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) I received two letters yesterday from my son (dated 7/23 and 7/25). (1 LT 3-29 FA, Charlie BTRY). He talked a lot about having to stay a year in Iraq. He says he will miss football, skiing, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. ("these are a few of his favorite things"). I think he is preparing himself mentally for this by just talking about it. He told me he took a bath out of a bucket; his first bath in four days. He is receiving my letters but the boxes have been slow. He still has not received two boxes I sent in July. He asked me to send him more underwear, (as he described, "not whitie tighties, but the boxer brief kind"). They are on the way. He thanked me for my frequent letters. I try to write at least every other day, even if it is a short letter and I will continue as long as he is there. I pray that every soldier has someone who is writing letters to them.
2) While speaking to my husband today (a BULLDOG, 3-16 FA in Taji) he recieved a care package and a letter I mailed on 29 July! It was so neat to be on the phone with him while he went through his goodies. I have noticed that mail has gotten so much better on both ends I sometimes get mail that is ONLY 8 days old! Isn't that wonderful? :) HOOAH!
3) My Grandson is in Iraq with HHC 2 BDE 4 ID. I got my first phone call from him last Saturday and he was on R & R in Qatar, he said. First time I have gotten to talk to him since last April. Thank God I was home. He sounded very tired. So I hope he got to rest some while there. He also told me about not getting to come home until next Aprl. (Which I already knew, Thanks to you!!!!!!) He had only been back in the states about 6 months from being on the DMZ in Korea for 2 years when he was sent to Iraq. Like so many he wanted more Gatorade and Tang and to keep sending all the stuff I have been sending. I mail packages each week to him and he shares with others. They told him to tell me Thank you for sending lots. He also wanted lots of canned Chicken and Smoked oysters and they are on the way, of course. He has been able to call his Mother often in MS. And she keeps me informed on his needs. So I do hear often about him as she emails me.
4) Hey Bob, just wanted to let you know that my boyfriend called me this afternoon. He is part of B btry 3/16 2bct... he sounded great!!! He had receeved a pillow from his sister so he was in much gratitude. He apologized for not calling in a couple of weeks. Apparently they have been very busy with their missions and every day work. Other than the heat, he seemed in high spirits despite the acclaimed return date and promised that he would be able to call more starting this week...YES!!!! it makes it so much easier to get through the week with at least one phone call. He hopes that everyone is doing well and says thank you for all of our efforts in keeping him happy with the pkgs and letters we send...
5) My husband is in HHC 2-8 IN and he finally has email! He says he's doing fine. He is getting mail in about two weeks. I wanted to respond to one of the family members who said the guys need money. My husband asked for small bills like 1's and 5's because it was a pain to get change back in dinars. It takes a lot of dinars apparently. I have been receiving a lot of them in the mail lately too.
6) Our son was due to get out in September, after 4 years of duty. We all expected his tour in Iraq to last until April. Now it appears that the ETS has truly been changed, and that he may be coming home much earlier. I just want to say to all in this great forum that, if he comes home soon, we are indeed very fortunate, as is he. We love his sense of humor, which shows that morale is and always has been very high, even in the worst of conditions over the past several months. His generosity of giving our packages to his comrades is inspiring, and we certainly will change the address and continue sending whatever is needed or desired to all our young men and women in Iraq. We will maintain our daily contact with all involved here, thanks to Bob. And we do apologize for feeling so giddy at this moment, knowing that many will be there for several months, and that many more may be needed to redeploy to Iraq to complete the mission. The mission will be done this time, and hopefully, we will all be able to live in a more peaceful world once Iraq is a fully free, independent and a peaceful neighbor in the global community. Our young men and women are doing a great job, enduring hardships with pride and humor, and are growing up beyond our expectations! That's sort of nice, ain't it! .... Enough words, thanks to all of you supporters. My son is 404 ASB somewhere on an airstrip outside of Tikrit, I believe. God Bless Ivy!
7) My husband is in HHS 2-20 FA attached to alpha troop 1/ 10 cav out of FT. HOOD TX. He has been to Khanaquin with Charlie Co. and near Mandela and the bravo Co. both of 1 /10 cav. He has been training the Iraq people to be police officers and to be able to keep law and order in their country. He is a former police officer and is enjoying the work he is doing. His first graduating class was 64 people and his 2 class was 105 people. He also said that has been on the Iraq news and in the paper and he feels like a celebrity, everyone is asking for his picture. He is getting really homesick but says that time is starting to move faster now that he is moving around more.
8) Received a call from my husband (B.Co.2-8 INF) on Monday morning. I was so glad to hear from him, since I was leaving for Georgia to spend some time with my family just a few hours later and I had missed his call a few days earlier. He sounded really good and when he found out that I was going to Georgia he gave me a list of things to buy him from Ranger Joe's. He also told me that he wants to change one of our spare bedrooms into a nursery when he gets back. Sounds like he is ready for a baby ( woohoo!!!!). It also seeems like the dry spell concerning letters has come to an end. My neighbor, who is taking care of the house and my cats while I'm gone, called me yesterday to let me know I received a letter from him. I can't wait to get back home so I can read it.
9) My husband is with the 204th C FSC out of Ft. Hood. He has called me three times this week. This is a first! All of the calls have come between 2-3:00AM. He sounds like he is doing well and really happy to hear my voice. I just moved down to Ft. Hood myself this week to start a teaching job, so I think he is really worried that I am arriving here alone and don't know a single person. He also was able to email me for the first time. He said that finally he has a tent to sleep in. He had been sleeping on top of his truck for months. He also requested a list of things to mail him now that he will have access to outlet for electricity he wants a radio . He is a little down that their deployment is lasting longer than he expected becuase he was only home for 3 weeks for a year tour in Korea before deploying to Iraq. I hope that the communications stay as good as they have been recently. Keep praying for our soldiers!!
10) I got two calls from my son (4th ID B/1-10 troop located on the Iraq/Iran border) this week. He is doing okay..... I asked him about a portable DVD player also, and he said he would like to have one. I figured since he probably wouldn't be home for Christmas, that would be something I could send him that he could enjoy. Thanks also for addressing that in your update. I now know that I need to buy him a "voltage converter," which I was able to locate on the internet. He told me I needed to buy him something because of the difference in voltage, but he didn't know what it was called, and neither did anyone on my email list. Your updates are doing more good than just letting us know what's going on; you provide much needed information that we sometimes don't know how to get anywhere else.
11) I received a letter from my son, HSB 3-16 FA out of Fort Hood. The letter is dated July 25, received Aug. 6, less than 2 weeks! He loved the "pop-top" canned chicken and tuna fish, which is a relief from the MREs.. He received new responsibilities, financing the hospital renovation and rebuilding located north of Baghdad. He says he is extremely cautious traveling to Tikrit with all the necessary material for the hospital. His morale was good and he can`t wait to come home, however I wrote to him after learning of the April return date, telling him that the mission and daily job that each of the soldiers are doing can be considered among the most important deeds in the world! Their accomplishments in Iraq humble us and the most important duties we undertake each day back home!
12) I got a letter saturday and a voice recorded tape monday ....I love playing the tape over and over again even the dog remembers the voice and ran right to the front door thinking daddy will be home... My fiancee is with the b co 3-66 in bayji...I have not gotten a phone call in 8 weeks now but like I said, the tape did the trick...I am in the middle of making him a new tape now....may god bless all the troops and bring them all home safe.
13) Our Son is with the 4th ID 3 Brigade out of Fort Carson. We hadn't heard from him in 2 weeks after getting several e-mails from him for about a 3 week period. Then yesterday (8/6) we got an e-mail telling us the computer he was using was a buddies of his and he had left and he didn't have anyway to contact us and now he was moved to Tirkirt and once again has computer access. He mentioned going to one of the Palaces and swimming in Saddam's pool. He also received my "entertainment" package. He had asked for CD's & DVD's so I filled it with the one's he wanted then put in all kind of movie candy like red hot tamales, licorice, jujubes, popcorn etc.. Wanted to make him feel like he was at the movies :) He seems like he is doing ok and he never complains about being there. He doesn't elaborate too much on what he is doing but talks more about regular stuff like about his music (he plays guitar and writes music) or about his personal affairs that we are helping him with. We also notice that there is a new appreciation for his family. He was 19 when he went in and is now 22 and we have seen so much growth in him. I have seen this in other letters that the Army makes them Men. We have seen that happen. We can't wait to have him home and we are counting the days..... God Bless ALL of our Troops and that they all come home safe!!
14) Dear Wariors of the fighting 4th (IVY) Division:
On behalf of the 17th Airborne Division Assn (WW-II) "Thunder from Heaven" I send the heart felt love and respect to the fighting soldiers in Iraq. We of the WW-II era realize that the soldiers on the ground in that 'God forsaken' land are in harms way big time. It would be great if only one could readily recognize the foe from friends and have time to respond appropriatley. We "Old-Timers" appreciate what you heroes are doing to preserve the liberties we have in this great USA. We send our thoughts and prayers for your safety and victory in battle---AND the policeing and peace keeping as you toil under trying conditions. May you return safely to your families and loved ones ---SOON! We salute youl
With utmost sincerity,
Norman E. (Gene) Tinnin, President
17th Airborne Division Assn
15) Hello Bob, we got a call from our son last night. The 3rd call in 11 days. He is 1st Platoon 1st Squad Bco 4th Eng 1/8 TF from Fort Carson. We got cut off twice but he called back right away both times. We probably had a total of about 10 minutes. They are still around Balad. They are doing guard duty one day and then the next day they are on QRF (quick reaction force), on these days they go on patrol at night so they are doing missions every other day. They are finding and securing weapons caches. There was word the other day that Saddem may be near so there was a lot going on for a few days with all the SF guys around. He says that they just got their house all fixed up with weight room and all and they were told that they would be moving down the road again in a few weeks along with the rest of the 1/8. He says oh well that's the way it is. He wants me to get in touch with his battle buddy who was sent back state side for surgery on his wounded hand, he wants me to tell him that they are sending his Purple Heart back to the states for him........... He sounds real good and strong and all the soldiers in his unit are receiving mail and packages but to keep writing and sending. All my thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. God Bless America and all are Soldiers and their families.

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