[OpusatFR]

God Bless, y'all stay safe and we continue to pray for you, and the Iraqi people that they have good government and finally, peace.

[StonyBurk]

I was an Army Medic from 69-77 and your report brings back
memories of the way it was then. I drove a meatwagon/Crackerbox and we appriated a term made popular
by the Tank corps in WW Twice "Drive On"-- I salute you,Sir
(and that is not intended as disrespect-as many enlisted do
earn their living not given that title--I give as a sign of
respect earned.)

[Milhous]

you can see something in their eyes that begs to know that we are here for the duration.

An all too common observation that people who serve in Iraq share with me. Thanks for your service!

[Gosh I love this neighborhood]

Thank you very much for your service.

[itsamelman]

Thanks for the news and thanks for your service. Please keep us updated.

Also please pass on my sincere thanks and admiration to your fellow servicemen and women. We're very proud back home and we haven't forgotten...

[syriacus]

Good to hear from you. Thanks for taking the time to let us know what's happening.

[Paradox]

Thanks for your post my friend, it is greatly appreciated. I put far more weight in posts like these, from the field, than anything coming out of the MSM.

You and your fellow soldiers are the best! To say you are appreciated is an understatement's understatement.

[Valin]

The very few dissenters are actually disgruntled people that originally thought of the military as a different form of welfare

Realities a bi*ch ain't it!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Thanks for your service!

[maica]

If you have a way of sharing messages with your crew, I hope you can share today's Peggy Noonan column . Perception versus reality in Communist Poland 25 years ago. I'm not posting it to bring God or the Pope into this conversation, but to show that millions of people participated in an event that the controlled media did not show to the public.

It reminds me of the act of faith in freedom that the Iraqi voters showed on Jan 30.


http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/

.

.


So it [the Mass at Blonie field] was a redeclaration of the Polish spirit, which is a free spirit. And those who were there went home a different people, a people who saw themselves differently, not as victims of history but as strugglers for Christ.

Another crucial thing happened, after the mass was over. Everyone who was there went home and turned on the news that night to see the pictures of the incredible crowd and the incredible pope. But state-controlled TV did not show the crowds. They did a brief report that showed a shot of the pope standing and speaking for a second or two. State television did not acknowledge or admit what a phenomenon John Paul's visit was, or what it had unleashed.

The people who had been at the mass could compare the reality they had witnessed with their own eyes with the propaganda their media reported. They could see the discrepancy. This left the people of Poland able to say at once and together, definitively, with no room for argument: It's all lies. Everything this government says is a lie. Everything it is is a lie.

Whatever legitimacy the government could pretend to, it began to lose. One by one the people of Poland said to themselves, or for themselves within themselves: It is over.


And when 10 million Poles said that to themselves, it was over in Poland. And when it was over in Poland, it was over in Eastern Europe. And when it was over in Eastern Europe, it was over in the Soviet Union. And when it was over in the Soviet Union, well, it was over.

[Billthedrill]

Great report - keep 'em comin'! I know how it is to be starved for news...but Michael Jackson? Ewww...

The sad part is that we're just as starved for real news about you folks there as you are about what's going on in the States. The AP produced a gaggle of Pulitzer Prize photos day before yesterday and to look at them you'd think we're being run out of town on a rail. Your reports are a breath of truth! Watch yer six, my friend, and thanks for your service.

[lillybet]

Thankyou to all you Valiant and Honorable Soldiers we, think of you and Pray for your safe return Home. ever day.

[BlessedBeGod]

Thank you for your report, and thank you for your service to our country. May the angels keep you safe.

[11th_VA]

Great report - keep me on your ping list - I think of all of you everyday, and look forward to the day you'll all be home.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks for the unbiased update of the reality of where you are. Thanks to you and all your buds for helping keep all of us free and safe. Thanks for your service to America.

[lowbridge]

bump

[ovrtaxt]

Thanks for the article! It's great to hear a first hand account of the state of things. The news is a joke anymore. Funny that the folks back home are the ones waiting for the mail!

[AlwaysFree]

God Bless you. You and all the troops are in my prayers. There were 5 people in the National Guard from my hometown who went to Iraq and all of them have returned home safely. One had to go back to Germany for a while, but will be back sometime in August of this year.

Regarding MJ - I'm just waiting to see his nose fall off sometime before the trial is over. LOL!!

Take care, do your job the way you're supposed to, and come home safely.

[DBeers]

Thank you!