Today started early, a 0600 show for a bus to the airport. That obviously messed up any plans we had to see the Superbowl. But I was able to get up in time to eat breakfast around 0540 and I was able to watch the last 4 min or so of the game in the D-fac. I saw both teams score and the exciting finish – there is a God. You might think my title is related to the unbelievable upset the NY Football Giants put on the Patriots. It’s not. I’ll get to that in a minute. It is unbelievable to me though that the Pats didn’t just walk all over the Giants. They had so many weapons and were so good all year. Even when the Giants played them close a few weeks ago they still came out on top and I figured that would help the Pats to really crush the Giants this time and make sure they went undefeated. In a sense I wanted the Pats to win for Brady – I think he is a great football player, but in other ways I wanted them to lose. This loss only enhances the mystique of the Miami Dolphin’s undefeated season. And I’m not fond of the Pat’s coach so I’m ok with the Giants being champs. But you didn’t tune in to read my thoughts on football – you can get football commentary on any website.
The TEA blog is the only place you can truly see a miracle. The pic below is of my long lost laundry. Yes it finally caught back up with us today. We departed Baghdad Airport around lunch time and flew on a C-130. It was blue. It was a Japanese Air Force C-130. We all kind of laughed as we exited the building and saw the large blue C-130. As usual we were surrounded by young Army troops (most of them going on some kind of R&R break) and I overheard one of them say “I didn’t know they made blue ones?” I thought it was funny. The crew passed around “safety instructions” on a card printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other.
Ok so back to Kuwait. We flew south to Ali Al Saleem (or however you say it) AB (otherwise known as The Rock) and made it to the transition spot to go elsewhere in theater. I just have to say the Lord continues to shine on us. When we got to the place to sign up for transpo to Bucca and we made it just in time to get on today’s bus from Ali to Camp Buehring (literally by just a few minutes). And it sounds like we’ll depart tomorrow for Bucca on a helo. Bucca does not have a runway – so no fixed wing flights. During the few minutes were there gathering our bags one of our MSgt’s asked a few questions and quickly runs into the guy who knew where our laundry was. He made a call and then someone else made a quick ride across the base and cha-ching our laundry was back. If you remember it was “cleaned” here at Buehring a couple of weeks ago when we were here last. We had completed the necessary training and were told we’d sit there for a week waiting on our flight. Then the next day they changed the plans for us to fly to Baghdad. Many thought for sure those clothes/uniforms were gone forever.
The good news is we have linked up with many others going to Bucca and that will help the mighty military machine actually get us there – strength (and importance in getting a flight) in numbers. The bad side is we are all together and we’re in a giant open bay tent with 50+ of our closest strangers.
Just so you know the last day in Baghdad was another disappointment. Nothing but silly paper shuffling. And to add to the disappointment, this morning we had to say goodbye to one of our nine. He stayed for the chance of glory there at Camp Cropper. I was able to hit the weekly chapel service Sunday night so I guess it wasn’t all bad. I wanted to get a group shot of us at the “Welcome to Camp Victory” sign, but that never worked out. Oh well. We’ll get one of all eight when we get to Bucca. The pic below is one of me back at Camp Victory. I think this building is/was a mosque that is next to the building where we were working.
The TEA blog is the only place you can truly see a miracle. The pic below is of my long lost laundry. Yes it finally caught back up with us today. We departed Baghdad Airport around lunch time and flew on a C-130. It was blue. It was a Japanese Air Force C-130. We all kind of laughed as we exited the building and saw the large blue C-130. As usual we were surrounded by young Army troops (most of them going on some kind of R&R break) and I overheard one of them say “I didn’t know they made blue ones?” I thought it was funny. The crew passed around “safety instructions” on a card printed in English on one side and Japanese on the other.
Ok so back to Kuwait. We flew south to Ali Al Saleem (or however you say it) AB (otherwise known as The Rock) and made it to the transition spot to go elsewhere in theater. I just have to say the Lord continues to shine on us. When we got to the place to sign up for transpo to Bucca and we made it just in time to get on today’s bus from Ali to Camp Buehring (literally by just a few minutes). And it sounds like we’ll depart tomorrow for Bucca on a helo. Bucca does not have a runway – so no fixed wing flights. During the few minutes were there gathering our bags one of our MSgt’s asked a few questions and quickly runs into the guy who knew where our laundry was. He made a call and then someone else made a quick ride across the base and cha-ching our laundry was back. If you remember it was “cleaned” here at Buehring a couple of weeks ago when we were here last. We had completed the necessary training and were told we’d sit there for a week waiting on our flight. Then the next day they changed the plans for us to fly to Baghdad. Many thought for sure those clothes/uniforms were gone forever.
The good news is we have linked up with many others going to Bucca and that will help the mighty military machine actually get us there – strength (and importance in getting a flight) in numbers. The bad side is we are all together and we’re in a giant open bay tent with 50+ of our closest strangers.
Just so you know the last day in Baghdad was another disappointment. Nothing but silly paper shuffling. And to add to the disappointment, this morning we had to say goodbye to one of our nine. He stayed for the chance of glory there at Camp Cropper. I was able to hit the weekly chapel service Sunday night so I guess it wasn’t all bad. I wanted to get a group shot of us at the “Welcome to Camp Victory” sign, but that never worked out. Oh well. We’ll get one of all eight when we get to Bucca. The pic below is one of me back at Camp Victory. I think this building is/was a mosque that is next to the building where we were working.
3 comments:
Ted,
You saw the best/worst part of the game (depending on who you were cheering for). Unbelievable the Pats couldn't pull it off. As you said they had many weapons. However, none showed up on Sun with exception of Welker and Faulk. Giants showed up with their game on from first play and didn't stop all game. I'm sure you've read most of the highlights by now.
Did AFN put on their commercials or the ones FOX ran? You can proably catch commercials on line, but with dial up it may be too slow. A couple of funny ones, but nothing spectacular.
Ted,
You saw the best/worst part of the game (depending on who you were cheering for). Unbelievable the Pats couldn't pull it off. As you said they had many weapons. However, none showed up on Sun with exception of Welker and Faulk. Giants showed up with their game on from first play and didn't stop all game. I'm sure you've read most of the highlights by now.
Did AFN put on their commercials or the ones FOX ran? You can proably catch commercials on line, but with dial up it may be too slow. A couple of funny ones, but nothing spectacular.
I was so very sad at my Pats' performance, but I was just as surprised that they did not respond in this re-match as they have in the past. The Giants definitely deserved to win that game, but I was so disappointed. You're right though--it definitely adds to the strength of the Dolphins' '72 season. I'm glad you are finally headed to Bucca. God speed!
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