When you don't want to connect the dots...

When Josh called last Thursday and indicated that he was fine and the unit was fine, I knew that something had obviously happened to one of the other units; however, Josh could say no more. Late yesterday, the news of two more NY Guard troops killed in action was released - both of which were killed in the attacks that Josh "referenced" in the phone call, but could not share details about. They were from the Jamestown Unit in Western New York and fell under the 2nd Squadron, 101st Calvary Unit, same as the Geneva Unit. Ours thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and fellow soldiers of the fallen.

Here is a breakdown of the 27th Brigade Combat Team and where the soldiers are from. You will see the Ithaca Unit listed as Company D (Delta Company) under the 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry. Hence his mailing address, Delta Co 2-108th INF.

Synonyms for "fine"

Well, okay, all right... He's fine. These days the news seem to carry something from Afghanistan quite regularly. As noted in recent posts, it's the "spring offensive," so we anticipated this being a hair-raising time; however, I don't think we expected it to be so active over there.

I did to speak to Josh on the phone today. Both he and his unit are fine. He said to remember that the media has their way of making things appear more intense or worse than it really is, though he did say things have not been very good over there.

Saturday morning was a rough time as I woke up to news of Task Force Phoenix being involved in an IED attack. Fortunately up to that point, Josh had always been able to write or call before the news broke. It was a couple of hours before I heard from him that day, which was excruciating to watch the time tick and not know, but certainly not the devastating news that three families from the Geneva unit received. Three NY Guardsmen were involved in that IED attack from the Geneva unit. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their familes, friends and fellow soldiers during this time.

Truck Troubles and Hot Heat

Josh shared the following in an e-mail to me today. He sounds like a completely different person when talking about the truck - very mechanic sounding. I can say that because he has even admitted that he is learning quite a bit from the mechanics.

"My truck had a bad day. It needs a new tire-two of the lugnuts/bolts completely sheared off-combo of heat and mechanic over torquing, two new ball joints, and the battery is shot. Can you believe I just got new brakes two days ago? My second set since being here. Haha. They said they will need to be replaced in less than a month. Can you imagine? All of the stuff that needs to be repaired happened in one day. The good thing is it never broke down. It was so hot today. Somebody said it was 120, which I doubt, but close. The heat just hits you like a wave from a furnace."

In other news, we are very excited about the nomination of Lt. Gen. Dunwoody, as the first female to be a four star General in the Army. The news hits close to home, as she was a Class of 1975 graduate of SUNY Cortland! It has been the buzz around campus, and of course, something exciting to share with Josh from home.

If Josh were home right now, he would be celebrating the end of the school year this week. In recent school news, Mr. Amante, his principal, is retiring, so Josh will return to a new principal from Ithaca City Schools, but a Cortland resident. There was a nice article featured in the Cortland Standard last week on Mr. Amante.

Another "I'm fine"!

As you may have read or heard in the news this weekend, there was another IED attack in Afghanistan which killed five soldiers this weekend. While the nationalities of the soldiers have yet to be identified, Josh's task force - Task Force Phoenix - was identified as the U.S. led coalition that was affected. Thankfully, after a few hours of seeing this news myself on Saturday, Josh called. He is fine! We expected this time of the year to be a bit rough, but it seems as though this month has been especially busy over there.

In other news, Josh continues to appreciate all of the goodies and items that everyone is sending his way. He did indicate that he is well stocked on many items and I will post his "overstock" list as soon as I get it from him.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and support.

A little shout out to Barry...

First of all, wholey moley...all the packages of stuff you guys have been collecting arrived this evening. I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for contributing such great stuff for us and for the children we see on a daily basis. They will love it. We love it. I especially appreciated the zip drives, as apparently everyone in the Army is supposed to have one now, but it something they never issue. I must have missed the memo that was passed out in triplicate four times about picking one up. I mean seriously, a zip drive. As an infantryman, I had to memorize the Infantryman's Creed. The Infantryman's Creed has strong one liners like "I am the Infantry, I am my country's strength in war." or "I am the Queen of Battle" (I know, a little weird, but apparently artillery gets to be the King of Battle, so we had to settle for queen.) or "I am the heart of the fight wherever, whenever", and oh by the way do you have your zip drive? I mean who knew. So, that was a great find in the box. Also, the one female supply clerk that we have attached to our unit, just about fell over when I passed off the copy of the Glamour magazine to her. So, put your hands together for whoever threw that in. I seriously thought she was going to pass out. I especially want to thank Rick Miller for boxing all that up and sending it off in the mail. I really appreciate. You guys are the best!

We will be passing out all of that great clothing real soon. I found some kids in one village, that I really would like to give the bulk of it too. They are terrific. As many of you know, at night we wear Night Vision Googles or NVGS. They are attached to our helmet by something called a rhino mount, because it looks like a rhino's horn on your head. The NVGS can be stowed in an up position until you are ready to use them. Then you can swing the rhino mount down and it brings the NVGS to your eyes. I make it sound a lot less awkward and not as uncomfortable as they are. It is a piece of equipment, you hate until you actually really need to use it, and you are like man I get it, I completely see the point behind all that. Walking with them on, does not even begin to compare with driving with them on. Anyway, we were in this village, as it started to get dark, and I mounted my NVGs on my head in order to be prepared. The kids thought it was some sort of video camera. They begged me to lower it in front of my face, and when I did they thought that was the cue for the camera to start rolling. Well, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph it was like a Dance Party, American Idol, and WWF rolled into one. The boys were all striking body building poses yelling that they were John Cena, the girls were all singing Britney (I am sure The Prophet Mohommad is rolling over in his grave on that one), and the rest were just dancing fighting and nudging each other so that they would be seen "on camera". When I put them back on my head, they all stopped, and said oh mister, mister...please" So, I sent them all over to another truck and told them that that truck had candy and made a run for it. Don't feel too bad for them-they were the lead truck that day,and they had driven really slowly all day and chosen way more difficult routes than necessary, so we all know what they say about paybacks.

I am sure many of you have been watching the news and have noticed that there is quite a bit of activity here in this corner of the world as of late. This was expected, and something we have prepared for and trained for. The Taliban like to launch a "Spring Offensive" every year. It usually lasts from April to September, and then as the weather changes, they go back to hiding out. I think people are sometimes surprised by the violence here. With that being said, please take everything you hear on the news with a grain of salt. Everyone I have met here wether they be US, a coalition partner, or a member of the Afghan National Army or Afghan National Police is working as hard as they can with the resources they have been given. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we draw courage and strength from them everyday. Sister Michelle, my fourth grade teacher, would be amazed at how quickly the Hail Marys roll off my tongue. I was always a little slow at prayer memorization. I mean who can concentrate on afternoon prayers when you are one amen a way from lunch. It is the support of you all that carries soldiers like me and allows us success. You will never know how much we appreciate it.

In another news...I did watch Michelle Obama interviewed on The View in the chow hall. It was on all eight televisions. BOO! I have nothing against the junior senator's wife from Illinois, I just have only seen The View in Saturday Night Live sketches. It just seemed like an awkward programming choice for a post with over 85% men. Unfortunately, for the first five minutes, I really was not sure who she was because TV watching is few and far between. A little embarassing, I know.

Finally, today is Friday, and I am not going to lie to you all-the Kindergarten Team at times has been known to have a meal or two at the big Burger King on an occasional Friday. Today, I found myself at one of the larger American Bases here in Afghanistan that happens to have a BK. So in honor of the Kindergarten Team, I had my lunch at Burger King. Although, I did not have to race back to school by 1:15, only to fumble with the back door only to remember that I had to go in the front door which forces me to pick up my kids with a LARGE soda in my hand. It wasn't nearly as fun because A) my wife did not show up to surprise me to eat with us like she sometimes does, and B) I got yelled at by three different people in about three consecutive seconds b/c my sunglasses were on my head, which apparently next to not having a zip drive is the worst sin you can commit in today's army. I hope you guys have a great weekend and a great summer. Josh

High Five!

Well today is the 19th, so we have made it through another month. We are now up to five, almost 1/2 way there. I was fortunate enough to get a phone call from Josh today as well, only a 15 day wait this time. He seemed to be doing well, but was really tired. He said that they have been very busy and that when they are told today will be a "light day", it is anything but light. As he told his brother Jesse, he never knows what they are doing from day to day. Hopefully, I will be able to post a message from him here soon.

Images and News from Afghanistan

As many of you are probably aware, there is some "action" happening in Afghanistan. Whether or not Josh and his unit have been called to assist with this, or if one of their missions have taken them to southern Afghanistan, I am unsure. As soon as I hear anything from Josh, I will be sure to let you know. This is one of those times when I would not be surprised if we do not hear from him for a couple of days, with the possibility of a communications blackout happening. I am only guessing that this could be a situation that would call for it, but I am not positive.

UPDATE -- So much for what I think or know, Josh e-mailed a little over an hour after I posted this message. He is a bit under the weather. They have been working non-stop the last 2 days - very busy, but at least we heard from him!

I did find this gallery of pictures on Yahoo today... I only scanned through them, most of which were all from today (June 17). There are 293 photos, but they are interspersed with other images of political figures and some of Pakistan. Some of the images of the Afghans are very powerful.

More from Afghanistan

As Brian Williams said tonight, "it's too often called the other war or the forgotten war." Brian Williams had an exclusive interview last week with new United States commander on the ground in Afghanistan, four-star U.S. Army General David McKiernan. There is also a full transcript of the interview, if you are unable to load the video.

There was another segment of the interview available only on the web called Leading the Troops in Afghanistan. This seems to be an extended version of the first video, minus the introduction and closing by Brian Williams.

As General McKiernan stated, the average age is less than 20 years, the average life expectancy is 43 and they have been in a war-torn state for over 30 years, which all contribute to the complexity of the war in Afghanistan.

The news from October 7, 2001, when the war in Afghanistan began.

I will post throughout the week as they show additional reports from the trip to Afghanistan.

He's fine . . .

Many of you may be waking up to some "Breaking News" from Afghanistan. Josh is okay. He sent his family and I an e-mail this morning at 6:22 a.m. (our time).

"Real quick-quite a bit of news from this corner of the world that you will be waking up to in a bit-just wanted to let you all know that I am fine and snug as a bug in a rug. haha. Love, Josh"

Day 3 of NBC in Afghanistan

Here is a link to Images of Afghanistan that I found on the MSNBC site (from AP Photographers). There are several that show the sand storms and one that shows the "caves" we often hear about.

Brian William's June 13 post to the Daily Nightly.

Unfortunately, due to the passing of Tim Russert, there were no video clips to post from this evenings segment in Afghanistan. I contemplated posting this from Josh, but I think it speaks so greatly to why I have posted for three nights to the blog about Brian William's being in Afghanistan... "I think it is good that Brian Williams is here, at least somebody is reminding people that we are here."

Night 2 of Brian Williams in Afghanistan

Tonight's featured videos are linked below:

Making Afgan Loyalists, military-style

"Outside the Wire" - Brian's Day

In Afghanistan, A Road Less Traveled - The truck featured at the end of the video is the jingle trucks that Josh refers from time to time.

Closing Remarks

Brian William's Blog posting for June 12.

They are headed to Baghram Air Base tomorrow.

NBC Nightly News in Kabul

Brian Williams (NBC) is spending some time in Afghanistan. Here are some clips from his June 11 evening news, where he is currently located in Kabul.

Fighting to Eat in War-torn Afghanistan

School A Welcome Novelty for Afghan Girls

He also has a blog called the Daily Nightly where he discusses the unannounced trip, as well as the security aspect that they face and that they are there to check on the U.S. military effort.

The Phone Rings!

This posting is a bit delayed, but after 34 days. . . Josh called! Yes, we had chatted on IM and/or e-mail from time to time, but to hear his voice is something entirely different. Quite honestly, the e-mails came few and far between over the course of that time as well. I had last heard from him on May 1 and he called last Wednesday! He was tired. They are working very hard over there and stay pretty busy. It was tough to hang up the phone. We just wanted to stay connected for any amount of time longer.

I received an e-mail from him this morning. Here are some portions of that message...

"Everyone has been talking about the hot weather back at home. It is quite the talk of the town. This is funny because it was a 110 here today."

"We were watching the news and the economy just seems to be capsizing. The dollar is down against every major currency except the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso. Food prices are up, stocks are down, and (soldier) said that gas in Binghamton is $4.25. The news said that gas in NY could reach five dollars by the end of the summer. Good gravy!" (Thanks for reminding us, Josh! haha!)

Josh has been over there for 2 months now. It's sad to think that there is still so much more ahead of us. However, two months down is better than him still being in Fort Bragg.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!

Task Force Phoenix VII - Take Two!

I heard that the previous YouTube video that I posted was no longer working. Here is another link to the same video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhrDYPEhymg

There were two versions of it, but it was the same video. I am wondering if this person is the actual owner of the video and the link I previously gave was a copy cat?

AH CHOO! Got tissues?

Josh appreciates all of the packages that he has received, but wanted me to share that he has plenty of tissues for the time being! He did say that should he or anyone get a cold that they have a great supply to draw from.

A special thanks to Nate and Steph Kidwell for their recent package to Josh. Stephanie went to Geneseo with me and Nate serves as a New York City fire fighter. They sent along NYFD t-shirts to Josh and his "truckmates." Sadly, Nate's firehouse lost several fire fighters on 9/11. Josh was especially grateful for the tube of toothpaste because he had just left his behind in the bathroom on the same day that he received the package.