6) My son turned 20 in July. He is in Baqubah with the 1/67. We did receive a phone call last week. He was at the Children's Hospital also. For his birthday I sent a blow up pool. I had seen a picture of sailors on an aircraft carrier with a huge pool and inflatable rings. I thought my son and the other young men would be ingenious enough to find a way to fill it, get a few good laughs and cool off, if even for just a few moments.
7) I have a son with 3-67 Armor at Camp Warhorse and a son in-law with Bravo 3-18 F.A. out of Ft. Sill . They haven't seen each other, but my son did find his brother-in-laws unit and just missed him, he had gone out on a mission. But was told to check back in a few days. I hope they do see each other, it would make my son really happy. I have been sending at least one package every 2 weeks or so. This time I'm sending some water guns, since they are on sale now and that would be some fun for the guys to have over there. Someone wrote about buying the cool-ties and sending, well I have been making them for my son and son-in-law to pass out. Their not hard to make if you go to this site: http://organizedhome.com/sewing/sewsimple/cooltie.html the instructions are there. And I found the polymer granules at Wal-Mart in the garden section, Schultz Moisture Plus watering crystals. I have made about 100 of them to send so far. We haven't gotten a call from my son in 4 weeks about he does write and he gets to use someones laptop to e-mail, even if it is only 2 or 3 times a week. My son said that a few of his friends don't get hardly anything so my other daughter is sending them a package that would have been for her brother. We want to help out as much as we can. Keep supporting our boys and girls with packages and prayers.
8) Our son (HHC/1-12 of 3BCT) phoned just after 3am Sunday morning. He sounded in good spirits and determined to make the most out of the remainder of his one year tour in Iraq. Living conditions are improving. They sleep on cots, now finally have some A/C, get warm cooked meals daily and even get to see satellite TV (for example, Fox News). He said that he doesn't have a chigger problem, but with daytime temperatures of around 130 deg. F he sure gets a lot of heat rash. The whole unit is looking forward to cooler weather as Fall approaches. Aside from the constant need to stay alert against mortar fire and terrorist attacks, for the most part things seem to be settling down to routine.
9) I heard from my son this morning (Sunday) at 5am. He called from Kuwait after arriving there yesterday. He has officially started his journey HOME. His voice was full of joy when telling me he could wear civilian clothes and would be visiting a water park. Yep, a water park in Kuwait, go figure. I was told by someone who called from Ft Hood he would be leaving Kuwait Monday or Tuesday but he was told something different. If our entire family has learned one positive thing from this military experience it would have to be flexability. He knows and I know how often things change so we can deal with the fact he may be leaving Monday,Tuesday, or in a week but we all know the place he is headed to remains the same, the United States of America. Thanks for letting me share my wonderful news with you. God Bless Our Troops!!!! (Ed Note: This mother whose son is getting out of the Army also asked to be left on the update list to continue to support those still in Iraq - until they all come home).
10) After missing two phone calls in a row, and not hearing from my son for three weeks, I went out and bought a cell phone, then called my phone company and requested call forwarding, and it has already paid for itself. I do not leave the house unless I have switched on the call forwarding. We heard from our son Saturday 8/2/03 while at our Family Reunion. He is with Charlie Company, 2/8 Infantry, 4th ID. My husband said to me, “how does he know when we are not home? If we didn’t have the call forwarding we would have missed his call again!” He said he used to use a phone in town to call in between the satellite phone calls but the Iraqi’s have taken to shooting at them so they no longer go into town to use the phone. I thank the Lord daily for our wonderful soldiers and pray for their safe return. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
11) I just wanted to let everybody know that I got a call from my husband last night at 10:35pm I was soooooo happy to hear from him and it was sooner then expected. He would usually call every 7 to 8 days and this time it was on the fifth day. So I was very surprised and happy. He's with B 2-8 inf. out of FORT HOOD, TX. This time around he sounded in high spirits. last weeek he hadn't sounded so great. He asked if I had sent out more boxes and I told him two more were headed out this week so he was happy to hear that. He got to talk to his son which he was overly happy about, and started asking me a bunch of questions about him. He gave me the month that he may be home in. (etsing) so hopefully it's true, and if it is it's during mine and my sons birthday!! I couldn't ask for a greater gift! Well he just requested the usual wipes, gatorade, and munchies! Hopefully They'll all be home soon! GOD BLESS ALL THE TROOPS OVER THERE, AND MAY THE LORD WATCH OVER THEM.
12) Happy Day! I finally heard from my soldier with HHC/2-8! I had not received any word from him in 2 months, so what a great relief it was to get an email from him!! His message sounded very upbeat. He said his group had just gotten satellite email, and he's hoping he will be able to use it to stay in contact with everyone. He said that CBS and Associated Press have been staying with his unit, and that CBS had supposedly aired some stories this past week with Dan Rather. I went to the CBS website and there are a few stories and video clips you can download, but unfortunately none of them mention exactly which unit they are with, only that they are in Baqubah. Good enough for me, though. He went on to say that his living conditions have improved greatly now that they know how long they will be staying. They have electricity, showers, and can get ice every day. Most importantly, he said things are slowly starting to improve over there. Let's pray this continues so perhaps our troops can come home sooner and the Iraqis can get on with their lives as well.
13) I was so glad that you received a letter from someone else that is in 2-8 Inf, same as my son. Just like his mother, I was very happy too just to know that they are well especially since this is the first time that I myself had heard from my son since his arrival. He said that it was not to bad except for the hot sun.
14) My Mom was over yesterday when my brother called! He is with HHB 3-29FA. We both got to speak to him. Sounded really tired and has been pulling guard duty at night. Wants more books, chap stick for cold sores, rice crispy treats, and a new cd player. He is getting our packages within 2 weeks now. My Dad told me today that he got a letter from my brother dated 7-17-03, so not taking too long for ours now either.
Also, my office has adopted a soldier with 2nd brigade Recon.-TF Ironhorse.We sent him a huge box of all kinds of stuff 2 weeks ago, and wrote a letter introducing ourselves with our phone number. Well guess what!!!!!He called yesterday too. He was so sweet and grateful for the package and loves that we are thinking of them over there. Looks like we'll be busy till April sending letters and packages. It's so cool that this man was so appreciative that he called us. We sent phone cards to both my brother and our adopted soldier and sure enough it worked!!
15) We heard from our son on Saturday evening. He is with 4ID HHB 3-29FA and is doing good. He is absolutely plum sure he will be back in Fort Carson Colorado on 8-27-03!!!! I still won't believe it until he tells me he is standing in Fort Carson. Is the reason he gets to come home sooner the 4-04 due to his ETS date was 7-7-03? Whatever the reason, I will be so relieved. He actually got to call twice. The first time to go over some bills, and then he got back in line and about an hour later it was all fun!! He sounded extremely tired but he was trying to be as upbeat as he could. He said it is extremely hot there, but he was okay.
16) I received a letter today 8/4/03 from my son in Bayji, Iraq. He is in B-Co. 1-22 1st. Plt.( RAIDERS) from Ft. Hood. He wrote the letter July 20th. He sent a picture of him and three of his buddies standing in front of their Bradley. I would like to send the picture to you and see if maybe you could put it on the update. I have the young mens names that are with my son in the picture and I thought maybe by chance that some of their family may see it. If this would be okay please let me know and I will send it to you. He also said it was getting cooler at night now, and it would stay cool until around 9 am the next morning. He looked like he had lost weight, but looked healthy. He grew a mustache. I think we may have a talk about that..LOL. But he said he was doing fine and wanted some more pictures of home. I would be more than happy to send the picture if that would be okay. And I could add the names of the guys him. God Bless Our Troops and Family's. (Ed Note: Unfortunately, I can not use pictures in these updates because of the long upload and download times it would cause. However, I did ask her to send the picture to Michael Belis, our 1-22 Infantry web master at www.1-22infantry.org and it will be posted there, along with lots of other pictures from 1-22 - (he only focuses on 1-22 on that web site)).

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