I would say Happy Thanksgiving, but I can’t. It’s not that the Army didn’t try. We had turkey, ham, and stuffing. But, over the past week, we have had our heaviest fighting of the whole deployment. I was rocketed 4 times in one day. We had one battle in the city that lasted for 3 ½ hours. Then things got bad. We have had 3 soldiers killed and seven wounded in 3 days (including the battalion commander). But the insurgents have paid a heavy toll. I’m prohibited from saying how many have gone to Allah, but I can say we detained 61 of them just in one day.
The day before Thanksgiving, “Doc” (an active duty medic with us) was on a dismounted patrol when he was hit with an IED (a bomb). Doc lost his leg & part of his shoulder. We evaced him to our camp. An Iraqi soldier that had received minor wounds was screaming and crying. Doc was quiet and calm. Being a medic, he knew what his chances were. Doc was stabilized and flown to Al Asad. Early Thanksgiving morning, we received word he had passed. He was 21 and was going home in 2 weeks.
The day after Thanksgiving, LTC Huffman was on patrol when his vehicle was hit by an IED. LTC Huffman, a Marine LTC, and SGT Sheets were wounded. The Marine lost part of his foot. He had arrived in Iraq just the day before and this was his first patrol. CPL Tull was standing ! in the turret when the blast hit. He saw the bomb and tried to warn them, but it was too late. Tull died instantly. For the past 2 months, he has slept by me. When we got him to the camp, I ran up and pulled down his flag he kept on the wall. I covered his body with it until we could fly him out. Tull was 20 years old and was going home on DEC 4th. I was talking to him just before he left going on the mission. He was so excited about going home. He was a great kid. He reminded me of my son back home. I have his blood all over my boot. I’d change them, but it is my only pair. BTW, we are sending the flag to his parents.
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http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1529551/postsFreeps think it's a fake.