A quick update on......

Okay, so I have had many questions on our donkey Trisha and dog Roxy. Well with Trisha, we only had her a few days. She was apparently running through the main base back like a month ago. Some guys from our company roped her in and our CO decided that we should keep her and find an Iraqi family to give her to. So, we here at our FOB became foster parents for a short time. Trisha ended up with this nice old Iraqi couple who was more than ecstatic to recieve her. They had a farm and I'm sure the work Trisha can do will more than relieve the old man of daily heavy duties. Now Roxy on the other hand has not been around lately. The Navy has just set up not to far from us and I have heard she is now staying down with them. I guess they must have better food or something for her. Anyway, she did stop by one day last week to dig up a piece of chicken she had buried a few days before, but other than that have not seen her much. All is well in our little world over here. Missions every other day which keep us pretty busy.

Doc

The Military Promoted me........

Once again I had to stand in front of the man. This time to receive the privilege of getting pinned and putting on the next rank. I never thought I would ever be an HM1.
Even being called "HM1 Rimkus" is foreign to me. When I marched up to Captain to receive my warrant, I immediately got nervous and instead of saying "Good Evening Sir", since it was sunset, I said "Good Morning Sir." I was like what the hell am I saying? He laughed and corrected me. Then the Platoon Sgt. read my warrant, removed the old rank and pinned the new rank on my collar. Being an E-6 changes a lot of things. Now am I not only the oldest guy on the camp, I am one of the only E-6's running around, so my duties change somewhat. Kind of above a lot of the nonsense now. It's all good.
Other than that going on missions every other day and time continues to fly by. We are now tasked with the opening of a new Iraqi police station. Another step in the process of total turn over. These guys have blue shirts and jeans for uniforms. A bunch of weapons and a few new huts we built for them. They are anxious to start, so the next few months will be interesting. We are all doing well here.

Doc

Never thought I would be eating smoke over here...

Just a couple days ago a new generator was brought to our camp. They hooked it up and while I was on the other side of the camp I noticed black smoke rolling out of the iso container where our cook lives. Of course being a fireman I dropped what I was doing and darted across the camp. When I got to the container I dropped to my knees and went in to look for our Marine. Fortunately, he was at the gym while this occured. In the iso was that old familar friend I haven't seen in a long time. She was beautiful and majestic just like I remembered her. Hot, smoky taking her time to get to know me. The mattress was going and part of the wall, I called for a bucket brigade and within a few minutes all was under control. I ended up being the only one in the room because the tough old Marines that were helping me couldn't take the smoke. I guess not everyone is cut out to be a fireman. After it was all out and vented, we pulled out all the plywood and mattress and found out that the power strip had shorted out due to the generator malfunctioning. Now, I walk around and that old nickname of "firemanjoe" has once again come to life. All is well here in Iraq. Less than three months and should be headed your way once again.

Doc

It has come full circle for me now.....

I remember just over six years ago after that fateful day in New York. Hundreds of fireman from Chicago and all over the country answered the call for New York. We traveled hours by car and caravan to go to a city that had just been struck by the worst possible thing imaginable. None of us knew what to expect or if we could even help, but deep down somewhere in our souls we knew that it was our time to help our brothers and our fellow citizens. Arriving that early Friday morning I remember the images of coming into Manhattan. Just across the river you could see in between the bldgs., smoke, tons of lights and this huge pile of debris. It definitely was surreal. As we came into Manhattan and found a place to park our suburban, it was a ghost town. Looked like a war zone. Cars turned upside down and burned, debris everywhere, empty, desolate with this fine white dust spread on everything you could see. We got our gear and walked down to "the pile". What I saw that night I will never forget. At that moment my life changed. I grew up in a matter of ways by years. I realized how precious life is and how lucky we are to live the way we do. I experienced every emotion within that initial sight. I was sad and wanted to cry, I was pissed and was ready to kill anyone that I could find that did this to our people and my brothers, I was sick and wanted to vomit, I wanted to go home and hug my girlfriend, sisters, Dad, Mom, cousins, family and friends. Most of all I was proud to be an American and chose at that moment that I would do anything asked of me by my country.

Just six months after returning from that experience, I enlisted back into our nations military to do my part in whatever was needed. I didn't know where I would go or what I would do. Didn't even know if they would use me. Historically, the use of the Reserve forces have never been used to this extent they have been used today. All other wars were by draft. Today our services are a completely volunteer organization. The weight of conflicts are beared on the shoulders of reservists and our active duty counterparts. I believe that we should do what other countries like England do and require that all military age males serve at least two years in our military. Well, I ended up in Iraq, wasn't sure if I was even going to come here. I came to be a part in something that will effect life for generations. Now at the end of my enlistment, it was once again time to make another choice.

Yesterday I rose my hand once again. Earlier in the morning when I was reviewing my oath it didn't seem like anything more than just words on a page. But the moment I was standing in front of my Commanding Officer, raising my hand and repeating his words, the emotions definitely came through. Of course I kept my bearing, but saying those words I had to choke down the memories of that fateful day.

I, Joseph Rimkus, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

So today I start a new contract and another chapter. Not knowing what the future will hold or where we may end up, my promise to all of you is I will be there for our country. As we say in the Marines....it's time to press on!!

Doc