Happy Memorial Day

Hello everyone, and Happy Memorial Day.

Today is a time to reflect and think about all of the men and women that have served and given their lives for our country. When I was younger, I just looked at it as another day off from school, or an excuse to go to the lake, but it is much more than that. Being in the military and now having my experiences here in Iraq, this day means so much more to me. I see kids around base everyday that work outside the wire and brave the real war and I shake their hand and thank them for what they are doing. I have seen the medical helicopters flying over to the hospital and you know that only means one thing. You see, Memorial Day is more than a federal holiday, it is a day we thank the men and women of our military past, present, and futures for keeping us safe and keeping our country free. I salute all who have came before me and all that will follow me. Thank You!!!

Now on to my week.

Our Battalion held a luau on Friday in honor of Pan-Asian American Month. As you might know, we are a combined Battalion from Minnesota, Washington, and Hawaii. All of our Hawaiians participated and ran the whole show. There was a roast pig, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, coconut wiped pudding, and other Hawaiian foods for our dinning pleasure. There was also 2 bands that played during the event. One was a Hawaiian band playing softer music and Hawaiian music to put us in the tropical mood. The other was a rock cover band that sounded good and played a lot of classic rock (which i find out includes Guns 'n Roses and Nirvana......UGGG) and a couple of their own tunes. The whole day was wonderful!! I swam and jumped off the high dive, played water volleyball and catch with a football. For the afternoon we all forgot about the outside world and just enjoyed the tropical atmosphere (it was 110 out.....HOT!)

Well, that will do it for now. I may be losing my internet here next week so I may not be able to update on Monday. I will try to find a computer somewhere to be able to upload my pictures or it just might be a text version......we will see. Take care everyone and I'll talk to you later.

If you want to learn more about the history of Memorial Day, visit http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

Dan

One Week Closer

Hello Everyone

It's another week closer to going home and I'm starting to get ready for it. I started to sell my stuff and send some stuff home. You don't know how much crap you collect till you have to move. I am finding food and snacks everywhere like we are going to lose our chow hall and not have any food to live on. I have brought 4 bags of food and snacks back to the hanger to share with everyone there. That way it doesn't get wasted and if I still want some of it I know where it is. I also have found a pound of dust and sand on things that we haven't moved all year.....GROSS!!! I can't wait to get home and just have normal dust to deal with.

It is nice to start thinking about home but we still have a job here to do. The picture above is of a sunrise a couple of days ago between sand storms. I was able to get a jet taking off in the picture on the left side. We have had so many sand storms over the past 2 weeks it was nice to get a break for a little bit so we didn't have to breath sand. Other than the sand, not much else has happened since my birthday. Oh, I almost forgot......I did cook out on Friday night with a few people. We hung out and had some burgers and chicken on the grill. It’s just a little taste of home that we can have here. I do love a good cook out.

Just to let you all know, if you plan on sending anything here be sure to do it before June 15th or else it might not get here. I have loved getting all of the care packages and letters from all of you. Now after I go home be sure to find another soldier that will enjoy a care package while they are here. A great website is http://www.anysoldier.com/ to find some soldiers that want some pen pals.

Take care all and have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you later

Dan

Today Is My Birthday........36 And Still Going!!!

Hello all and welcome back.

If you didn't already know, today is my birthday. The big 36!! Just means that I'm one day closer to being home and one year older. I have received some great packages for my birthday so far. The latest one was from my wife’s office team at Cargill Treasury. I am wearing some of the items in the picture above. It also has some super balls in it (That we have lost in the hanger already) and a ton if treats and party favors (Thanks for test driving the nut rolls for me Norma and making sure they were safe for consumption). I do love celebrating my birthday and I wish I was back at home doing it right. Cake, candles, and my wife standing there......looking at me and saying those three little words..........YOU ARE OLD.

I also want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there reading this. The thing with my birthday being on May 12th is that it falls on mother’s day about every 7 years. When I was younger, my Mom and I would celebrate both of our birthdays and mother’s day together. She got it good because she would get 2 gifts compared to my one. As I got older I would just give her one gift and say it was for both days, kinda like what happens to Christmas babies. You see, today is my birthday and my Mom's would have been tomorrow. She would have turned 72 this year if she was still with us. Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday Mom, I love and miss you.

Now I’m getting all emotional, time to liven up this BLOG.

It has been a very busy week for me here. I was able to fly 6.5 hours this week in one of the helicopters I was working on. I do have to say, that I like flying around and seeing around the base. We do test patterns in circles around the base, so I took lots of pictures to show people where I have been living the past year from an birds eye point of view. Also I have been making plans on coming home in July. I started selling my stuff here so it doesn’t wait till the last minute and also sending home stuff so I don’t have to carry it all when we leave here. The days are going by faster because I have been busy so July will be here before we know it. What will all of you do without my BLOG every week? I know, you could call me at home and we could have dinner or something and I can tell you how my week was then, or something like that. We will have to cross that bridge when I get home. Till then, continue to visit my BLOG and I thank you for your continued support of me and my fellow soldiers here with me.

It's poker night also tonight. We are celebrating my friend’s birthday and mine tonight and we are going to take pictures and I will be sure to post them when we are done. His birthday was last Monday and he is 2 years older......hehehe....HE IS OLD!!!

So long for now and have a good week. I will talk to you all next week.

Dan

Up, Up And Away

Happy Cinco De Mayo Everyone,

Now everyone go and crack open a crevesa, put a lime in it and sit down to enjoy this little posting I do every week. On a day like today I do miss going to the parade in St Paul and hanging out with Rory and Peggy. Hitting the beer gardens and watching the live music was oh so fun. Instead, some people here are having a cookout down at the hanger and drinking fake beer. I just can't do it to myself on such a great drinking holiday that I have adopted. Plus it is poker night and that takes precedence. For everyone else I hope you can go out tonight and have a Corona for me and don’t forget the lime......Cheers!!

This week was a busy one for me at work. There is this problem child aircraft that has the oddest issues and I was assigned to help figure it out. Well, with all of the things we did to it, it needed a test flight and I got to go on it. It was my first flight since I have been here. Besides trying to listen for any problems or helping in the discussions, I took a ton of pictures. It was cool to see where I have been living all of these months from the air. On the maintenance side, the problem wasn't fixed but we knew which direction to go and on the next flight it was fixed. I do like troubleshooting the aircraft because you have to think outside the box to come up with a solution that fixes it that the manuals don't talk about. It sure did make this week fly by.

Now, I know I have told all of you that my 36th birthday is a week from today........and you know that I don’t expect anything for my birthday........But just to let you know, I do like receiving boxes and cards:) Not that you have to send anything other than your support and pledge to have a crevesa with me upon my return home. Take care everyone and I'll see ya next week (May 12th......My Birthday.........36 years old......hint, hint).

Dan