California Conservative

Recently I have run across two fine young men, soldiers serving in Iraq. Both of them are milblogging, and by reading their posts I quickly discovered that they are obviously not only fine soldiers, but gifted writers as well. I would like to introduce our readers to them, by using excerpts from their recent posts.

The first is a blog called “Lag in Iraq” and it is hosted by Matt Lagrone.

He has an insightful, refreshing, and often humorous look into real life in Iraq.

Take a look at three points from his post FAQ’s to an OIF Soldier:

Not too long ago I received some letters from some elementary children in Texas. The letters were great! I think the best part for me was actually the laughs I got from some of the questions they asked about Iraq. We soldiers also get asked all sorts of questions from adults. I have realized that military life really is a mystery to many people so I’m going to answer some of my frequently asked questions from both adults and kids. Hope you enjoy…

#1 Do you have toilet paper? Ha Ha Ha! Of course I do. But we do run out occasionally so I have to use it sparingly and keep an extra stash hidden away for a “bad” day. Baby wipes also work well for this purpose and dual as an excellent bath on-the-go. So, every soldier keeps some baby wipes handy too.

#2 Where do you use the bathroom? The Army probably has the largest porta-pottie contract in the world.

#3 Do you have a gun? Yes, I carry a M16A2 rifle but it belongs to the Army. Most soldiers carry the M16 or the M4. The M4 is the ideal weapon for personal carry over here unless your doing some real high-speed hooah hooah stuff.

#4 Have you ever killed anyone? Well, if you want to be really, really technical then you could say that every soldier’s participation in the war adds to the completion of the mission…sometimes it is someone’s death and other times it is a life saved. But, I’m sure you really mean have I raised my weapon with the intent to kill another human being and followed through with it. For me the answer is no. And I’ll go ahead and let a secret out while I’m on this subject: most soldiers over here have never shot anyone. Whoa, did I just say that? Yes, despite what a few soldiers may say or what the libs would want us all to believe, most U.S. soldiers have not fired their weapons in anger at anyone. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is in some form of danger here. I liken it to the “wild west.” But, the only thing have ever shot in Iraq is a coyote.

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This next article is taken from a blog that is brand new, called, “Same ‘Ole Different Day” and is written by Sgt. Will Whitley.

It’s one thing to hear about IED’s and bombs going off, it’s another to have a firsthand account. Read on:

Today as I was laying asleep in my tent someone came in yelling for me to get up. I sat straight up in bed to see two individuals walking towards my bed. I had seen these two guys around the base before, but never really spoken with them. After I wake up enough to talk to them they tell me that Kevin is at the gate wanting to see me, so I threw on some clothes really quick and head out the door.

A little background: Most every base has a market that is run by Iraqi’s. Most of them sell just basic electronic goods, dvds, and whatever we might need that we can’t get at the PX (post exchange). Early in the deployment a good friend introduced me to one of these shop owners named Kevin. Kevin, who had a watch stand, spoke very good english and was very popular among the soldiers. Over the course of the deployment we have become good friends. I found myself spending time everyday in the “haji market”, as we called it talking him. We would talk about religion, our family, Iraqi culture, and most of all America. I learned so much from talking to him all of those days, and in doing so learned that he wasn’t all that different from me.

One morning I awoke to the sound of a huge blast…

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Okay, civilians! Please visit these soldiers and leave a comment.

Show your support for those fighting for us!

Cross-posted at Rightfielder

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2005 at 9:19 am and is filed under Author: RightFielder, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Patriotism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.