I'm not the author, but yes, he should be proud of his son.
That's what I heard from a Marine. They are sick of the locale though. It's a real POS place to live. Iraq isn't a "firefight a day" kind of place for all the guys. Long stretches of boredom followed by short bursts of terror.
The Marines pwn the night. The rank-and-file terrorist can't figure that out. They are stuck in the 17th century where night hides everything. Their cluelessness is astounding. Not only that, the terrorists never win a fight. At best, they don't lose horribly. When they get in a firefight, they die. The Marines just chew them up. The best the terrorist can hope for is a dead child so they can blame the Americans. Otherwise, they just get hammered.
IED's are the weapon of choice. It is believed for every 10 IEDs deployed, one kills its operator. That has to weigh on the guys using them. The stupidest operators actually hang around near the IED to make sure it works. The Marines drive around looking for men staring at a point in the road and grab him. They make him talk by threatening to turn him over to the Iraqis. Evidentally, the Iraqis enjoy torturing people. Basically, if you see a place that people avoid, an IED is nearby. Every civilian seems to know where they are planted.
The local population loves the Americans. Americans are a conduit for stuff. Iraqis love stuff. School supplies, candy, hardware, etc. But they make Michael Rivero look like a Fox anchor. They live, eat and breathe conspiracy theories. They will believe anything, no matter how outlandish.