A Simple Thank You from Iraq

[Daisy Buchanan]

THANK YOU!!!! for keeping us safe, for being so strong, for your courage and commitment... Be safe, I will be praying for your speedy return, as well as your fellow mates. I am so very grateful for you and all of our troops for what you do. G-d Bless You! G-d Bless America!!!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Micky. The thank-you goes to you.

In this road crew of life, you're the man digging the trench while the rest of us shovel-leaners watch. Difference is, these shovel-leaners are hoping and praying that you don't break a gas pipeline.

Be safe, friend. We want to see you and every other soldier home safe and soon.


Lee
__________________________

"Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the pants." - General George S. Patton

 

[CanadaDoll]

Thank you for all you do to serve your country, and protect innocents, welcome to the lounge, and stay safe

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

Thanks everyone, Thank you all so very much. You know, I sat back today and thought, "Its simple accomplishments that make me who i am." On my collar i wear the crossed rifles of the infantry. Many call them "idiot sticks," perhaps because only an idiot would join the infantry and march 30 miles, live in a hole, hardly shower, and fight a battle at the end of it all. We also "walk barefoot in the snow for 15 miles, up hill both ways just to get water"...I'm proud because i'm with a group of guys that decided to take up that challenge. In all seriousness, every generation has been called on to go and do a job for their country and it deems necessary. Im proud to be in that part of this generation. Thank you guys and dolls because for many of us here, all we hear from folks back home is how "this is a waste of time..." It's tough to go on about our chores here knowing thats what the general consensus of the population. Thanks again everyone. Home soon to a land of women in sexy silk stockings and a fridge full of beer!

 

[Brooksie]

Yet another thank you here and I would like to express my appreciation and support.

LB

 

[Marty M.]

Thank you friend.

SPC Kilian,
Thank you for keeping us safe and making it a better world for us and our children. Come home safe and soon. God Bless.
Marty Mathis

 

[warbird]

Thank you for your service to your country.

The sacrifices you and your peers are making probably won't be fully understood till the next generation. It takes that long for the short sighted to see. But fear not, that understanding will be realized.

You and your peers are among the finest this country has to offer. Never, ever let anyone may you think for a second otherwise.

May God Bless you.

 

[Nashoba]

SPCMickyKilian Welcome to the Lounge! I'll add my thank you to those already posted and say as well thank you to what must be a wonderful wife that you have. The sacrifices that she endures are just as courageous. I'm glad to hear that you'll be back home soon I know she must be counting the days just as much as you. I hope those remaining days fly and that you are kept safe and well in the mean time. Thank you for your sacrifice and for your service. Political breakdown or not you are still in harms way and for that I offer my heartfelt thanks. I sleep better at night knowing that we are represented by such fine men and women who are willing to sacrifice home and comfort for their country when She calls. And I'll second Daisy from another thread in the PR. Send my best to the boys. My husband is out there too so I know what you mean about morale.
My thanks also to all the veterans out there in the Lounge. Freedom is never free and to all those who have fought to preserve it this Marine wife says thank you.

 

[Johnnysan]

Welcome Specialist. Thanks for your service and sacrifice. Be well and stay safe!

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

Hey Nashoba,
What area is your husband operating in? An Bar? As my grandfather (USMC 1945-1953) used to say, "There is none finer than a US Marine, so don't join them because you'd tarnish that image with that ugly mug of yours..." haha. lol. So i joined Army Infantry instead because they are the "Dog-faces." Chances are, if he convoyed along MSR Tampa, i've ran into him on more than one occasion. In either case, thanks to the BOTH of you. It's only with steadfast and devoted wives behind us that we are truely able to put our all in to our work here. I was married for about 2 months before getting deployed, and to be honest, i never thought it would be this tough. In my time here i've seen so many marriges and loves strain and crack under the stress, but she has stood behind me when even i doubted myself and what was going on here. Though I find little pride here in what I myself am doing in the war, she is always quick to say "I'm proud of you guys..." I want to say thank you again to you and your husband and to every one else that said Thanks. This really made my deployment.

 

[Nashoba]

Hey Nashoba,
What area is your husband operating in? An Bar? As my grandfather (USMC 1945-1953) used to say, "There is none finer than a US Marine, so don't join them because you'd tarnish that image with that ugly mug of yours..." haha. lol. So i joined Army Infantry instead because they are the "Dog-faces." Chances are, if he convoyed along MSR Tampa, i've ran into him on more than one occasion. In either case, thanks to the BOTH of you. It's only with steadfast and devoted wives behind us that we are truely able to put our all in to our work here. I was married for about 2 months before getting deployed, and to be honest, i never thought it would be this tough. In my time here i've seen so many marriges and loves strain and crack under the stress, but she has stood behind me when even i doubted myself and what was going on here. Though I find little pride here in what I myself am doing in the war, she is always quick to say "I'm proud of you guys..." I want to say thank you again to you and your husband and to every one else that said Thanks. This really made my deployment.

lol...I don't know about that, I assume that's you in your avatar, you would have looked good in blues He is in Anbar. He's at an FOB about 25 from Fallujah. I think the only convoy he's been on this tour was a trip to Fallujah a couple of months ago. He's with MA this time around and he's the SNCOIC of his site so they don't let him outside the wire all that often. Much to his dissapointment I'm sure. I have to remind him that he spent plenty of time outside the wire on his last tour in Iraq and that I'm perfectly happy with him being stuck on base. I think he disagrees with me though . I've seen plenty of marraiges fall apart too. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to put up with the military. We have a few Military Wives here and all of them are amazing strong women whom I greatly admire. Be proud of who you are and what you've acomplished. I know that y'all do more good out there than we ever hear about here. I see that evidenced in the stories and pictures that my husband and his Marines send home (well his Marines anyway. to date I've gotten one letter from him, he sucks at writing home) I'm proud of all of you. The Army and the Marines have been stretched the thinnest in this campaign and you deserve our love and support. I know for me it's the least I can do. We've got about 4-5 months left for us so we're just about halfway. Hang in there Micky, you'll be back in her loving arms soon.

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

Yeah, that's me. Who knows, the USMC just might be my next stop in my military career when i am out in May 2009. I've already discussed that with Mich, she wasn't too excited but it's something to work on. we are on a CSC (convoy support center) basically a FOB with a giant gas station, about 70 miles S. of Baghdad. I know all to well what you are saying and i agree ten-hundred percent with it all. Same with him, I suck at writing home, my letters consisted of "we had peas at the mess hall, they made me think of you because you would make peas for me at home..." lol. It's sad to think that in other wars, say WW2, they saved the world. Korea, established a border and contained communism. Vietnam, fought communism and won the battles but overall because of public opinion, lost the war. What are we going to say to our kid's 30 years down the line? I guess all we can say is that we did our jobs the best we could and did as we were ordered. My thanks to all that have served, all that are serving, and all that have it in their hearts to serve. Thanks Nash,

 

[Nashoba]

lol. If you need help selling the Corps to her let me know I'm a bit of a 'moto-wife' I'll put in a good word for ya.
And on top of all they did THEY WROTE HOME!!!! I'm kidding. I read some of the letters written home during that time (my favorites are the ones my husband's grandfather and grandmother exchanged) and I compare them to the one letter I got last time he went to Iraq and the one letter I've gotten thus far this time (came yesterday actually, along with a package with a Marine Corps teddy bear that turns into a ball.....and a warning that I should probably keep our dog maverick away from it...) and the difference is amazing. Where his grandfather wrote 4 page letters about his experiences, I get one page...I just didn't marry a writer. I know he can't really talk too much about his work but I'd be happy with 'they served peas tonight...' lol. I shouldn't complain though, he does email me every so often and calls home once a week or so. We have it so much better communications wise than our predicessors and for that I am truly grateful!

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

Yeah, being a WW2 re-enactor, i always wanted to go up into the attic to get Grandfather's footlocker. One day, he finally let me up there and in it was all his uniforms and gear. Some impressive stuff, but what really interested me was that my grandmother had bundled up and nicely packaged his letters starting from WW2 when they were dating, then to when they were married, and up to his departure from the Marine Corps in 1953. I always loved reading them and i can never get it out of my head some of the things he said to my grandmother. Upon arriving here, i sat down and wrote my wife a letter and just couldn't get anything out, so, i basically remembered what my grandfather wrote and sent it to michelle. It's crazy because on one of the days that my grandmother took her shopping, michelle must have showed her the letter and my grandmother said, "Those words sound all too familiar to me...are you sure that it wasnt Mike that wrote you??? (my grandfather's name is also Michael, however my grandmother calls him "Mike" and me "Micky.") So in either case, yeah, i think some words from you to michelle might be in order about joining the Marines. It kinds sucks that I'd have to go back to Boot Camp but i think im in order for an ass-kicking every so often and one will be due right about that time. Same with me and michelle, we e-mail just about every other day and i call about once a week. Commo is a hell of a lot better than servicemen had it in previous wars. It's strange tho to be calling your loved one and in the middle of the conversation have to abruptly say "I love you" and run out to the bunker because of IDF.

 

[Nashoba]

Upon arriving here, i sat down and wrote my wife a letter and just couldn't get anything out, so, i basically remembered what my grandfather wrote and sent it to michelle. It's crazy because on one of the days that my grandmother took her shopping, michelle must have showed her the letter and my grandmother said, "Those words sound all too familiar to me...are you sure that it wasnt Mike that wrote you??? (my grandfather's name is also Michael, however my grandmother calls him "Mike" and me "Micky.") So in either case, yeah, i think some words from you to michelle might be in order about joining the Marines. It kinds sucks that I'd have to go back to Boot Camp but i think im in order for an ass-kicking every so often and one will be due right about that time. Same with me and michelle, we e-mail just about every other day and i call about once a week. Commo is a hell of a lot better than servicemen had it in previous wars. It's strange tho to be calling your loved one and in the middle of the conversation have to abruptly say "I love you" and run out to the bunker because of IDF.

Always happy to convert a spouse to the Corps LOL the plagerism came back to bite ya did it? My husband's memory isn't good enough to remember stuff like that and then rewrite it to me It would end up backwards or not making sense. Although the card he sent with my flowers for our anniversary this year was pretty good. I couldn't get him to tell me if he'd thought of it himself or taken it from the quote book though. My bet is on the quote book. I did not marry a romantic.
I havn't had that particular cut off to the conversation. Most of the time when they were rocketed the phone would just go dead. I think I would have prefferred the I love you, gotta go over the phone just clicking and then silence. I'm a bit spoiled this time around though he has a DSN line in his office which is in a bunker so that hasn't happened...

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

We should be out of here and just finishing demob at Fort McCoy, Wisc. when our one year anniv. on 11 Aug comes up. I hope to god i'm out for it, but if not, we'll just have to postpone it for when i come home and celebrate it with her birthday on the 30th. She wants to get into re-enacting with me, so hopefully, when we're at some events, i can stray from the unit and have some romantic times with her here and there. Thats a whole new experience in itself trying to teach her things about the 40s and fashion from that era, but its great because she wants to learn and we connect in such a way, im sure u know what im talking about. anyways, It's always difficult for me to surprise her because she has eyes in the back of her head and she's too damn smart! Me, im simple and im to the point.

 

[Nashoba]

We should be out of here and just finishing demob at Fort McCoy, Wisc. when our one year anniv. on 11 Aug comes up. I hope to god i'm out for it, but if not, we'll just have to postpone it for when i come home and celebrate it with her birthday on the 30th. She wants to get into re-enacting with me, so hopefully, when we're at some events, i can stray from the unit and have some romantic times with her here and there. Thats a whole new experience in itself trying to teach her things about the 40s and fashion from that era, but its great because she wants to learn and we connect in such a way, im sure u know what im talking about. anyways, It's always difficult for me to surprise her because she has eyes in the back of her head and she's too damn smart! Me, im simple and im to the point.

My husband is thinking about going to Wisconsin for a year....I'm a little aprehensive about that...it gets a bit cold for me....Our 5th was in March and he was out there already so I got flowers and a phone call. Worked for me Get her to join the Lounge!!!!! The Ladies in the PR are an amazing wealth of knowledge, she'll be an old hand at it in no time!
I think alot of women are like that My husband has a hard time surprising me too, I know him too well and he's too predictable. But every once and a while he pulls one off. He sent me 4 dozen roses last week and that caught me completely by surprise.

 

[jamespowers]

Late in finding this thread but I will add my thanks for your service to it. You have my complete support and prayers---coming from the son of a Korean War veteran---First Marine Battalion.

Regards,

J

 

[SPCMickyKilian]

So today, i completed my last patrol. In doing so, between the thoughts of whether or not a sniper's crosshairs were aimed at my forehead and if i had to finish my laundry when i was done i began to think about what other guys were thinking when they did their last patrols during their tour of duty. I am out of here in less than a week and home in less than a bakers-dozen. I want to thank everyone that posted here and to all the Veterans out there say Thanks.

"...people might badmouth the national guard, but atleast we had a chance to see one of America's finest (82nd ABN) break down and cry when he could not fire the M-2 50 Cal at the test-fire pit...now that i think about it, if i was him and i didnt know what i was doing and had NCO's and Officers that would smoke the piss out of me, i think i would cry too..." -Spc "jody" to Spc Kilian after the patrol...Many thanks to that young 82nd Trooper who didnt know what a "headspace and timing gauge" was nor how to use one correctly. So much for "active" duty training...Now thats a RED BULL day...

 

[thunderw21]

From a fellow reenactor (34th ID), thanks for your service and our prayers are with you.
Cheers