4 November 2004

As I make final preparations for my return to Baghdad, I am sorrowful to leave my loved ones here, however, I am looking forward to returning to my "second family", my fellow soldiers. As we are beginning our downward turn towards re-deployment, I am looking forward to seeing this through and seeing all of us return safely home to our loved ones and friends. I have enjoyed my time with my family, but it is time to "get back to the trenches", and finish what we have started. Right, wrong or indifferent, we still have a duty to perform and a job to complete. Every day that we successfully complete is one day closer to home.

America is great and I have appreciated her more since I have left and been given a taste of what I had been missing. Small things...grass, clouds, rain, thunderstorms, hills, mountains, shopping centers, restaurants, and many other things were enjoyed more since they weren't taken for granted. I don't think that I will ever be able to look upon the Appalachian Mountain Range, the lakes of the midwest, or the plains of Texas ever again in the same light I did before I left. We cannot take such things for granted for they are absent in so many places. We are very fortunate with what we have.

Till next time, God bless America, and you the reader.