Dear All,
There was a fourth soldier injured in the attack. His name is Jake Benson and I graduated with him. He is already back in Basra. Check out the story on WCCO at the link: http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/Willmar.soldier.recovering.2.1096911.html
David
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Three Soldiers - Email from David
Dear All,
After what happened last Thursday, our MP company was given some time off, and the rest of us have been taking on some extra shifts to cover for them. Yesterday I was working out at the front gate doing personnel search. No internet out there. It was a twelve-hour day out in the heat on my feet. Not something very easy to get used to in one day. So, I crashed when I got back. It's now Sunday morning here.
For future reference, if some- thing happens on base, there will be a blackout until the families are notified. That means all of our networks will be shut down, including the one at work and the private ones, such as the one I am on. So if you hear something on the news, you can safely assume it wasn't me, because you would have been notified before the news was.
Love, David
After what happened last Thursday, our MP company was given some time off, and the rest of us have been taking on some extra shifts to cover for them. Yesterday I was working out at the front gate doing personnel search. No internet out there. It was a twelve-hour day out in the heat on my feet. Not something very easy to get used to in one day. So, I crashed when I got back. It's now Sunday morning here.
For future reference, if some- thing happens on base, there will be a blackout until the families are notified. That means all of our networks will be shut down, including the one at work and the private ones, such as the one I am on. So if you hear something on the news, you can safely assume it wasn't me, because you would have been notified before the news was.
Love, David
AP Notice - Three Soldiers Killed
Three members of the Minnesota National Guard were killed last week in an attack on a base outside of Iraq's second largest city [Basra - this is the base David is on]. This attack was the deadliest day for Minnesota U.S. soldiers since 2005.
The three deaths included Carlos Wilcos, 27, of Cottage Grove, Daniel Drevnick, 22, of Woodbury, and James Wertish, 20 of Olivia. All three were members of Minnesota National Guard's 34th Red Bull Infantry Division based out of Rosemount.
July 17, 2009
By Elizabeth Dunbar, AP
The three deaths included Carlos Wilcos, 27, of Cottage Grove, Daniel Drevnick, 22, of Woodbury, and James Wertish, 20 of Olivia. All three were members of Minnesota National Guard's 34th Red Bull Infantry Division based out of Rosemount.
July 17, 2009
By Elizabeth Dunbar, AP
Three Soldiers Killed - July 16, 2009
FRG Leaders,
It is my sad duty to inform you that today the Minnesota National Guard has notified three families of 34th Infantry Division Soldiers that their loved one was killed while in service to the nation. These families are right now working with Minnesota National Guard Casualty Assistance Officers to Assist them with their current and future needs.
At the present time, out of respect to the privacy of the families involved, the identity of the service members and the circumstances of the incident are not available.
The full resources of the Minnesota National Guard are being utilized to assist the families, communities, and military members affected by this tragedy.
As more information becomes available the Minnesota National Guard will make further statements.
Sincerely, Lynda
It is my sad duty to inform you that today the Minnesota National Guard has notified three families of 34th Infantry Division Soldiers that their loved one was killed while in service to the nation. These families are right now working with Minnesota National Guard Casualty Assistance Officers to Assist them with their current and future needs.
At the present time, out of respect to the privacy of the families involved, the identity of the service members and the circumstances of the incident are not available.
The full resources of the Minnesota National Guard are being utilized to assist the families, communities, and military members affected by this tragedy.
As more information becomes available the Minnesota National Guard will make further statements.
Sincerely, Lynda
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June Notes
As of June 6, David has internet in his room. It has been up and down over the past month but is gradually getting set up and more reliable. David receives your emails on a daily basis now. Also, he has set up a Willmar phone number through Skype, so we can call him and there is no charge. The only catch is that he has to be by his computer! If you want to call him, contact me and I can give you his number or you can send and email to him and he can give it to you. Iraq is 8 hours ahead so between 11 am and 2 pm CT would be the time to catch him.
Here's a quote from David's email on June 10:
Here's a quote from David's email on June 10:"The internet has been down in the living area for about a day now. People using torrent websites to download movies can kill the network single-handedly. My roomate (Dugger) is in the process of collecting MAC addresses and will lock people out if they don't have them in by Friday. This way he can assign IP addressed instead of having it done automatically, and track bandwidth usage. Then last night the network went down completely, and he now suspects that routers have been set up on the network (which is not allowed). He also suspects that a series of switches have been set up in a loop, effectively draining all of the network's resources. So the network worked for a few days, but through people basically sabotaging the network it will probably be down until he gets better control on the security."
David is enjoying the work he does... quite a bit of research, it seems. Also, lots of meetings, 1-4 a day, and he is often the lowest ranking person in the room. Lots of exposure and lots of challenges. He is even getting to experience management of people!
A couple weeks ago, he got to take a helicopter ride to a base 100 miles north and was able to see lots of countryside. First time off base since he arrived. Again, he was the lowest ranking soldier. Again, a great experience.
David started an online college course: "Computers in Society" which is required for his major. That is taking up some of his evening hours, even keeping him up late a couple nights to meet deadlines.
Most nights, David runs 3 miles after he gets off work (around 6 pm)and then has supper. The food is "not all that great." And yes, there is sand EVERYWHERE.
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