Do You PERSONALLY KNOW Someone Who Is/Was In Iraq or Afghanistan?

Not a "friend of a friend" and not "my boss's wife's sister's son". Do you PERSONALLY know someone who is (or who served) in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Who do you know? Friend, relative, acquaintance? Where did they serve... and did they make it home safely?

If not sooner. So help me, if he comes back in a body bag.......

Ramadi.

He's still there.

Both made it home. The Iraq vet became critically ill with some sort of intestinal disease, while there. He required surgery and lengthy rehab. He also has PTSD.

Thank God they have all returned home safely.

There are a lot of army here. No one I knew died, but my friend's son died.

As a rule, they all supported the war in Afganistan and Iraq but no one particulary had good things to say about it either.

The first time was for "shock and awe"
The second was for training iraqi troops which turned into just fighting "insurgents".

They are currently waiting for their orders to leave once again.

The first tour was in the Persian Gulf and the second was in Baghdad.
He made it home safely and is currently non-deployable through the end of his current contract.
After that, he knows he will be sent back.
I also have 3 cousins and a 2nd cousin who have been deployed various places over there. They have all made it home safely.
One of the boys that dated my daughter is now in Afghanistan.
We are praying he will make it through safely.
Several kids that my kids have gone to school with have been deployed over there, there are a couple still over there, most have made it home safely.
The only one that didn't was this young man:
http://www.brandonblog.com/Pfc-Ervin-Dervishi-Hero.html
My brother also went to school and played soccer with this boy.
He says that the official story is not really what happened...but didn't say any more.:(

They are career military and very conservative. A good friend from college (Marine) has been serving in Iraq. He too is conservative, but interestingly, seemed very unhappy with the military last time I talked with him, which is over a year ago now.

I also know numerous people who served in Vietnam, including several fighter pilots, and everyone of them without exception was totally against our invasion of Iraq.

He's been there since 2004 and is 43. He put in 20 yrs in the Nat. Guard and was held over, despite his plans to retire. I don't know where exactly he is, but he's a mechanic. He has a wife & 3 yr old son back home.

I have had several (>7) students in my classes who are back from Iraq. Don't know where they were, but they appear physically unharmed. One student is in Iraq now and taking the course online.

An army medic.

died last Thanksgiving in Iraq.

The DOD has compassionately given her two different stories as to his location and circumstances of death.

He sustained a leg injury in boot camp that was never treated. He was gimping through his second tour.

It's utterly criminal and really tragic. IMHO.

First, an acquaintance, was in the National Guard. Served in Baghdad. Came home safety.

Second, the son of some close friends, but he is my friend too. He's a Marine. Served three tours in Iraq, including both in Baghdad and in Anbar. Came home recently. He was wounded by an IED, but the shrapnel wounds healed OK. I'm hoping he won't also suffer PTSS.

Third. An acquaintance, served as a nurse in Afghanistan. She came home recently, haven't had a chance to speak with her since she got back.

He regularly wrote to me, and in those letters he called Bush "that Bush bastard."

He still hates Bush. He's home now, has married and has a baby. He's a Marine.

She was in Afghanistan as was her husband. His PTSS is destroying their marriage.

My nephew was with the 101st Airborne. He did 2 tours in Iraq. He is 2 weeks out of the Army, active duty that is, but has 4 more years of inactive duty. Thank GAWD he is still safe.

I know them both personally; one of them stayed at our house for awhile when his parents split up, and was in my sons' Scout Group. Both made it back, are out of the military, and want nothing further to do with the military OR war.

He's coming home the 3rd of June for a visit. He and and my youngest son have been very close. I'm his favorite aunt. I'm pretty sure he has to go back. My oldest son did 4 years in the Army and was discharged August '03....thank, God. He just missed this shitstorm.

They used to hang out a lot before he got sent to Iraq. He is in the National Guard. He came back home a few months ago, but lives home with his parents since he's been back so we've only spoken to him on the phone.

two tours in Iraq seems to be enthralled with the idea of bombing Iran. I think he just likes war.

A neighbor is doing his third tour. His wife is foreign-born and doesn't speak English very well. I hope his family survives this travesty.

Regular army, served a year in Kandahar.
Came back a different woman.

She made it home safely but (I've posted some of this before) personally knew a soldier who had his face blown off by an IED. Told me that soldiers were routinely pulled from duty for memorials--to carry caskets. Knew the coverage in the US downplayed what was happening in Afghanistan ("We're getting shot at too")Volunteered for 32 female search missions. During some detail, they found themselves in a Marijuana field. She found evidence of the horrible brutality of the Taliban everywhere. She found the country extremely poor, without adequate sanitation, without enough water, and of course without adequate health care. Told me about the "Mine-dogs" a group from a country in Africa (I don't know which one) who swept for land-mines in the most land mine infested country in the world. And of course saw the aftermath of those landmine's in the native population. the legless, the armless, the blind etc.

And the aftermath, when her unit returned. A soldier she deployed with murdered his girlfriend and the mother of their child. Rampent alcohol abuse. Psych issues. She can sit there and tell story after story with no emotion until I want to scream.

She can't watch war movies. She is now completely against the death penalty. She felt betrayed by the military after giving her heart and soul for nearly nine years. Too long of a story to tell.

several suicide attempts.He has been in therapy for 18 months through the military for ptsd...but that didn't stop them from deploying him again to Iraq.Again the tales of holding buddy's guts in after IED until medics arrive.These things happened several years ago.He only now can..kind of...tell me these things.
I hate those bastards for what they have done to my precious baby.

all of whom have thankfully returned safely.

A high school classmate that I dated was not so fortunate during the first invasion under Bush 41. He lost his life there.

I've known him for years. And everytime I hear of another death I just kind of stop and catch my breath.

Afghanistan, and one who has already rotated home.

He says the Canadian media is still trying to paint the Canucks in their traditional UN Peacekeeper roles, even though they're active combatants exchanging fire every day.

two that went to Afghanistan, two that went to Iraq, and one that went to both places. All are kids I know through their families and I've known them a long time. All safe and sound for now, but two of them are going back to Iraq later this year. Sucks.

Former students -- lots of kids see this as the only way to pay for school, or the best way out now that all the mills and factories are gone.

No gold stars yet, thank God.

As a communications specialist. He was outside Falluja during the big battle. Friends of his were killed. He recently got married and is training to be a sherriff.

:patriot: :hi: :bounce:

That's the best news I've heard today!

:toast:

So happy for you! :bounce: :patriot: :applause: :toast: :bounce:

But now he's stateside. I don't know if he's going back to the mid-east or not...

He reenlisted last year and the Army took him. He's a RW christian type who could hardly wait to go over to Iraq and kill heathen ragheads for Jesus. The only respect I have for him is that he put his money where his mouth is, which is more than most RW'ers do.

Marines.

He made it back, but had scars from burns all over his face and body.

Since I was in both.

back from Ramadi and Fallujah a month ago. 3rd trip for many of them. The worst thing is the strain this has put on so many of them. Alcoholism, rampantant promiscuity, depression, busted marriages, the desire to do dangerous stunts are now all rampantant in my Battalion. I can only hope some of these guys aren't too deeply scarred.

While casualties are always sad and tragic, so many people underestimate the strain combat causes to the troops and their families when they return home. I have to believe my grandfather's issues in life (he was a Korean War vet) were only compounded by his military service. I hope your friends are able to find a way over time to live happy and healthy lives.

Mike confided in me one night during a particularly slow shift that he suffered from reoccurring nightmares about an incident he experienced along the so-called Highway of Death where thousands of retreating Iraqi soldiers were massacred. We used bulldozers to push the bodies--many of who were still alive--into mass graves and then covered them over. Years later, Mike would wake up sweating in the middle of the night to the nightmarish cries of those being buried alive.

According to a mutual friend that had known him long before that war, Mike had changed drastically over the years following the war. He became withdrawn and almost unsociable. He would become violent over seemingly inconsequential issues. His former wife finally fled and had to get a restraining order because of his violent outbursts.

I really liked Mike, but it was obvious after getting to know him—-as much as he would let you know him--that he had some demons haunting him. He is one of those uncounted and ignored “casualties of war”---and his long-suffering ex-wife was “collateral damage.”

When people cheer war as if it were a sporting event, I always think of Mike and his ex.

nearly 3 years ago. A very close friend and teamster brother who drove a truck for civilian contractors in Iraq. Arthur and I shared the same birthday.
He served and survived 2 tours of combat duty in Viet Nam with the Marines, but to the best of my knowledge Artie may have been the first Delaware resident, military or civilian, to die in Iraq. He was 56.

My cousin just came home safely from a tour in Kuwait and Iraq. He also served there during the first Bush vs. Saddam war.

He is a nurse. Saw a lot of action and almost got bombed a few times. Scared the shit out of me when he told me after he came back.

the second time with his dad who is an old friend of mine and a Vietnam vet. They were written about in the Readers Digest, made a lot of news going together, totally disparaged here on DU but they are back and safe. I have seen the dad since then and he did not have a lot to say about it but he never spoke much of his Nam experience either. Both good men.

Edit to add they served in Iraq

He will get two weeks off in June and return to finish in November... This is the 2nd deployment for his company.. The first for him.. Luckily he was in training the first time around...


I ask that everyone light a candle to remember our soldiers and the hell they go through ::cry: :grouphug:

- I have a candle in my window, below my Blue Star Flag, that has never been turned off.
My son is home now but the candle still remains and will until they are ALL home again!
:hug:

Former came home early on a medical and the latter did a year in Afghanistan and came home last summer. My friend told me he won't talk much about it.

two trips over. He came home safe, but grew up fast, not a happy camper, and will leave when his time is up. He wanted a military career.

last evening. She is working on the same campaign that I am because she is determined to get a Democratic congress in to facilitate the ending of this horror. She and her husband were Republicans who voted for Bush. They sorely regret having drank the Kool-Aid and now want to make up for it.

one without his hands. Two came back in caskets.

Went to both places. Iraq a few times.

He came back.

A young man who worked with one of my best friends - I talked with him a few times and he was a bright, funny kid - did not make it back.

He was on a sub, and everything was hush-hush. I do know that he called me from Bahrain, and I was nervous...too close for comfort.

He is due home very, very soon!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

The days are a-gettin' closer until I see his beautiful face again! :D

...but you're also serving your country too. Thank you.

in August.

husband to a coworker, several guys from my softball team, thus far all have come home safely.

so far. One of my best friends will likely have to deploy there within the next year, unfortuantely.

Active duty are coming and going to Iraq/Afghanistan all the time.

We've lost several soldiers/pilots, with many injured, many broken marriages. Our military was beat up after the first deployment. Things haven't improved.

He seems to have been poisoned. He was downwind when the army burned some munitions.

1st Afghanistan, then Iraq, now Afghanistan again. Won't be back till January 07 at least.

over. Gunner (yes a female gunner) on a supply caravan. Air Force Reserve, but reclassified as Army so they could send her on the ground. Caught in one of the first roadside bombings outside of the city. The one that made all the news in the beginning of the war. Came home unable to use (or move) her left arm. Army didn't want to give her a purple heart because she was "technically" Air Force...Air Force didn't want to give her a purple heart because she was "technically" under Army command... she eventually got her medal...and it means absolute shit to her. :hi:

He was a Marine involved in the Afghan and Iraqi campaigns. Luckily he served onboard ship both times servicing the planes.

My son is also a Marine - two tours in Iraq.
Best wishes to your family.

I hope your son comes home safe and sound :grouphug:

are both serving . One in Afghanistan , the other two in Iraq. My cousin drives a water truck in Iraq. Theyre all Army.

Ive had family in every war throughout American history except the Korean war.My great great grandfather in the civil war. My Greatgrandpappy in ww1, Dad in ww2. Older brother (who pulled his own tooth) in Nam. Mark , my youngest Brother just retired from the Air Force, he worked on guidance systems, now employed for a military contractor down in Alabama making huge bucks as an inspector of mechanical work done on air force
aircraft

did not join the military. My dad was Air Force, and was at Pearl Harboras a 19-year old airman when it was bombed. Even my mother was in the service. She was a WAC in WWII. My three older siblings were, too. Brothers were Air Force. Older sister was an Army nurse.

I know what you mean about being from a military family. I grew up as an Air Force brat, at Air Force bases all over the country.

And he went off the deep end and threatened to shoot everyone in the office. Needless to say, he was fired and we have had to have a security guard for the past 2 weeks. In fact, the entire office has been in lock-down just in case he follows up in his threats.

I did a tour at the end of the world in the town of Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, 2002-2003...6 homes/businesses in the town had electricity from generators 24/7, not counting my Firebase, not even at the hospital in town, although they had a very nice German made 50kW generator that was computer controlled. Unfortunately the Taliban killed off the the few people in town that knew how to run the generator. Nobody on my team had the skills or talents to get the generator up and running, a shame too, we really tried. The rest of the town had no power and none in the foreseeable future. No power lines or power grind anywhere within 100 miles of TK. Not even a paved road, although that is changing I hear from the guys and gals that are working in and near TK on a daily basis. One of my first meetings with the Provincial Governor, Jan Mohammad, was if we could pave the road infront of his family compound. No we could not, but we did lots of work and delivered cases and cases of donated shoes, school supplies, paint, glass for the windows and donated elementary school desks and chairs to the school in town and rebuilt two other schools in the provinces other big town of Deh Rawod....Very, very rewarding for this former teacher....

Plus the majority of my fellow soldiers I serve with have already done 1 and most have done 2 tours in Iraq/Afghanistan, and some are on their 3rd rotations....but we're winning hearts and minds wverywhere we go....NOT Many of us try to show we are not all barbarians and conquerors...but there are few of us and many that do nothing but hurt America's image of help to the downtrodden...

:patriot:

Glad that you are home safely!

:patriot:

:hi:

:toast:

for doing a job that few others will take.

:hi:

and back safely... thank you Lord ... please give the same respite to the rest of them...

Both reservists. Both in Afghanistan.

Friends from my active duty Air Force days. One has been to both countries and Iraq twice.

If growing up under my feet, showing up to help handle life's crises, and staying in my house every leave means that I "personally" know him.

He did his tour. He's home physically safe. He is a changed person, and has not dealt with the psychological wounds he received.

My 30 year old cousin, Paul Karpowich, went to Iraq in the Fall of 2004. He, along with 25 others, was killed in the explosion at the mess tent in Mosul on December 21, 2004.

It was the first time I heard people (besides here) talking about the nature of the fight, that we were, again, in a Vietnam-type situation.

The friend is a services contractor employee.

Not a part of the family I have much contact with, though... I mean, I'd hear if they were killed, but short of that... nothing.

in SomoliA, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Irag, 4 times to war zone...lives in Texas...will never ever vote Pub again...He hates war and he hates BUSH...saw many of his men killed/wounded...

Tired of BS

She is worried sick .

The last time that I saw her, I told her,"This War Has Got To End~"

She agreed.

I know she wants to admit she was wrong but she is scared out of her mind.

She said that he was in the Green Zone but they have moved him out of there now.

He is an officer and working 24/7 every day in his office.

She is far better off than so many but she is beyond worried.

He was in Afghanistan. Didn't make it home. :(

is there right now. He's an army medic.

Worked with him at a dot-com in 2000. He was very amiable, and he was the first to write a book about the prostitutes missing in Vancouver's downtown east side.

He was sucker-swiped with an axe in Afghanistan in March, and they thought at first that he was dead. I'm happy to hear that he's getting better. No doubt, so are his wife and infant daughter.
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1146174638286&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112101662670

1 very blunt that military teaches you to kill period; that's all he would say......the other (the father of 2 sons in Iraq) just said he saw way too much that he didn't ever want to talk about

2 sons of 1 each in Iraq at least once and came home safely (1 in the invasion)....have lost contact with him so don't know if they have gone back or what the situation is

son-in-law of dept chair was supposed to go to Iraq the Jan after I retired

I'm not sure how to define "made it home safely." That's a loaded phrase.

One of them with whom I worked on several projects served in a Reserve unit in Afghanistan. The other who I actually trained and became a close friend was a Kurdish refugee, who was recruited as a translator. I've seen him once since he left - he came back to visit for Christmas, but went right back and is still over there.

but It was my Dad's coworkers son and we've known their family all of my life.Both families got tranfered around and we ended upt in the same places.Both dads are long since retired but their oldest son had been in the military for probably over twenty years.He was a helicopter pilot and and told his parents that the equipment they were using was worse than he had ever seen. His helicopter went down and he died.

working with some sort of private security firm. We don't know all the details. He sent us a Christmas card and said he was there and would let us know the details later. We haven't heard anything else.:-( He is almost 60 years old, an ex-Marine drill sargeant and retired sheriff's deputy. The only thing I can think is MONEY talks! Although it would have to scream at me to get me to even think of such a risky venture.

Also a friend's grandson is currently serving in Baghdad in the Army.

and will be going back for a third. During his time there, the DUers here have been great. The support has been amazing. My son is a liberal who voted for Kerry. He was in Fallujah, Ramadi, Tikrit. Hidith. All along the Syrian border. Mosul.
And, yes. He made it home safely both times. He's broken his nose and chipped a tooth -- in martial arts training. And he has a little scar on his shin from catching some metal from an IED. He had some minor scrapes and bruises when he was riding in a tank that rolled over.
He's been very lucky.
And he's lost some very close friends.

One of our best friends is a Captain in the Army and was deployed to Iraq for 18 months.

He is now home safely, and he has found a domestic intelligence position that by its very nature means he won't be going overseas anytime soon. We are very grateful.

He is opposed to this war and most especially to the Bush administration, by the way. It's very telling. When I was still trying to have faith in the Iraq war and our reasons for going (before they were all exposed as lies) he was telling us by phone and e-mail that they were finding nothing and he and his men did not believe they were going to find anything. He was right all along.

He resents being "used" by the Bush administration, as all veterans are today. Some haven't figured out that they are being used as pawns yet, but many have. A surprising number, in fact.

The first is there as a contractor, the second as a medic

I also have a friend I have never met who spent a year in Tikrit. We corresponded regularly by email and IM while he was in Iraq. He was often stuck at a desk and bored during the mornings, Iraq time, and I would stay up into the ugly hours of the morning US time to keep him company by IM. We still keep in touch regularly.

He actually first emailed me after reading a few hundred of my online articles. He was often stuck at a desk for hours with little to do, so he passed the time surfing the net and reading about subjects that interested him. I responded to his email, and we began a long-term correspondence. I basically thought of him as if he were another nephew over there.

Both boys got back safely in spring of 2004, just before things started seriously heating up in the places where they were. As bad as Mosul is now, it wasn't that bad when my nephew was there, though he did have a couple of very close calls. When my email pal was in Tikrit, it was pretty quiet.

My crazy nephew just re-upped, though. His mom and I are absolutely devastated. But he has a new wife and a baby on the way, and I think he was afraid he wouldn't be able to support them. We are desperately hoping that it's over before they send him back over there, because you just know that's where he will end up again if we don't get forced out of Iraq soon.

A good friend of mine who is in the Reserves was sent over there in December of 2004, leaving behind a 9-year-old son. He was stationed in Baghdad, and the hallway where he had his office was mortared while he was there. He also often had to go out on patrol. He got back home 2 days before Christmas in 2005. He is now divorced and suffering from severe PTSD. I don't think he will ever be okay again.

He has a very good job, but he is actually talking about requesting to be sent back there. I think they are sometimes drawn back to it because it was so traumatizing that they can't let it go.

One of my students this semester was at the siege of Fallujah. He was injured by shrapnel and ended up with a medical discharge. He missed some classes because of complications. Once he had to go in for further surgery because a piece was still in there and it was causing bleeding.

He is a nice young man, but unfortunately he still buys into the BS and thinks we went over there to bring democracy to the benighted people of Iraq. He feels hurt and confused that they don't appreciate what we are doing! Maybe he didn't notice that what he and the other Americans were doing was leveling a city full of Iraqis.

One of my students from 1 1/2 years ago is in the Reserves. Her unit was sent over last fall.

I know a guy who thought he enlisted to fight in Afghanistan after 9/11, but was diverted to Iraq. In the first weeks of the war in Iraq, he was shot. He's now a paraplegic and vehemently hateful of Bush and Cheney. A film is being made about him and should be released before November. He is more pissed off at Bush than any of us could imagine. I feel guilty in his presence because, for me, opposition to the war is only an intellectual exercise. I have personally sacrificed NOTHING for this bullshit war while he paid a real price for Bush's lies.

with the 256th. Made it home safe.

2 that have come back, one that has died, plus several co-workers.

He was in Baghdad for 14 months (a 1st lieutenant) during which time he lost three of his men last August in a fire fight south of the city. He was awarded a medal for valor (for saving the rest of his men). He was in the hospital himself with minor injuries a total of four times.

He comes from a very modest background and joined the Army right out of high school (under Clinton) so that he could afford to go to college. He went through college ROTC and was sent to Iraq 5 months after he graduated. He returned home this past January and is supposed to be here until next June when he is tentatively scheduled to return to Iraq. My daughter just graduated from college and is going to live with him until he leaves (he's now reluctant to marry, a bit messed up, but is starting to act more like his old self).

He loves the Army, but hates the war and HATES Bush. This war has been hard on him, his family, my daughter, us, everyone. Words cannot express the hatred I have for this * regime.

A bright young woman who wants to be a lawyer. She was in foster care, and thought the army was the best way to pay for her education once she "aged out". I had a friend, a social worker, talk to her about other alternatives, but the army convinced her. She's in Baghdad. I hope she gets to come home and pursue her dreams.

Sending out good wishes for your friends.

back to Iraq at the end of the semester...

One of my student's uncles was killed in Fallujah during the US incursion... He was an ordinary guy-- shot dead on the street (not a fighter and not even political)...

Remember, winning hearts and minds!

One of my friends from high school did a tour in Iraq, he made it back alive thank god, they better not send him back, he doesn't think they will but we all know that means jack shit.

exchange program, or whatever they call it. Watched a co-worker of hers blown to bits in her Hummer and she was injured.

I previously posted about that.

Haven't heard from him since December, but he was being sent to Iraq.

And my best friends son, who is in Iraq right now.

his family is not well-off so I and another lady at work kept him supplied with care packages

Every time I hear that another soldier has died, I dread listening to the details of the who, what, and where. So far, every time, it hasn't been him. And I realize that some other parent has probably had those same thoughts every time -- but this time, I know someone else wasn't able to breathe that sigh of relief.

I count the days, one by one.

Watching three of my recently graduated students go off to Iraq has eaten me alive somedays. I can't imagine what you're going thru. But I admire the hell out of you and your soldier. Thank him. And thank you.

Though asking whether I "know myself" or not seems needlessly Socratic.

Then there were the 43 other guys in my platoon (I knew all of them)

Then there were the 135 other guys in my company (I wouldn't say I knew *all* of them, but a lot of them)

Outside of the company, I knew maybe 3 or 4 guys from other companies in the battalion.

On top of that there were 4 guys I knew from college who went, and 2 from high school, and 2 from work. All of us went to the sandbox except 1 (he was an MP) who went to the stan. Nobody in my platoon died, but 2 guys in my company lost limbs. 4 guys in my battalion died but I didn't know them except by name: 1 from a bomb, 1 from suicide, 1 from a sniper (they're still checking if that was friendly fire; it seems to have been a 5.56mm round), and 1 from a forklift accident. 2 developed cancer and had to go home. 7 had injuries that took them out of theater (none of those combat injuries; basketball mostly). My friends from outside my unit who went are all fine (one, in fact, just went back as a merc -- some guys get addicted to getting shot at). I saw plenty of dead Americans because I worked in a casualty collection point, but they did a pretty good job about routing them so you weren't receiving remains from your own unit (though I did know a guy who opened up the bag and saw his best friend from junior high... that was rough to say the least).

There's now, what, half a million Iraq and Afghanistan vets? Most people probably directly know at least 1.

:patriot:

:hi:

We used to work together for a few years and he was one of the first to go. He's Army Reserve, so don't ask if he's still there or not. You already know the answer. :grr: :nuke:

how to send packages to someone that's over there?

I know he is in the Marines, and in Fallujah(!!)...that's it.

From the goofy side of my hubby's family. I guess you can say
this guy enlisted for a better life.... I worry about him everyday. And don't know how to get ahold of him.

Unless you're a direct relation.

We get a little nervous when people we don't know send large bulky boxes to us -- don't take it personally. If you want to send a care package to someone who's not a family member, send it through the USO, though they are best set up to send a package to "somebody; anybody".

If you know the specific person, either the USO or the Red Cross can help you locate him or her though they won't exactly do it at breakneck speed unless it's an emergency. Is the Marine you're sending it to active or reserve? If he's a reservist, you can call the duty officer at his drill center and ask for his mailing address. If he's active you'll have to figure out what unit he was ultimately attached to and call the duty officer there. (Duty officer numbers are generally published in normal white pages -- do try to call after 9am but before 4pm local time). But the duty officer of his original unit can usually help. If you are in contact with his family, they are probably the place to ask.

The general format for addresses is something like this:

Last name, First name Middle initial
Section
Platoon
Company
Battalion
Group/Regiment

If you don't have an APO/AFO drop for him, and if you do know his chain of command, that can be your best bet. The military *will* get it to him, eventually, but I'm still occasionally getting cards that were mailed to me when I was over there 3 years ago. So nothing perishable that way.

If you can get in contact with him directly (phone, IM, email, etc.) he can tell you the best way to send it, but like I said *don't* send an unexpected package unless you want to give a lot of people a scare.

Yes, I know it's a pain in the ass to not be able to just find out where PFC Smith is, but there are legitimate security reasons that this info isn't just given out like candy.

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the Red Cross also reaches out to more than 800,000 members of the National Guard and
the Reserves and their families who reside in nearly every community in America.
http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/0,1082,0_321_,00.html


The USO, AMVETS, VFW all send packages monthly. Call them.

And I have friends with children deployed there and Afghanistan.

He is anti-war and anti-Bush, BTW, despite being a Miami Cuban-American.

Friend on his 3rd tour in Iraq, safe so far. My son's cousin, Iraq, safely home.

Oh yeah, my sil's brother and a distant nephew were on a ship in the Gulf, they've been home a long time now and were never in any danger so I didn't think about it. But they were firing shells in when the war first started, so yeah, they were there.

My buddy Greg served in Afghanistan with the Army. He was infantry, Rangers I think.

My fraternity brother Jeff Kaylor was a Lt in Iraq. Killed by a grenade attack in 2003. RIP.

A woman named Tammy Duckworth, now running for Congress in Illinois
as a Democrat.

She was co-piloting a chopper when it went down.

She lost both her legs and the use of one arm. I'd say
that qualifies as having made it home alive, but not
exactly safely.

I know several friends who served in both wars that I knew from school. One guy who was a ranger in Afghanistan has severe PTSD.

This is Geoff and Charlie with Rev Lowrey

as I work for the Corps of Engineers. All of them are proud of the work they are doing (it is challenging work in difficult conditions), but to a man, not one of them have had anything good to say about the country or the people.

He was an orphan in and out of foster homes, and he saw it as his best path. He stuck it out and made a career of it. He retired after being injured in Afghanistan, in an ambush where three of the four other men he was with were killed.

He and his crew made it out without any casualties.

He has some weird problems now and again that he didn't have before, but nothing too severe. The only good thing to come from his deployment was it turned a moderate republican into a good Democrat! He was actually fairly a-political then and isn't a junkie like me now, but he swears he will never vote for another repuke.

somewhere in Afghanistan. We pray for his safe return daily.

No one.

most came home....some did not. some Iraq...some Afghanistan.

my best friend's husband just went back to Iraq from R&R.

Kevin Shea

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/09/21/military/21_20_0420_34_40.txt


(To be honest, I never met the man, but his brother was so proud of him, we all felt like we knew him. His brother knew and still knows that Kevin died in an unnecessary war, but he was still proud of his service).

He's a marine, and he made it home safely. Not as much violence in that region, apparently.

He's been in Iraq twice. Don't know him well, but he stikes me as young and too cocky. It's just a job to him and he's going back soon for a third shot.

A pleasant but mischeivous and immature young man who joined USMC because he didnt want to work fast food.
I hope that he comes back as pleasant as he was before he went over.
He'll finish his hitch in Hawaii.

just found out my high school biology teacher is there now.

I do have friends and relatives who are in the National Guard, and some of them know people who were deployed and some who didn't make it home.

He was in Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Afghanistan again. He'll probably go back but I'm not sure of the exact date or which war. So far he is ok. No injuries. We're a very lucky family. So far he has one two Bronze Stars. One might become a Silver...I think it's under review.

I graduated with his brother, who was a really good friend from Kindergarten until my senior year. His name is Raymond. In the first year of the war, he saved a lot of civilian and soldiers' lives. He's a true war hero, as cheesy as it sounds. He's home now, I believe.
Duckie

Have known this guy for years and years, repug dildohead all the way. Has a wife and two small children who still thinks that Chucklenuts practically walks on water. Right now he is serving as a recruiter (surprise, surprise!) but that gig is up in about eight months and there is a very good chance he will get another "opportunity" to go kick some Iraqi butt.

He was in Iraq during the first six months of the war, I'm thinking he might see something a little different the next go round. Hope he doesn't have to go, because his family is just too precious, but he is exactly the type that Chucklenuts counts on to catapult the propaganda.

He did it, now he's home with his family. I really think it changed him. He saw things no one should see. I will never believe he enjoyed it.
Duckie

in urban planning, so he's working somehow to rebuild the infrastructure that we destroyed. He's also kind of a bodyguard to some of the local officials I guess. I know my cousin, his Mom, is very concerned about his safety, but she's also a wingnut who thinks we belong there because of 9/11, sheesh...I mean, I love her dearly and she's a good woman in many ways, but I wonder what happened to the perfectly good brain she used to have.

Also have several co-workers who have either returned from tours of duty, or who are currently in Iraq for the second or third time (Guard/Reserves).

Is in Germany, already did a year in Iraq, says it was unimaginably bad, is pretty sure he'll be going back soon. Recently contacted me through mutual friends on myspace.

Before that, I didn't know anyone.

It sort of feels like it did when you first had a friend/relative with HIV.

:(

he died there in 2004

A childhood friend, whose mom happened to be my kindergarten teacher, went and came home safely in 2005.

I've sent three of my recent HS grads over to Iraq. I've spoken with two when they returned to visit my old school. While none of them have killed 200 people by their own hand, one of them did shoot a kid and is pretty screwed up about it. But he's still in uniform.

She loves it1 She loves the people, she loves the food, the mountains, the skies, day and night. She is teaching journalists how to write for the press. She was asked to teach a class on sexuality. She did, and it was a mixed class. But she is an Indian. SHe says she is careful to go only where she is allowed. SHe is not afraid.

fuck bush and all dino's
i hope there's a hell, i really hope there's a hell