Dusty

It is amazing the dust storms here. I mentioned last time that sometimes the dust is thick enough, it is like a fog. I did a picture looking at some houses across the airfield. Some days you can see the houses and other days you can’t. I don’t recommend this place for people who have breathing problems. In fact, I don’t think I recommend this place even if you don’t have breathing problems.

I am including a copy of a letter I wrote to my sister-in-laws 6th grade class. They were kind enough to send me a group of letters that they wrote to me. I passed them around to some of the other medical staff. I think it sums things up pretty well.

“Dear 6th Grade Class, September 23, 2008
Thank you for your wonderful letters. Believe it or not, they were an inspiration for me. Just knowing that people back home care about our soldiers really mean a lot. Even little things like just sending a letter or saying “Thank You” means a great deal. All that a soldier want is knowing that people back in the states appreciate the sacrifice that the soldier is making. He wants to know that he is not forgotten. He wants to know that his hard work, his sweat and at times, his tears are not for nothing. Over here, the American soldier does make a difference. They help give the Iraqi people a chance for freedom, something that we as Americans at times take for granted. They also are fighting against terrorism, the same type that attacked our nation on September 11, 2001.

I don’t know how much Mrs. Baier has told you about me. I joined the Army a little over a year ago. I was inspired a great deal by my son, Michael, who joined the Marines about 2 years ago. When I saw what he was doing for our country, I decided that I could help our country as well. I am too old to be an active Infantry man, like my son. I am probably close to some of your grandparents’ ages. God has been very good to me and gave me other skills to help our country. He gave me skills to be a doctor, so I decided to use those skills to help out troops. Unfortunately, in war soldiers do get hurt and I can help them recover. I love these soldiers over here. Each day they go outside the wire, that is, outside of the base where it is safe. They face danger everyday of being injured by the terrorist. They do this for us, so we can have a safe place at home, free of terrorism. The reason I joined the Army was to be able to help these wonderful soldiers of our nation.

It is not too bad over here now. When I first came over here, our plane refueled in Ireland, then onto Kuwait. I spent a few days doing more training in Kuwait. Then we flew to Iraq. I am now stationed in Mosul, which is way up north in Iraq. Iraq is approximately the size of the state of Texas. Bagdad is the capital and I am a few hundred miles north of it. We have bases all over the country. When I first got here, the temperature averaged about 115-120 degrees. It took a while, but I got used to it. Now the fall is here and the temp goes around 95 -100. At night time it cools off to about 80 degrees. This place is truly a city in the middle of a desert. All water is piped or shipped in. The only water we drink is bottle water. The water in the sinks are not safe to drink. We can, however, take showers in it as long as we don’t drink it. I drink about 4-5 liters of water a day, just to stay hydrated. It is very easy to get dehydrated over here, then you need IVs or else you will get very sick.

We have had almost no rain since April. There are a few trees and I don’t know how they stay alive with almost no rain. I am told they have a very deep root system that must supply them with nutrients. I work pretty much in the hospital here, called a CSH (Combat Support Hospital). Because of all the dust here, there is a high infection rate. We basically stabilize the wounded soldier, meaning we clean out their wounds, give them blood if needed, IVs and medication. Then after a day or two, the wounded are flown to Germany for further care. We have very little TV programs, so most troops in their free time watch a lot of DVDs. I don’t have a car here so we do a lot of walking.

I finish up with my tour about the end of October.

Your letters made me smile and I thank you for them. “

Tom