Home for the Holidays, and beyond

Hello All. This is the final chapter in my deployment to Iraq.

Today you'll find me settled with blue jeans and unshaven x 2 days (after 14 months of shaving every single day, my face was ready to file for a restraining order). To get here though was a long, drawn out process. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. It was certainly longer and colder though. The night we took off, 10 December 2008, we sat out on the flight line waiting for our helicopter for over 4 hours in 40 deg temperatures. The moon was full and beautiful, but the wind was vicious and chilled us down to the core. After that night, we would be able to escape the cold in our tents. The trip home consisted of a day and two nights at BIAP (Baghdad International Airport), then a stomach churning flight to Kuwait on the 12th and 2 more nights there. On the 13th, our dear friend Michelle celebrated her 2nd birthday in theater. As a gift, my roommate for the past 2 weeks, Chris, and I shaved the "rally-stache" (yes, the last 2 weeks - 16 days actually -we grew mustaches. It looked dirty/disgusting, but it was better than not changing our underwear or socks.) and consumed copious amounts of ice cream at the DFAC. Sunday the 14th, at 0400 Iraqi time, started the final stages of the trip home. We packed up our sleeping bags, loaded on a bus, and rolled out to the Air Base to go through customs. Customs coming home from Iraq is probably different from what you are used to. They have x-ray scanners, but they still make you un-pack your entire duffel bag and carry on, then you repack it at another table. At that point it was 1000 AM, and all we had to do is wait in the lock down compound/tent until our flight. Our flight was at 0130 on the 15th. Yeah, 15 hours in a tent with a few hundred other people waiting to get home. They had a coffee shop and a pizza hut stand (10.99 for a 6 piece pizza.... grossly overpriced and they only offered pepperoni, meat lovers or something else with meat). At that point we didn't really care. We were going home. At 2130 we loaded up the buses and headed out to the Airport. We loaded the plane an hour or so before take off and we were on our way home from there.

There wasn't much sleeping on the plane though despite being exhausted from being up for 22 hours already. We stopped every 4-6 hours because of the size of our plane. Stop one was Leipzig, Germany. Two was somewhere in Iceland (which was an absolutely beautiful airport). Then finally at Goosehead, Canada for a quick refueling, then finally on to Hunter Army Airfield/Ft. Stewart, GA. Total time in transit from Kuwait to Georgia, 22 hrs 7 min, disembarking the plane for about an hour at a time in Germany and Iceland only.

We were all a little sore and for the most part, ravaged by lack of sleep. But nothing could knock down the high finally being only a few minutes from being with our families. The anxiety did build as we sat in rushour traffic between HAAF and Stewart. Welcome back to the US, typical sightings, drivers not pulling out of the way of the police escort directing us back to our finally destination. But when we did get there.... Hallelujah.

Dee and I had our re-union on Cottrell Field at Fort Stewart after a brief ceremony. Spent the next day sleeping in, walking around Savannah and having dinner with Chris and Michelle and their family. The following day was the 10 hour drive home.

Home at last. We are here. Together. Comfortable clothes, good home made food and the Christmas decorations finally up around the house. Yeah there is a small explosion of Army issue equipment in the 2nd bedroom, but that can be ignored for a while, and it will be. For now, it's all about enjoying the time with Dee, and celebrating Christmas once again with comfort and joy.
Thank you all for the support you have given Dee and me throughout this deployment. You all played a role in getting me home in sound mind and body.

This is the final chapter and end of this Blog. Thanks for following along.

With that I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a long, healthy life surrounded by those you love.