What a day! Before the sun came up, I was headed to Landing Zone Washington in Baghdad from the press center. At 8am sharp three Marine Corps helicopters arrived to take us to Al Asad. They were sent straight from the Commanding Officer. I was riding this one alone. Why three? Two were support aircraft to assist in case we came under any kind of hostility. In my helicopter, it was the pilot and his co-pilot, and two machine gun shooters ready at their guns. They strapped me in, handed me my camera, and it was all business for the next 50 minutes.
The scenery was really something. Some places were lush with palms but mostly it was just desert. Dirt, bombed buildings, abandoned structures, and more dirt is what I saw. We were not flying too high so I could see the ground clearly. And clearly….there wasn’t much life between Baghdad and Al Asad.
Al Asad was formerly one of Saddam Hussein’s Air Force bases. We overtook it at the beginning of the war and made it ours. Saddam had about 3200 military members on this base..the United States has more than 15,000. We have built our own waste water treatment plant, developed a water purification system which turns water from the Euphrates River into potable water for the base. It is also Americanized with a Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and a PX which serves as there mini Wal-Mart.( I already checked it out.) They take credit cards and American money.
There are many different nationalities working on this base. They are called “TNC” or third nation contractors. They do such jobs as work in the mess hall, the PX, some are gate guards, and others have many other different jobs. They all have been friendly to me.
The highlight of my day was getting to hang out with Col Caveman Holzworth again. He is such a passionate Marine and you can tell he has already gained the respect and admiration from this command just as he did in Pensacola. He personally escorted me to ATC…Air Traffic Control. There I met with about a dozen Marines and sailors and 9 of them were trained in Pensacola. One actually still lives there! Two of them recognized me from Kooter Brown’s 98 Westend (why is the theme song from “Cheers” popping into my head?) What a small world it is indeed.
The tower was amazing. It was so neat to watch them put to use the training they received on Pensacola half way across the world in a war zone. We should be very proud that are very own Pensacola is turning out such fine men and women.
Tomorrow is a full day and I will have a full report. Bi plans are in the works for Thanksgiving here and I think there is word of a dodge ball tournament! I am so in if that is true!!
I am moved into my little trailer which has internet connection, 2 twin beds, AC, and 2 lockers. The bathroom is about a 70 feet from my trailer but I checked it out and it’s not too bad. There will be another shoebox shower tomorrow but that’s ok! Better than nothing.
Talk soon.
Dana
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2 comments:
HI Dana,
It sounds like you are having an amazing time! You are so fortunate to experience this and we are fortunate to have you share this with us daily. Thank you and keep the details coming. We really enjoy hearing from you.
Dana, Sounds like you are having a great time!! Keep up the great work!! Please be sure to keep posting as much as possible, because I can actually read what you are saying. I am not near a radio when you do your reports!! Would love to hear back from you!! Oh by the way, we want more pictures!! Love and miss you bunches!!! Vickey
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