In Iraq
Well, I'm in Iraq, most of you who read this also received the email I sent out, so I'm just going to post it here because I don't feel like retyping all that stuff:
Hello Everyone,
As the saying goes, my boots just hit the ground, around 4 am Iraq time, which is 8pm (the previous day) your time. Iraq is 8 hours ahead of the Eastern US, and as I write this it is 11 pm my time, so I haven’t been here for a whole day yet.
To give you a brief rundown of my trip, I left Cherry Point around 9 am, stopped in Newfoundland (why I don’t know), left there, stopped in Ireland, then Budapest, Hungary and then Kuwaiti City, Kuwait. The temperature in Kuwait hit me like a ton of bricks, it was 125 when we got off the plane, and then we bused to Camp Victory, Kuwait to wait out a flight to Al-Asad, Iraq, which is the closest thing I’ll have to a home base for the next 6-7 months. Camp Victory was super hot but it was a good rest period. All’s I did was call home as much as I could, sleep, read and basically just chill out. We left for Iraq Friday morning, (approximately 1am our time) out of Sali-al-Salem air base in Kuwait and got into Iraq, as I already said, around 4. It is hot out here, but nothing like Kuwait, it’s at least 15 degrees cooler and after acclimatizing to Kuwait the heat doesn’t bother me at all.
Today I took a nap, and after that just got used to the base. It’s really weird, this used to be an Iraqi Air Force base so a bunch of old MiGs (a fighter jet Saddam bought from the Russians in the 1980s) are lying around, some of them completely destroyed. Today I saw a concrete bunker with a crashed MiG in it, and I have to admit it was pretty cool. I’ve only been here a few hours, but I can already tell this place is gigantic. It’s without a doubt the largest military installation I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a reasonable amount. Tomorrow I get an official tour from the outgoing public affairs people, and I’m hoping to hit a movie stand we affectionately refer to as the “Hajji DVDs”. Basically, these Iraqi dudes pirate movies and sell them here the same day they come out in theaters in the US, at a cost of $2.50 apiece, other than that I’m going to continue adjusting and hopefully I’ll get to work Monday.
Communications out here are better than I expected, and anonymous patriotic Americans send us enough phone cards that we can make a phone call per day without having to pay anything. It’s a nice thing to have, though when I go to FOBs (forward operating bases) I doubt things will be as nice and I might not even have email, so I’m trying to take advantage of being able to talk to people while I’m here, so hopefully I can coordinate a time through email to talk to each of you, even if for just a few minutes, and then call you.
My mailing address is:
Cpl. James D. Hamel
MWHS-2 DET A PAO
Unit 78092
FPO AE 09502-8092
I don’t really have any requests about what to send, so don’t feel obligated to send anything. I will however, tell you what not to send, because they are in such abundance: phone cards, bug spray and sun tan lotion. What I’d really like to see most is simple letters, something tangible to remind me of home. I’m also looking forward to all the children’s art work I’ll be receiving, because if my time in boot camp and other places has taught me anything, it’s that Bonnie Rose, Hannah, Kameron and now maybe Meghan and Emma love to send me drawings, and I love to receive them.
I would appreciate if you all would respond to the email as quickly as possible, as I’m sure I made mistakes in typing at least one person’s email address and I kind of want to gauge who exactly received this, so I can fix the problem.
That’s all for now, I’m a little homesick, but mostly happy to be here and finally contribute, even if only a small part, to our country’s mission. I’m excited about getting out of here and interacting with the Iraqis, and seeing what life is like from their eyes. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine and am not worried about myself, so you shouldn’t be either (this means you, Aunt Wee and Lindsay). I hope to hear from you all soon and will continue praying that all is well at home and thinking about you all often.
God Bless and Semper Fidelis
From Iraq,
JD
That was it, if I don't have your email address, then post a comment on here and give it to me, otherwise, email me at hameljd@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
Take care everyone.
Hello Everyone,
As the saying goes, my boots just hit the ground, around 4 am Iraq time, which is 8pm (the previous day) your time. Iraq is 8 hours ahead of the Eastern US, and as I write this it is 11 pm my time, so I haven’t been here for a whole day yet.
To give you a brief rundown of my trip, I left Cherry Point around 9 am, stopped in Newfoundland (why I don’t know), left there, stopped in Ireland, then Budapest, Hungary and then Kuwaiti City, Kuwait. The temperature in Kuwait hit me like a ton of bricks, it was 125 when we got off the plane, and then we bused to Camp Victory, Kuwait to wait out a flight to Al-Asad, Iraq, which is the closest thing I’ll have to a home base for the next 6-7 months. Camp Victory was super hot but it was a good rest period. All’s I did was call home as much as I could, sleep, read and basically just chill out. We left for Iraq Friday morning, (approximately 1am our time) out of Sali-al-Salem air base in Kuwait and got into Iraq, as I already said, around 4. It is hot out here, but nothing like Kuwait, it’s at least 15 degrees cooler and after acclimatizing to Kuwait the heat doesn’t bother me at all.
Today I took a nap, and after that just got used to the base. It’s really weird, this used to be an Iraqi Air Force base so a bunch of old MiGs (a fighter jet Saddam bought from the Russians in the 1980s) are lying around, some of them completely destroyed. Today I saw a concrete bunker with a crashed MiG in it, and I have to admit it was pretty cool. I’ve only been here a few hours, but I can already tell this place is gigantic. It’s without a doubt the largest military installation I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a reasonable amount. Tomorrow I get an official tour from the outgoing public affairs people, and I’m hoping to hit a movie stand we affectionately refer to as the “Hajji DVDs”. Basically, these Iraqi dudes pirate movies and sell them here the same day they come out in theaters in the US, at a cost of $2.50 apiece, other than that I’m going to continue adjusting and hopefully I’ll get to work Monday.
Communications out here are better than I expected, and anonymous patriotic Americans send us enough phone cards that we can make a phone call per day without having to pay anything. It’s a nice thing to have, though when I go to FOBs (forward operating bases) I doubt things will be as nice and I might not even have email, so I’m trying to take advantage of being able to talk to people while I’m here, so hopefully I can coordinate a time through email to talk to each of you, even if for just a few minutes, and then call you.
My mailing address is:
Cpl. James D. Hamel
MWHS-2 DET A PAO
Unit 78092
FPO AE 09502-8092
I don’t really have any requests about what to send, so don’t feel obligated to send anything. I will however, tell you what not to send, because they are in such abundance: phone cards, bug spray and sun tan lotion. What I’d really like to see most is simple letters, something tangible to remind me of home. I’m also looking forward to all the children’s art work I’ll be receiving, because if my time in boot camp and other places has taught me anything, it’s that Bonnie Rose, Hannah, Kameron and now maybe Meghan and Emma love to send me drawings, and I love to receive them.
I would appreciate if you all would respond to the email as quickly as possible, as I’m sure I made mistakes in typing at least one person’s email address and I kind of want to gauge who exactly received this, so I can fix the problem.
That’s all for now, I’m a little homesick, but mostly happy to be here and finally contribute, even if only a small part, to our country’s mission. I’m excited about getting out of here and interacting with the Iraqis, and seeing what life is like from their eyes. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine and am not worried about myself, so you shouldn’t be either (this means you, Aunt Wee and Lindsay). I hope to hear from you all soon and will continue praying that all is well at home and thinking about you all often.
God Bless and Semper Fidelis
From Iraq,
JD
That was it, if I don't have your email address, then post a comment on here and give it to me, otherwise, email me at hameljd@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
Take care everyone.
posted by JD at 4:32 AM
17 comments
