Photo Gallery: Baghdad and Tallil

Nate posted some photos of his trips to Baghdad and Tallil in his online gallery at http://gallery.me.com/toxicjelly#gallery.

Back to Iraq

Nathaniel is leaving Tacoma this morning for his return to Iraq, which will take a couple days.

R&R

Well, I had hoped to post sooner, but as everyone told me it would, R&R went by too quickly, and now it is the day I head back to Iraq and I'm just now making a post.

Katie and I have had a good time together while I've been home.  We've gone camping on Bainbridge Island --breaking in our new camping gear-- and gone to Seattle twice, seeing a Mariners game, the Seattle Aquarium, the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo, the Science Fiction Museum and Experience Music Project, and gone up the Space Needle -- and of course, going to the Pike Place Market.

We also got through all 7 parts of the John Adams mini-series from HBO (a pirated copy bought in Iraq for $10).  What an amazing series, and an even more amazing man!

My unit’s year long deployment is 2/3 through, and I think this last portion of it will go by quickly.  After all, Summer is right around the corner and we will be back before the Summer is through.

Finally, both Katie and I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers.  We really do appreciate your support.

Arrived Home on Leave

Nate arrived at his and Katie's apartment in Tacoma just a few minutes ago.

When his flight arrived in Dallas, they disembarked to a walkway above the concourse. The public down below saw them and stopped to turn, applaud and cheer. Patriotic music played, VFW and bikers welcomed, and Boy Scouts handed out bags with goodies and water.

His plane tickets were for a Monday flight from Dallas to Seattle, but he was able to get a seat on a flight out right away. No fanfare at Sea-Tac, but he didn't expect the more liberal crowd there to be appreciative. Sea-Tac isn't the friendliest place to wear a military uniform. But, more important, Katie was there.

Now they're together for a couple of weeks. Plans include a camping trip, a Mariners game, and visits with Katie's family.

En Route Home on Leave

Nate left Iraq a day or two ago to begin his trip back home (Tacoma, WA) for two weeks' leave.

First stop Kuwait, to pass through Navy Customs. Had to make sure nobody sneaks out ammo, weapons, or other souvenirs.

Four hour flight to Leipzig, Germany; then 11 hours to Dallas. He arrived in Dallas on a charter full of service members returning from abroad. The plane taxied under an arch of water sprayed from fire trucks. They disembarked to a welcome ceremony from boy scouts, etc.

That's about all the news we got from him before he had to board the next flight, direct to Seattle where his wife, Katie, and her family are planning a personal welcome.

More to come...

Baghdad

Nate spent last week in Baghdad. The official purpose for the trip was to attend the Brigade Prayer Breakfast. It was a nice breakfast and Nate enjoyed it.

The rest of the week, he played tourist. He went to the "green zone", which is secured section of the city. After passing through a check point it was like being in civilian Baghdad with homes, shops, etc. He made some Iraqi acquaintances, especially a coffee shop owner who also sold pirated DVDs.


Nate also visited typical sight-seeing things. He took lots of pictures, but not any of the ones published in this post. Given the difficulty of sending a lot of large files electronically, he will be sending me a DVD with photos to post. The pictures in this post are downloaded from various web sites.

He toured the palace that served as Sadam's main residence. It was more than simply a palace. It was an estate that included a large lake, hunting grounds, and mini-mansions for guests. He saw a few other palaces as well, including that of the Republican Guards. At one of the palaces Nate worked on his golf swing on the palace driving range.

En route to one of his destinations they drove past a palace commissioned by Sadam to commemorate his "victory" over American forces in the first Gulf War. The palace was still under construction at the commencement of the second war (which legally was still the first and only war, Iraq having violated the terms of the "first" war's cease fire). The site has a heavily bombed palace surrounded by rusting cranes and other construction equipment.

Nate was also impressed by the Hands of Victory monument, the Iraqi memorial to their unknown soldiers, and other things.

He had, it sounds like, the best time of his tour so far. He said it was like a vacation from work and hopes he will be able to go back again in 10 or 15 years as an un-uniformed tourist with some more freedom to wander at will.

Sadly, his return to Balad brought news that his mid-tour leave has, again, been pushed back to May. He's feeling a bit down about that, and some other work-related issues that came up. We're hoping some of that works out as this week passes, but we're getting to the point that it's hard to trust leave plans until his boots hit American soil.

Pictures

Here's a couple pictures...

 

Picture of the BN HQ building at the start of sunrise, upon returning to Balad from some travels.

 

A picture of CH King on one of our convoys in an MRAP.

 

~Nate