Category: The Army

Posted on by John

Christine’s cousin David Redmond is in Iraq. David is a Command Sergeant Major (the highest rank on the enlisted side you can reach) in the Army. He’s serving now as the CSM for an infantry unit over there, and he sent this update through Mary:

From: david.redmon@us.army.mil
Date: August 31, 2005 10:48:00 AM CDT
To: Mary Kamp
Subject: Re: Hi

Aunt Mary and Uncle Frank,

Thanks for the nice e-mail. I just got my system working in Baghdad and have started going through the hundreds of messages in the queue.

I am doing very well. We are quite busy as you can imagine. I sent that letter out so that the family would know what was going on.

Living conditions are almost like in garrison. My boss, Lieutenant Colonel Pacher, and I share a trailor. As a Command Sergeant Major it is the first time in my career that I have rated a shower while on deployment. The work is long and tedious. The job requires 16-20 days, 7 days a week. During my last 7 month deployment I did take half a day off. We will see how this one goes.

I do leave the forward operating base to patrol out in town, but we are a well trained and well armed outfit. That is the positive and down side of being in an Infantry Brigade.

I will try and send updates out periodically, but wanted to let you know that I arrived safely (two weeks ago) at my final destination. The weather is cooling down into the 105-115 range and it feels great after 130+ degrees in Kuwait.

Love,

David

We’re all hoping David makes it home safe soon, and brings all the young men and women he’s leading home safe as well.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 156 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

Big news folks! Bob is home! Bob is home in Texas!

Bob Beuerlein is home from Iraq. He’s been home for a few weeks, and now that he’s settled back at Fort Hood, he came to visit us in Austin. To celebrate we headed to Debbie and Raymond’s lakehouse (after a quick stop at Fry’s) on Saturday.

Bob brought a couple of his Army buddies, Jessie and Chip, down from Fort Hood. We invited Marc, Cyndi and Rowan out to the lake too. I cooked steaks, salads, and some fruit.

The boys played poker while the girls watched the kids. We played no-limit Texas Hold’em, and I won the game. (Sorry guys).

Here are some photos from the evening.

After everyone drove home on Saturday night, Christine, Jack and I settled in for the night.

We woke up on Sunday to watch 50 First Dates (really cute) and Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black (not bad for a Sci-fi flick with Vin Diesel in it). We ordered pizza for lunch.

Jack swung by the fire we put in the fireplace while Christine and I cleaned up the lakehouse, so we could go home.

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 241 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

just a quick note to let everyone know that I really enjoyed my weekend with the National Guard. It’s great to be in “the army” again… even if it’s just one weekend a month. I forgot how much I missed the comraderie and Espirit d’corps that should be a large part of the Army experience. It just wasn’t there when I was on active duty at Fort Lewis, and I think perhaps, that’s why I hated it. There’s nothing like being around solders who enjoy learning and working hard…

I’ll leave you with a quote on this note:

“Success is more attitude than aptitude.”
— Ben Franklin, American Patriot

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 228 user reviews.

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Posted on by John

I might not get a change post anything before Friday, so I figured I’d let everyone know that I’m heading to National Guard Drill this weekend at Fort Wolters, TX. It’s not far from here, so it shouldn’t be too bad of a drive… I just hope the weather holds up. I still don’t have my basic issue of equipment, so I’m hoping I can get by on what I still have from my active duty days, as honestly, I don’t even have an ID card to get on base to buy more of what I need… ah… the Army life… so refreshing… [map and photos of terrain] [learn more from google.com]

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 293 user reviews.

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