| Sunday, April 30, 2006 |
| Meeting Rumsfield |
My initial plan for this blog site was to inform the public about the truth that is happening in Iraq. What I have found is that the truth is not pleasant. The stories that have been told to me by the Iraqi people are unbelievable - until they show me their scars. Last week, a suicide bomber walks into an elementary school and detonates his explosives, injuring 16 children. There was not one mention of this on the news. Why? Why is the truth not being told? Maybe because the truth hurts. Or maybe because the truth doesn't support the media's agenda. Either way, this has become very difficult for me.
So, my blog has evolved into my thoughts and concerns. However, this entry is to show that I am meeting people. Maybe this will help my political career - or maybe it will hurt. Either way - this was pretty neat. |
posted by Capt. C @ 11:33 PM  |
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| Letters From C Wallpaper |
"If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" -James 2:16
Greetings all letter readers,
I really hope that you have been enjoy the letters from Captain C as much as I have. From your many comments I know that C continues to touch the lives of many people even while across the seas. As you know one of his request is that we all make an effort to continue to support our brave men & women in uniform. One way to do that is by Anysoldier.com. Please visit this site and do what you can.
In an effort to help motivate readers of Captain C's blog I've designed a wallpaper to help you remember to not only pray for your troops but help them too.
I hope you enjoy it and please pass it along.
--to Download, click on image. Then right click & "Set as Desktop" or "Save As".
Thank you very much for you continued support of "Letters From C" and our fine men & women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
God Bless
-G (future running mate of Captain C) |
| posted by G. @ 1:29 PM |
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| Thursday, April 27, 2006 |
| Little Handprints |
Anybody that is married or has ever been married can understand that marriage may not always be a fairytale. When you combined marriage with being in the military, it can be down right devastating. But, there is hope. There is hope for anybody that wants to make your marriage work. We have all been told at some point in our life to "Change our attitude." Well, with the change in attitude, comes hope.....
You won't be around me very long before I will start telling you about my wife and kids. I love my family more than anything, second to God. I talk more about my family and how much I love them more than any other subject. I especially talk about my wife. I tell everybody how wonderful my wife is, not only as a wife but as a mother as well.
So, I know you are wondering, "What makes your wife so special?" Well, I am so glad you asked. She has taught me so much about appreciating the "job" of being a spouse and parent. My wife has the right attitude. Well, what does this all entail? I think I can tell it best through a story....
It is very common to see my wife cleaning up after Ariel, Baby Benji, Angel (dog), Jasmine (dog) and even myself. I try not to be messy or inconsiderate, but there are more times that I want to remember that I have not washed my own clothes or dishes or even cleaned the mud off my shoes when I walked in the door. Am I hitting home to a few guys out there?
Here is something that makes my wife unique. I have never (and I mean never) heard her complain. In fact, I have often heard her given praise for the chores that she is carrying out. A few months ago, my wife was busy cleaning handprints off the windows in the playroom. I notice tears rolling down her cheeks. I walked up to her and asked if everything was alright. She looked up at me and then back at the dirty glass. As she started cleaning the class again she said, "I thank God for little handprints. Every time I clean, it makes me realize just how truly blessed I am."
WOW!!! The Bible tells us "In all things, give praise." How can anybody give praise "in all things"? Well, it's all about attitude.
Now, if there is anybody out there that is struggling with your marriage. There is hope. There is hope beyond your wildest dreams. Due to the fact that my wife and I have such a great marriage, I feel obligated to help others. I encourage you to seek counseling. You are always more than welcome to email me. Life is too short, not to enjoy it. |
| posted by Capt. C @ 8:34 PM |
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| Saturday, April 15, 2006 |
| Make a soldier smile campaign |
Have you ever wondered if you were doing enough? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, you could do more? Well, guess what? Today is your lucky day! That's right! You have the chance to do more. Why do more? Because it will make you feel good.
I am not writing this on my behalf. So, please do not send me anything. I have everything that I need. However, there are thousands and thousands of soldiers that are not as lucky. If you are praying for our troops, great! BUT, there's more that you can do.
The troops are tired, but yet they continue to complete their missions. They hear the media and they grow weary. It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the politics of this war. What matters is that there are young men and women that are willing to die for it.
Go to www.anysoldier.com and see what YOU can do. Anything is better when you have nothing. So, the next time that you go to the store pick up one of the following: a bag of M&M's, toothpaste, a pair of long socks, baby wipes, a package of trail mix, etc. More importantly, pick up a phone card. (Keep in mind that a 100 unit phone card is not 100 minutes. From Iraq, that is only about 30 minutes of talk time.)
I encourage you to pass this information on. After all, I am not asking you save the world. I am asking for a bag of M&M's. Can you make a soldier smile today? |
| posted by Capt. C @ 2:42 AM |
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| Do you believe in miracles? |
I have worked in the medical field since 1991. I have seen a lot of amazing things during my time. However, nothing can compare to what I have seen in the third busiest trauma hospital in the world, located right here in Baghdad, Iraq. The trauma that we see here is nothing like in the States. There are no words or pictures that can allow you to appreciate the work that we do to save a life. I have never seen such devastation. Oh, by the way, I have only been here a week.
Even in the midst of the horror, I find moments that have to be from above. I was working the day shift, and we had case after case rolling through the doors. I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to end. But, my next case was a U.S. Soldier. No matter how tired you are, when a U.S. Soldier comes through the door something inside gives you pride and strength.
This Soldier had been hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). I encourage you to look up IED's and see just how horrible those things are. As the Soldier is lying on the operating table, we get word that the Soldier's commander and friends are outside and would like to come and see him. Now, keep in mind, we are in the middle of surgery. The surgeon said that they need to put on the proper attire and then come in a few at a time.
As I watched the eyes of the young Soldiers walk through the operating doors and see their "brother" lying there on the table, my heart sank. I was wondering what was going through their mind. I was wondering if these brave and amazing Soldiers would be able to stand the site. As tears started to form in their eyes, one of the Soldiers reached in his back pocket and handed me a picture. This is what happened next....
The Soldier said, "Sir, can you give this picture to him when he wakes up? It is a picture of his family. He had it taped to the door of the Humvee. When the IED exploded, the fragments went through the door and hit him. However, if you look at the picture it was untouched."
I took the picture from the Soldier. I looked at the picture through my teary eyes and saw four young children standing by an American flag. I was thinking, "How could this picture (which was 5X7 photo) not be touched when an IED exploded a few feet from it?"
I know that some of you are thinking, "It's just a picture." But, until you wear the boots of Soldier and walk in their foot steps, you can't understand just how important a picture can be. When a Soldier says "Good-bye" to his/her family as he is getting ready to board the plane and leave for "X" amount of time, the picture becomes his family. That picture is all that he has for that time.
When the Soldier woke up, I handed him the untouched picture of his four children. When the Soldier looked at it, a transformation occurred on his face and with a soft, gentle voice he simply said, "Uhhhhh!" The look on his face stopped every person in the recovery room. For that moment, we all experienced the power of a picture. The miracle of family. |
| posted by Capt. C @ 1:59 AM |
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| Thursday, April 13, 2006 |
| Do you want the problem solved? |
Forgive me - I am on my political kick again. Our government has been debating about border security for years. Our government act like this is a difficult solution. They debate about activating the National Guard to secure the border. That's a bad idea. That would endure a never ending double cost to the tax payer. Why do I say double? Because not only will you have to pay for the National Guard person themselves, but also retirement after we have been paying for 20 years. (remember activating the National Guard means "Active Duty")
The government is also debating about using high tech electronics to watch the border and arrest those that they catch. This is also a bad idea because of the endless and high cost to the tax payer.
As you know, I am not one that keeps talking about something. I am all about solving the problem. If my solution doesn't work, no problem - try something else. But, stop spending billions of tax paying dollars on talking. Sure, my solution would cost more initially. But, it is a one time cost and we know it works.
How do we know that it works? Because it is already being used in a small city in California. Using the double wall, their crime rate has dropped to zero. That's right, zero. The Wall has been in place now for about two years. What other city can say that they have had a zero crime rate since they started something?
I don't know if you can tell, but The Wall is about 18 feet high. The fence part is another 10 feet. There is a small electrical current running through it to help decrease attempts. The distance between the fences needs to be about 10-15 feet. This will allow for the killer dogs and border patrol to secure a given area. The Wall should run from the Pacific Ocean in California to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.
Now, I know there are people out there saying that illegal aliens are good for economy. I would challenge you to look into the cost of the free health care, free housing, free welfare, free schooling, free college, etc. that is NOT FREE, because we (The American Tax Payer) is having to pay for it. We are being raped of tax dollars. So, maybe we will have to pay a little more for fruit - big deal. Am I being politically correct? Probably not. But, do you want the problem solved?
P.S. Our government knows these walls work. The military uses them in Iraq. |
| posted by Capt. C @ 11:46 PM |
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| Wednesday, April 05, 2006 |
| Interesting or Heroic |
Everybody has a story to tell. Some are interesting and some are heroic. I want to share with you a story about PFC Alfonzo Bernal. PFC Bernal has been drawing ever since he was seven years old. He loves to draw. As you can see he is very good at what he does. I asked him if he had ever taken art lessons. He told me that he was kicked out of the class. I'm sure that is a story of itself.
PFC Bernal's art work has been published four times in an art magazine. He has drawings in tattoo shops that people can buy and place on them. In 2003, PFC Bernal was finally offered a full scholarship to an Art School. His dreams of being an artist were coming true.
However, PFC Bernal, turning of age, decided that joining the Army was a better choice. I asked PFC Bernal if he regretted that decision as we sat at a table in the middle of Iraq with machine gun fire in the background. PFC Bernal looked me dead in the eye and said, "Not at all, Sir." I asked him "Why?" He said, "Because I am making a difference." So you tell me - interesting or heroic? |
| posted by Capt. C @ 6:28 PM |
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| Tuesday, April 04, 2006 |
| Where's the Media??? |
For security reasons I won't be able to give dates, times or locations. I have some pictures but I am unable to down load right now. So, I will update this later. But, I had some thoughts and I wanted to share them with you.
I left from Ft Bliss (no secret) heading to Iraq (no secret). I was placed in the first class seating area because I helped load the bags (about 1000 bags). The flight took off and I was wondering if we would get to eat or if I would have to eat some snacks that I packed. Well, to make a long story short - the plane folks feed us every 2-3 hours it seemed like. So, the service was wonderful.
Now, to the eye opening experience. Our first stop was in the North East Area of America. If you know anything about the military, you know that they have no sense of time. Meaning they can't fly during normal hours. So, we landed at this little airport in the middle of the night (actually real, real early morning). As I am getting off the plane and walking down the terminal I start to hear laughing, clapping and cheering. I thought "Those guys are just a little too noisey." Then, as I got closer to the corner I started to hear what sounded like a "celebration" type of excitement. When I turned the corner much to my surprise was a fairly large group of people that I have never seen in my life clapping and cheering for me!!! That's right - for me!!! They had lined up along side of the wall shaking every soilders' hand and saying "Thank you!" There was this little old lady, she must have been close to 90 years old, hugged each and every one of us. My eyes started to tear up. I thought "My goodness, it is in the middle of the night. Why are they here?" So, I asked one of the guys that was there with his wife and 2 kids. I was told the following.."We are here because of you!!!" Talk about making a grown man cry.
Well, it didn't stop there. As soon as I got in the area where the shops were, there was a man standing at a "Troops Stop Here" type of place. He was handing out FREE cell phones. He told me that two companies pay for all the minutes. So, a soldier could call home and not worry about the cost. Once a soldier was finished calling he would hand the phone to another soldier. The companies that paid for this was Unicell and ....(I will have to get back on the other name- I wrote it down, but it is not on me right now). There was also free food (cake, cookies, etc) that was supplied by Sam's. I stopped and watch the interaction that was taking place with the soldiers and the phones. Something that I didn't mention was that another plane full of soldiers also landed there right after us. They had been in Iraq for a year and were on their way home. Naturally, most of us didn't take the phones, we allowed the other group of soldiers to use them. Well, it didn't take long before all the phones were in use. There were still some soldiers waiting to call home. What I saw next just about made me cry, again. Total strangers would walk up to the soldiers and ask "Do you want to call home?" The soldier would respond with "Yes Sir/Ma'am, I am waiting for a phone." Then, these people took out their own personal phone and said, "Here, call home Son. Oh, by the way, welcome home!"
I set there and watch this unfold before me. I was amazed at how much support there was for the troops. As I watched this very touching moment that I can hardly explain, I thought why haven't I seen this on the news. This is a good story and it is news worthy. So, my next question is......Where's the media??? |
| posted by Capt. C @ 5:47 AM |
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