2006-05-06 Journal Entry

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

[A Journal Entry from Jon in Iraq] We are at war. I am at war! I personally am sitting in a war zone right now. I have a hard time letting this sink in sometimes. I am sitting in my nylon camp chair, computer on my lap, with a single incandescent light in the background and ESPN sportscenter is on the TV that offers me 7 wonderful AFN (armed forces network) channels.

Death

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

Death has a way of being handled too nonchalantly when you are in a combat zone. We hear the reports every single day that another bomb took the lives of more U.S. Soldiers or Marines. Or that a huge car bomb went off in Baghdad killing dozens of innocent civilians. On base we are always hearing about casualties being taken to the Surgical Center and often times leaving without a pulse. News like this doesn't necessarily affect us anymore. At least it doesn't seem to like it should.

Iraqi Police

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

It was a quick drive for the 6 of us. Another medic, my platoon leader, an operations officer, two interpreters and I drove over the bridge from Camp TQ to Camp Habbaniyah to teach basic first aid to Iraqi Police officers in training. We were prepared with several training tools such as old field dressings, cravats, sticks used for tourniquets, and a power point presentation that had both Arabic and English on the slides.

In the Desert At Night

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

The desert stars will make your jaw drop. Being encased in complete darkness in the middle of a vast barren desert and then gazing upwards towards the only light visible is simply awesome. Millions of stars are visible in the middle of an unoccupied desert. Shooting stars, the milky way, planets and dozens of constellations overwhelm you with awe as you tilt your neck back and gaze in wonder.

Shaken

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

We hear explosions often around here. It's become a normal part of our day and, frankly, is expected. But a few days ago some explosions left us a bit more on edge than we have been before. Two were at night while I was off from work and watching a movie in my room. We felt the blast from our rooms and (as most curious Soldiers do) we went outside to see where they hit. Right after the blasts the alarms went off warning of incoming rounds. Of course we didn't need the alarms to tell us when the rounds had already hit.

A Different Kind of War

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

When we took off from Port Au Prince we had been deeply immersed in the Haitian culture and the appalling poverty, crying, starving orphans, and near complete hopelessness. The day before leaving to come back to the States I spent a portion of the day at Mother Theresa's Orphanage with Beth and Chris just holding babies, changing diapers and playing with the toddlers. One baby ripped my heart out and kept a piece for herself. A piece I was glad to leave behind. She was maybe 1 year old and so frail and so beautiful with one small earing in her left ear.

Mass Casualty Incident

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)

Grandma's Marathon in Iraq

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

I have not been able to truly call myself a runner until recently. Even now, I'm hesitant in doing so. Last summer my friend Steve and I decided that we were going to train for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth while in Iraq. It was to be 26.2 miles of foot pounding, knee jarring painful exhilaration as we maneuvered the course from Two Harbors to Canal Park. We began our training in August and fairly faithfully completed the miles that we were supposed to finish based on a training schedule we found online.

Winding Down

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world" - Gandhi

2006-05-12 Journal Entry

Posted Fri, 06/12/2009 - 08:35 by Jon

[A Journal Entry from Jon in Iraq] 12 May 2006