Free Republic

FORT HUACHUCA — Suzanne Despy is finally getting a chance to complete something she started when she was 17. The soon-to-be 41-year-old is back in the Army after the military increased the maximum enlistment age to 42. In 1983, her parents had to sign for her to join. “But not this time,” said Despy, a specialist currently assigned to Company F, 309th Military Intelligence Battalion where she is waiting to start a 20-week course to become a human intelligence collector — an interrogator. It is good her parents did not have to sign again because she joked that they probably...

Day 0: In Tucson … for now (July 17, 2006) Tomorrow we leave for San Diego/Tijuana. 21 Days on the border – hard to fathom. That will be longer than an entire Olympics; Mardi Gras (well, the tourists' version, anyway); a fortnight; the Lord of the Rings trilogy, viewed 50 times in succession; your 5-year-old niece's rendition of the Nutcracker, viewed just once; ... well, you get the picture. Our journey will take us from Tijuana to Brownsville, via Tecate, CA and MX, Yuma, AZ, Sasabe, MX, Columbus, NM, Ciudad Juarez, MX, Big Bend, TX, Del Rio, TX, Nuevo Laredo,...

Thanks, Quix. I am feeling better after they put in the stent but my chest feels heavy and there's fluid accumulating in there that dialysis takes out. Please pray that stops and that I can get my strength back. I can't do much right now. I'm operating on 40% of my heart. I'm grateful that the swollen lymph glands weren't cancer but a result of all the fluid and congestive heart failure. Much love, Maryxxx Mary has been struggling a very long time. There are other internal organ challenges as well as the above. I'm sick of seeing the...