Letters from Iraq

From: Ad**k Elizab*****
To: sphs65@colorbits.com
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 4:17 AM
Subject: Gift From The Sea - Thank You

To the SPHS Class of '65,

Thank you so very very much for sending the "Gift From the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Someone here at Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq had finished reading it and had left it behind for someone else to read. It is an absolutely fantastic book. I recently passed it on to another soldier because it needs to be shared. I will be buying myself another copy and will also buy copies as gifts for family and friends.

CW3 Elizabeth 'Libby' Ad***k
Camp Victory, Iraq

From: randall.****@bla*****af.af.mil
To: sphs65@colorbits.com
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 4:00 AM
Subject: thank you

Dear Eve,

I would just like to drop a big thank you to both you and your class mates whom have sent packages. Everyone seems to enjoy them. Probably the most favorite gifts are the shelled peanuts and the sunflower seeds. However, I appreciated the cards that you found. I plan on giving them to my son when I return home. He loves helicopters and I am sure he will love those cards. My first shirt quickly grabbed the Friday Night Lights book for his enjoyment. Thanks again for the appreciation your class has shown us. I only hope the next group will appreciate you guys as much as we have. Thanks again

A1C Dean USAF

From: anthony.morikawa@b******.af.mil
To: sphs65@colorbits.com
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 10:57 AM
Subject: Thank you

Dear Eve, Thank you so much for the second box which I have just received today. It was such a surprise to receive the first box and most unexpected to receive the second. We all appreciate the time and effort that goes into your project. Despite the fact that notes of appreciation are rare, believe me when I say that we are all very grateful for everything that all of you do. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you as well. May God Bless all of you and keep you and your families safe. Take care.

Tony

ANTHONY M. MORIKAWA, SMSgt, USAF

Nightshift Maintenance Superintendent

727 EACS/SCU

From: randall.dean@b*******af.mil
To: sphs65@colorbits.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 12:55 AM
Subject: Thank You

To all of you,

Thanks for your support of us troops over here. We all appreciate the gifts that all of you have been sending. The patriotic stationary is a hit over here. Many people have been using it as soon as it is available. Thanks for what you have done for us. It is nice to know that some people still appreciate the military.

Thanks again,

A1C Dean USAF

4/10/05

OK, I have finally entered the 20th Century (I’ll never make into the 21st Century with my rotary dial phones!) and have just got my home computer cranked up with many thanks to Dick Akey who drove all the way down from New York to make sure that the computer store people did not lead me astray. Mike, e-mail and let me know that you have received this message. I will pass on Nick’s current address to you then.

What a bonanza, two letters in my mailbox today. Both on official “Class of ‘65” exclusive stationery! The first one if from a female Air Force Staff Sergeant:

Dear Eve,

Thank you for the care package. It’s so nice to receive a box when your not expecting one. It’s like a kid at Christmas time opening presents and seeing what you have received. We are doing good and enjoying all the goodies you have sent. We are very thankful that there is still people like you that care for us here. Thanks again for your support and we appreciate everything you are doing for us.

P.S. Also thank the Class of ’65. We all truly appreciate all your doing to support the troops.

Sincerely,

Alba

The second letter has a return address of Camp Lejuene. When reading the letter I suspect that the young man wrote it while in Iraq but never got around to mailing it until he got back to the States. Once again, it is clear that his English teachers were not as strict as those at SPHS. While I could repair his mistakes when I retype his message, I don’t feel that would be right and anyway, I think everyone can figure out what he is saying. It is another very sweet message. (As a reference note, he mentions “Katelyn Evans” in his note. Katelyn is the young female Marine that gave us his name when she shipped back to the States and he stayed behind in Iraq.) It is very cute because the envelope is addressed: Eve Young Class of ’65

Dear Eve,

I can’t thank you, your classmates of ’65 and Katelyn Evans enough for your very giving contributions to myself and my fellow Marines. We enjoyed your packages of goodies very much everything was very heart warming for us to get packages (especially from kind hearted, generous folk whom we haven’t met face to face to thank.) Well, I have absolutely great news…My battery of artillery are all coming back alive and well! Only three of our Marines received some battle scars this visit. Many in a roadside bombing attack in central/southern Iraq. Minor burns to one Marine’s back and very small burn marks to two others arms and faces. They’re recovering quickly and the marks are very faint. We have been over here in Iraq since last July and now coming back in February. Myself and a few others had the great experience of turning 21 years of age overseas in a war zone. Alcohol is not even relately in our minds…It’s the fond memories of our loved ones and friends at home, Class of ’65’s true generosity has touch us all very much, we appreciate your packages. The majority of us will be going back Iraq at a latter date…About a year from now. Keep in touch you all our cherished friends and family now. Thank you, God bless,

Nick

Attached is the text of a letter that I received yesterday and is the first letter I have received which was written on official "Class of '65" stationery. I think it is a very sweet letter. The reference to "Old Geezer" is something I mentioned in my letter to her whereby a friend of my had expressed suprise that I was a member of the Class of '65 because he didn't realize that I was so old.......

Dear Eve,

Pete:

I am forwarding this to you directly rather than the SPHS address for two reasons:
1) I am too close to this troop project to gauge if anyone really wants to hear any more about it.
2) I have a feeling that the attachment and photos might not carry if I do forward it.

I believe that while the letter in the attachment is signed by Steve Imhoff, I suspect he charged one of this men (probably PFC Miller, who appears to have sent his own photo) to write it for him. (While the sentence construction, grammar, and spelling could use some strong improvement by our own Mrs. Ercek and Miss McDonald, it is head and shoulders above Steve's normal style.) Nonetheless, Steve is the one "adopted" by our class and I think the second photo is of the unit he commands. Steve is the one at the far left, at the highest point of the photo.)

I'm leaving it up to you as whether or not it should be posted. It tells a long story but does express gratitude for our boxes. If you do post it, I would probably kill the first photo of PFC Miller as it muddies the message in trying to figure out why he was highlighted.

In closing, I want to tell you how tickled I was the other day to discover at the bottom of our webpage the little blurb on this "project" (I simply had never scrolled down that far before.) That was very kind of you to post. At some point, you might want to include Roby Scott's name as having supplied Christmas season CDs.

Thanks,
Eve

Eve & the SPHS Class of “65”

You are the best. The guys here are always talking of you and the SPHS Class of “65”. The effort that you and your fellow graduating classmates have made is more then impressive. All of you have show and continue to show your support for Americas troop with your simple gives has truly helped to make live easer for the men on the front line and during their deployment in IRAQ. As well you have help to provide materials needed to bridge the gap between two cultures. A simple gift to a small child; pin, balloon, football, or a small piece of candy, not only lightens their day, but also demonstrates to their parents, relatives, and neighbors the caring nature of American troops and the American people as a hole. Our cultures are vastly different but everyone understands a kind act, a smile or a simple gesture of good well.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

To give you a simple history of the unit that you all are helping I will have to start back when me were in Korea. !/503 Infantry Battalion (1/503 INF) is part of the 2nd Infantry Divisions (2ID) and the Task Force deployed to IRAQ from Korea in Aug 04. A tour in Korea is considered by the U.S. Military as a hardship tour that last for one year. The Army offers a bounces to soldiers that elect to extend their tour in Korea. In Aug of 04, 2ID was deployed for the first time in over 50 years. The last time the unit was deployed was to KOREA. You must remember that the Korean War has not ended, that North Korea and the U.S. only have a cease firer agreement. Do to the long stand still of hostilities and the short rotation of the U.S. troops the units in Korea could only focuses on basic soldier skills and the old NATO Doctrine for training. Most of the units equipment was old and rundown do to the lack of priority give to them over other deployable units such as the 82nd, 101st, and 10th Mountain. Within three month the Task Force resupply, refitted, and retrained, for a totally new mission and environment in IRAQ. June and July in Korea are the Monsoon months, and that was the time period the Task Force had available to train for the HOT and DRY conditions that exists in IRAQ.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

Prior to the deployment, units in Korea were augmented with Korea soldiers known as KATUSAS (Korean Augmenties To U.S. Army Service). The KATUSAS are mostly made up of upper class and collage grads. Most units maintained 90% straight, 10% of which were KATUSAS. U.S. Army policy for deploying units is to be at 120% straight. South Korea wouldn’t allow the KATUSAS to be deployed with these U.S. units. As a result must units were rendered combat ineffective (units straight under 80%) just as their deployment orders were being cut. Even with the big push to plus up these units the Task Force was only able to deploy with 4000 troops (103% straight), under supplied, and with outdated equipment. Despite all of this the soldier and units were ready and able to complete any mission that they would be tasked with.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

It was a cool and rainy morning on the 9 of Aug 04 when my company (D Co.) started its way to IRAQ. 257 soldiers, a company, and half of another, with all their gear and equipment, crammed onto a World Trans Airliner for the 15 hour long trip to Kuwait. After being in transit for over 30 hours we joined up with other elements of the Task Force outside of Kuwait where the units waited for and prepared their equipment.
On the 5th of Sep 04 D Co. launched its convoy to Al Habenia, (Camp Manhattan), 45km west of Bagbad in IRAQ a three-day journey. Upon arriving at Camp Manhattan, where the rest of the 1/503 had flown to by way of C-130, each platoon from D Co. was attached to other companies. D Co. is the battalions antiarmor company. Camp Manhattan was our base of operations while operating in the area south of Fallujah and on the Fallujah peninsula. Most of the operations we conducted where searching for weapon cashes in our area (AO) and we fond lots of them. We also participated in the pulmonary efforts for the attack on Fullisha. Most of our contact was indirect mortar fire two to three times a week. Although we did have small arms and RPG’s shot at us they where not considered to be firefight.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

At the end of Oct 04, our unit was moved to Ar Ramadi to help support the Marines efforts while their main force went to Fallujah. We packed for what we were told would be a week long mission, and we are still here. The city of Ar Ramadi was cut in half with the Marines on the west side and our one Battalion (1/503) on the east side of the city. When we first arrived here in Ar Ramadi there were mortar attacks every day (three to four mortar rounds each time). Every mission we went out on we got small arms and RPG’s fired on us and these were firefights. Mostly the terrorist hit and run, running away while they were firing on us. Since then our unit has work hard on clearing out the insurgents and on providing stability to the area.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

Currently we are experiencing the longest loll in enemy activity since we been in Ramadi. The establishment of the New Iraq Government along with the formation and training of a elite Iraqi police force know as the Iraqi Commandos and the vehicle check points has helped to demonstrate to the people of Ramadi that the Americans troops are making their city safer. For the most part the civilian population has returned to the every day lives and are working on rebuilding their lives.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

There is still a lot of work here to be done and it seems that it will take some time before the people of Iraq will be able to maintain their government on their own, but a good foundation has been laid for them to improve their way of live.
Ar Ramadi, at the time of our arrival, was concerted to be the next Fallujah, but I would like to think that do to the soldiers effort in1/503 Battalion a full out assault on the city was avoided, and so was the unnecessary loss of live along with the collateral damage associated with such an operation. Currently here in Ar Ramadi the schools are teaching, the shops are open and life for the civilians is more normal. There is sill terrorist activity here but has been limited do to our operation. The soldiers here now have hot water, and hot chow deliver twice a day. All of the soldiers in this unit will now have the opportunity to take two weeks of RR leave and we now know where our return duty station will be in the states. Our deployment will be ending in Aug one year after our arrival and we will be redeploying to Ft. Carson in Colorado.

The attend audience for this message is for SPHS Class Members only

From all the soldier here that all of you have helped to support we will like to send our thanks and appreciation for your assistance through these tough times and for making our tour a little easer. Special thanks to Miss. Eva Young and for her efforts in organizing, and countless hours spent sending your donations of support.

SINCERELY THE TROOPS OF BRAVO COMPANY 1/503 2ND INFANTRY DIVISION AND ESPECIALLY PUNISHER PLATOON AND IN MEMORY OF DOC. MILLER (31 JAN 05)

SSG IMHOFF STEPHEN
U.S. ARMY, INF

4-1-05

Dear Mr. Dwyer and Family;

First, let me say that I was one of the gracious recipients of a carepackage you sent. This caught me totally by surprise because I didn’t recognize your name as the sender and, after a few inquiries around the site,

I discovered that a gentleman by the name of Major Evans, whom I’ve worked with at many locations, had given several of our names out to individuals willing to send out care packages to deployed military.

Anyway, my name is Harold Austin, a Technical Sergeant with the 728 Air Control Squadron stationed out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. My particular job has blessed me with serving with all branches of the military from one end of the planet to the other. And, this being my second tour to Iraq, I continue to build more respect for each and every soldier, no matter what branch they serve in.

In eight days I will have completed 23 years in the Air force and intend to stay in until they boot me out, I’m a cranky ole cuss. I am sorry to say that, unlike your strong military background, I am the only member from my immediate family that has enlisted into the military. I have had quite a few Great Uncles’, and 2nd cousins that served in both the Marines and Army throughout WWII, Korea and Vietnam. But no one in my family now that really understands what it means to be a military member.

Most of my warrior experiences started back in 1981 with a tour to Saudi Arabia during the Iran/Iraq war. I’ve since served in Kosovo, and am currently on my 2nd tour in Iraq. That’s about all the military experiences I ever want to see.

Anyway, please know that you have my utmost thanks for the care package (with all the neat stuff inside) and my respect and gratitude for all that you did serving this great country of ours. Hope this finds you and your family in great health and happiness. God Bless and Take care!

Harold Austin

728 Air Control Squadron

Eglin AFB, Fl 32542

Dear Michael & Jan Dwyer, and Amy ,

I just received your package. At first glance, I had to make sure the package was mine because I don’t know anyone from Cold Springs, NV. LOL. So once I was certain the package was mine, I was struck with confusion. I started opening the package with a smile on my face, being that I just came into work and I received a package from a family I didn’t know. Plus the fact that my co-workers were telling me how lucky I am to receive something unexpectedly. Truly I am lucky to be in your thoughts, and for you to take time out of your lives to send me something. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for putting the items together. Your kindness will surely help me get through my situation with a big smile on my face.

Im going to set up the basketball set you sent here in the shop. That hoop will be put into good use, I’m a very big basketball fan. “It’s madness BABYYYY” – dick vitale. Even tho my team was eliminated Saturday (Arizona) I still have the fever for the “March Madness”. Thanks for the book and the CD, I’m sure I will enjoy them. Please give my thanks to your daughter, Amy, for the cards. My co-workers and I play cards quite often. A great past time.

Also, thank you for the beautiful picture of your family. Once again, thank you very much for your generosity. It is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Antonio

P.S.

One thing, How did you receive my name and my address?

3/29/05

Dear Class of "65",

I received your care package today and just wanted to say thank
you. Everything all of you do for us, all of your support means so
much to all of us here. Your thoughts and prayers are always needed
and appreciated. Again, thank you so much.

ANTHONY M. MORIKAWA, MSgt, USAF

Nightshift Maintenance Superintendent

72 AS/CU

1-17-05
Class '65.

Our second message received from Iraq. I know that some of you are not in favor of the war, but we started the process of showing support for our troops and I should not be the one to filter any missive received. So I'll pass them along until the troops come home.
This is from Col. Ford at Iraq Central Command to Col. Kron with a cc: to us.
Pete


----- Original Message -----
From: Ford William M COL MNC-I Comptroller
To: Kron, Art S COL ASA-FM

Art,

Not sure if you had seen this. It’s a very good article and represents the frustration of all; from Private through General.

Worth your time to read.

The media is failing our Nation by not reporting the good news. Our Coalition Force is achieving great momentum; however, goodness does not sell and the world opinion is being driven by the events plastered in the news media with the destruction being imposed by the insurgents. This only fuels the insurgent’s activities even more. In reality, what the insurgents are doing are so gross, our morality forbid us to show any of this in the news. It is hard to stomach what the insurgents are actually doing to innocent people whose only desire is to live a simple life free from terror.

If only we could report the updates from our Operations Center, the daily reports would open the eyes of the average citizen throughout the world. Unfortunately, it is all classified.

Our news media has it all wrong and it appears that they only want to sell sensationalism. We may not win on every battle front; but, we are winning the war.

We can continue to defeat the insurgents in the streets; however, we will never win if we do not get the general public opinion to recognize the cruelty of this segment of society/culture.

Should you have some time check out this web site below.

We in the military are not in the business of advertising ourselves; however, if we do not turn the tide of negative events reporting, we will lose our National resolve.

Every trooper in country knows that the people back home fully supports them as a member of the Armed Forces; however, we can not afford to lose their support seeing this through.

Looking forward to return in mid/late February.

http://www.dvidshub.net/publications/eye_on_iraq/eye_on_iraq.php

12-31-04

We just received a snail-mail from our female Marine. It is postmarked Dec. 18 which gives an idea how slow mail flows. You will see it is a remarkable letter, but it is a letter of atypical 22 year old kid who is thousands of miles from home.

Here is what she says:

It was wonderful to get your packages and letters (Dec. 13) today because I had a really hard day and by the time I got the mail I was hating life. Your letters and kindness certainly brightened my day, which was desperately needed. I cannot thank you enough. Also, I did get mike Dwyers box the sam eday and it was awesome. The items were shared--in fact we have a "community Box" were we put all the xtra items -and I will be glad totell you the harmonicas were awesome. I will send you a limk to our pictures on the Internet.

I work with communications company supporting the Division--basically we keep everything up and running for the General. But right now I am "opped out" to MP company doing guard at the Main Gate. The camp is vey big--maybe 1/2 mile x 2 miles. If you type "Camp Blue Diamond Ramadi, Iraq" in Yahoo search lots of stuff will come up. We are pretty safe here because we are far from the city.

I really can't wait to come home. My bityhday is on the 26th and I will be 22. I have a big family--my 2 older brothers are in the Army -then I have 2 younger siblings also.

Again, thank you for everything. We really do need to hear of the support you have to ofer!

Love,

Katelyn