Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

Joe Galloway has a letter from a soldier in Iraq. From what I’ve read across the web, this is the best description of an infantryman’s life at war in 1200 words or less.

Joe Galloway has a good article this week on Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker (a real cowboy) and how he views the way the Army should be structured.

“Our past wars were like having pneumonia – you may end up with some scarring in your lungs but you survived,” Schoomaker told a Defense Writers Group breakfast. “This one (the Global War on Terrorism) is like cancer; you might get it in remission, but you will live with it for a lifetime. It is huge.

I sent Slice an email asking what kind of goodies he might need. Unlike his little brother, he hasn’t requested anything, and all I’ve sent him is reading materials. So he responded:

Yeah, we don’t really need much. I just figured you have done enough deployments yourself that you would know on your own what someone who was deployed would need.

Yeah, I’ve done a few deployments in my time, but all I’ve ever really missed is a good cup of coffee or a cold Dr. Pepper.

But it really highlights the difference between deployments in my day and those today. I never had phone contact with home except the two weeks I spent in the Azores, where I submitted my call and waited for the operator to direct me to the correct telephone when the connection was finally made. I never had a mailing address. Most of the time I was somewhere I couldn’t be reached. We had secure SATCOM to contact home station, but that was pretty much it.

Nor did we have the internet and email, or even satellite telephones.

I’ll be back in Kandahar this weekend for a day or two, and I’ll try to call. The sat phones we have are unreliable. You probably didn’t notice because you wouldn’t be able to see the writing, but it was Jack’s flag that was flying during Geraldo’s show.

The J-Man…my grandson. The flag is one I bought and flew over the site in Kuwait last year. I dated it and gave it to Slice to carry around the world with him so my grandson would have a memento of Dad’s travels.

Good stuff. Goodies on the way, Captain!

Slice sends his regards:

If you want an idea of what we’ve been up to the past week, check out cnn.com and foxnews.com. They are fairly accurate reports.

Here is one of those stories.

Go see it. You know you want to.

Here is an open letter from a Texas veteran, whose father and sons also served, to John Kerry. He pretty much covers territory I have in researching Kerry’s background.

Just a quick update from Slice on how things are going in Afghanistan:

Things are going really well here. We are killing a lot of mid to high-level bad guys. If we had a little more time here, or if the Army would reinforce success, we could break the back of the Taliban. It’s amazing to watch our military in full force.

Looks like we may be extended for thirty days, but no one can say for sure. Still awaiting SecDef approval. We’re not even sure where it would be–here, Greece, Liberia, etc. It’s all a crap shoot. But if we do get extended, that may blow my goal of having single-digit days on the ship for a 6-month float.

Most Marines don’t feel comfortable at sea. Beaches suit them better!