I get a bit worried when someone will come up to me and sincerely thank me for something. I respond graciously enough with "no problem man", but inside I'm thinking "Who is this person and what do they think I did for them?" Well, I guess it's better than people coming up and cursing me out for things I don't think I did.

Happy Saturday! For those of you tuning in back home, then Merry Christmas! Here in Iraq, it's business as usual, just another day. But it is also important to note that for me and my gange, we've past the halfway point and it's all downhill from here. That is a good cause for celebration. Cheers.

You know, sometimes it sucks knowing what the right course of action is. Instant gratification is a bitch to turn down, especially if you don't know how well the "delayed gratification" will turn out. Why does doing the right thing seem like the boring one?

I talked about it with some people, but now I have finally launched the site Iraq... again. I am going to put all Iraq-related blog entries and pictures on that site, so start looking there instead of here for a while. Of course, things that are just my usual musings and findings will naturally go here.

From Slashdot:
Yeah, but...they're spammers.

It's like the Indiana Jones movies. Melting people's faces is bad. Melting Nazi's faces is awesome. Because, honestly, they're Nazis.

I'm not saying spammers are Nazis, just that we should melt their faces.

Oh crap.

Quick update. Dryden is now hosting his pictures on here as well. Check them out.
You probably need to get to page 15 or so (can't remember off hand, don't feel like looking it up) before you get to the Fallujah pics. The rest are from Cali and before.

I figured I should do an update as I haven't done one in a while with all the stuff that's been going on. We reopened the internet cafe about 7 days ago, and people starting coming back in from Fallujah around 6 days ago. They are rotating in for a couple days of R&R, and then back off to the city for 3-4 days. Basically, 4 on, 2 off, and so on. Among 3/5 there was about a dozen KIAs and a larger number of casualties. Two (1,
2) KIAs were in my section, Motor T. Those of us from Truck Co (PA) had no casualties in Fallujah. Loosing a fellow Marine is never good, but we did come out of there with a lot less injuries than expected.

In Ramadi, Truck Co marines have been taking a beating over VBIEDs (vehicle born improvised explosive device, military slang for car-bombs driven by suicidal maniacs). Several of the Truck Co Marines received shrapnel to their legs, arms and face. At least 1 that I know of got taken back to Germany, and is probably home by now. He received shrapnel to his arms and face. I am told that he is in high spirits and wishes that he was back out here with all of us. I guess that (as he always says) he's "The real deal, John Chmill".

I got some pictures off of Galterio and Cunningham. Galterio's pictures are in the OIF2 section, and Cunningham has his own album. Granted, Cunningham's album contains a very weird mixture of OIF2, California, and Home pictures, but it's all good. Both albums have some pictures of the inner city of Fallujah, and I have more promised from other people on their way. I'll post them as I get them. Cheers, John

A moment of silence for our fallen heroes. Keep the members of our military and their families in your prayers.

10 Nov 1775... 2004 229 years and counting. Today marks another birthday for the Corps. UPDATE: Still no major injuries for 3/5 or Truck Co Marines. Personal update: I finally got a vehicle to use while carousing around base.