Another rumble in A-stan (and some sad news) . . .

Another 6.0 earthquake hit yesterday in Afghanistan, about 42 miles southeast of Kabul. Josh said that everything and everyone in their group was fine, but that it did wake him up around 3 a.m.

Locally, some of you may have seen in the news where another member of the Jamestown Unit was killed in action on October 2. The incident is still under investigation. Spc. Jason E. von Zerneck is the sixth member of the Jamestown Unit to have lost his life in Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and unit.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Josh called today -- they had an EARTHQUAKE around 10 am this morning (1:30 a.m. our time)!! It measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale. He knew what was going on because he had been through one in Colombia, but needless-to-say, several of the other Upstate NYers were a bit confused! The initial tremor sounded like a helicopter landing, so at first they didn't think anything of it. When the 5.6 one came, he said that it knocked items off from tables and desks.

I sent this article to Josh yesterday. Although this is the MSNBC link to it, the end of the web address on Yahoo read "angry_afghans". It gives an interesting perspective to what is going on over there, and as Josh said, shows the other side of the story!

Josh continues to get in trouble for wearing his sunglasses on his head. He actually had an interesting "run-in" with a Master Sgt. while in the chow hall, which has everyone laughing, including the company commander from Ithaca. I think everyone is sensing how ridiculous some people are with their rank! To each his own, I guess. At least Josh has maintained his ability to laugh it off. Imagine if that was the worst thing people did here - wearing their sunglasses on their head?!

Front Page Article in The Ithaca Journal

Today's Ithaca Journal featured a front page story on Delta Co. 2 - 108th Inf., with a picture as well. SFC Deis is also a Lt. with the Ithaca City Fire Department.