The grip is getting tighter.....

Hello all!! I first want to say thank you all for visiting this website and I appreciate the unspoken support for my brother and I!! I also want to thank those for the spoken support you have expressed to us in the past week and months!! Memorial Day was nice! It was kinda hot here in Iraq, but it wasn't too bad. We had some cookouts on Friday and Saturday....I almost forgot where I was again.... They were nice though. Hamburgers, steaks, chicken, and some other stuff...with a cold near-beer to top it off! I can't complain too much. Hey, if I was home the only thing I would have looked forward to was traffic, headaches at the restaurant, and more traffic. I did hear that it wasn't too bad this weekend though....surprise! Oh, one thing that I have been able to do lately is help the surgeons in the operating room. Now, that obviously means that some unfortunate events took place to put people in the operating room....but they will all be fine and I look for them all to have a speedy recovery. Anywho....I got to help put some wounds back together. The first time I was in there was on a "you can watch" basis. But the other time i got to help in a pretty minor way, but I still got to help. Luckily, I've been off the times I've been in there so it hasn't interferred with work. Other than that, I've been staying out of trouble and just doing my thing. Another SSG and I have been working out....so hopefully by the time i get home I will have put on some muscle!! I'm looking forward to looking different when I get back! I've been struggling with the cardio bit, but I ordered me a jump rope to kick that off. One thing we need over here....we'll see how many read this..... we could REALLY use some replacement parts for the workout equipment we use. Well, actually we cant even use half the stuff in our little gym because the cables are broke. Imagine looking a piece of workout equipment: the cable that goes from the weight bars to the handgrip....they are broken. I think we need a total of 5 cables to fix all the machines in our little gym. If we could get that....AWSOME!!! THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!! I have looked on the internet and was not able to find any. It may take going to a gym and asking for advice....or a donation... ??? Well, other than that I don't have much to report....OH wait I do too.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to the family of Misty Chase, Fern, Chloe, and the others that helped with a Memorial Day Balloon Release. The family got together and had a balloon release for me and John this past weekend. That was so so so sweet! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Thank you to my dad, momma, grandma, and the Ladies of the WMU at Beech Springs Baptist Church for all the cookies, goodies, toys and other items they sent!! Cookies don't last long over here! Neither does anything that sugar in it for that matter! It makes us work harder to burn off the calories, but no one complains about eating all of it. :-) Also, thank you to the people that send us care packages from all over the United States! I signed up the unit to get care packages through a website....and WOW the response has been outstanding!! Thank you again!!

I really really can't think of anything else to update on so......

The Grip is Getting Tighter!

Last week I was going to write a story about who has the grip on things over here. The United States Military....or the Iraqi's?? This is mainly for those that think we aren't doing well over here. OR that wonder when we will get to come home. OR for those who wonder if we are making any progress at all.

So, who does have a grip over here?? When I say the Iraqi's i do NOT mean the insurgents, I mean the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Security Forces (police). For me, this is pretty easily answered, but I can't just come out and tell you that the Iraqi guys are kicking ass and taking names while our Soldiers are acting as a "backup" force. Ooppps, there it is. It's been relatively quiet here. My days at work lately have consisted of not doing a whole lot. And that's good....no that's GREAT! Has the violence gone down that much? Have the insurgents given up and fled South? Does the Iraqi Army and Police have that much of a grip that they are controlling the streets, the crime, and are they finding all the explosives before the bad guys have a chance to use them? Maybe..... maybe so. So does that mean that we can come home now? No. Don't be silly. Just because your pet learns the command 'No' doesn't mean you can leave the house and expect him/her not to tear the trash up, or go through your laundry. Make sense? A little progress doesn't mean you're done. It doesn't mean you can say that your mission is complete. It only means that things are getting better and that with more practice, direction, and help that hopefully then you can start to THINK that your mission is complete. The Iraqi's are making progress. With thier progress means less involvement from our troops. The less our Troops are used, the more I sit around on my butt, the more I sit around, the better. So, who has a grip? It's a two handed battle right now with one hand grasping tighter than the other. From my opinion it seems like the Iraqi's have a pretty tight grip on things. They are not only improving their military standpoints, but they are also improving their logistics too. Less patients here means more patients in local hospitals. They are doing their best to take care of things. And from where I stand, it seems like they are doing a pretty good job.

I hope you enjoy my postings and I will try to think of something 'great and moving' to put on here soon. What day is it? It's the 27th of May!! WOW! I've been here more than a month already!! But who's counting right?

Love you all and I'll write again soon!

Somewhere in Iraq
SGT Wormy

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