The Most Glorious Hack
08-12-2005, 10:37
Much earlier this year (Januaryish) a friend of mine re-enlisted in the military. He had served many years ago, and had no obligations to the US Army when he went back -- he just felt it was something he needed to do.
At any rate, he sends e-mails every now and then. I asked his permission to reprint this, and he's given me his blessing. Names and such will be edited out for OPSEC reasons. I present this with no comment, I think he says all that needs to be said. Both sides -- pro and anti war -- should hear what the soliders fighting and dying have to say from time to time. It gives a perspective that is impossible to get anywhere else.
Final note: Towards the end he makes a reference to temperature. He's not talking Celcius there. The temp he gives in Celcius is 1.67 degrees.
Subject: You Too can lose over 35 lbs on the Tall'afar Diet. Hurry and sign up Today.
Date: Dec 5, 2005 5:00 PM
My Dear Friends,
I hope that my letter finds all of you doing well and enjoin this Christmas Season. For those of you who know me well, you know what a Christmas Junkie I am. Out here however, you cannot get much of that Christmas Holiday feel, at least not the secular kind. No matter where you are at, or what situation you are in, the true meaning of Christmas can always be attained, observed and celebrated. What I am talking about is the Holiday aspect of Christmas that I am going to miss. The lights on Michigan Avenue, the TV specials, the German village on daily plaza, the snow and Christmas trees. However, I am doing what I could to get some of that here. I have with me about 30 CDs of Christmas music, and some of my favorite movies on DVD to watch these next few weeks. Such as:
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA
RUDOLF THE RED NOSE REINDEER
RUDOLFS SHINY NEW YEAR
NESTOR THE LONG EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY
THE LITTLEDRUMER BOY
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (The original animation)
FROSTY THE SNOW MAN
FROSTY RETURNS
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (3 versions, two from the 30’s and one from the 50s)
HOLIAY INN
WHITE CHRISTMAS
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (The 1947 original)
A CHRISTMAS STORY
And of course the #1 Christmas movie of all-time “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Yes, I am still a kid at heart when it comes to certain things; Christmas and Halloween are two of them.
Besides that, everything else here is still routine with the consequences of war. In the last five days we have conducted a very intense campaign of raids to capture or destroy insurgents and terrorists. In twenty-four hours we caught approximately 85 of them in one of the worst sections of Tall’afar. I have been conducting operations in this neighborhood with my team for two months now. It is good to see that our work on the ground, going from house to house for hours on end, and talking with people has paid off.
We caught a great many High Value Targets; one of them was considered the #2 High Value Target in that district. His actions in one act alone took the lives of six US Soldiers. Some of whom I knew personally. As great as that felt, the sad fact is, this terrorist is 15 years old. He was also an accomplice in helping to kill a young man, behead him and cut off his hands. Him and another individual then cut open the victims stomach and filed it with explosives and dumped his body in a public traffic circle. When his father went to recover the body of his son, he was killed when the explosives detonated.
There are truly people out here that have no since of remorse, guilt, or the suffering they inflict on others. When we had him in custody, in one of our safe houses in the city, he knew that he was now in for justice. Him, and another man in his 30s, broke down crying and asking for sympathy and mercy. None of us could believe our ears. One of the Iraqi Soldiers grabbed him and asked him “where was your sympathy when the innocent victims were asking for it? At that, they cried harder and louder, obviously they thought that we were going to treat them like they treated their victims. No such luck.
They have to go through court proceedings and have the law meet out justice to them. Deep within me I just wanted to take them both and slice their throats right there and then, and I played that scenario in my mind many times. I am sure many others did as well. I am glad I had the opportunity to see these two cowards break down and act like little frightened girls, because that is all that they and the other terrorist are. Cowards who have to act on unsuspecting people by ambushing them in groups of 5 or 6.
There is a big difference between just killing people, and taking a stance within the Belly of the Beast. I am now working with two 19-year-old boys as my new team. Neither one of them have any hesitations of following me into neighborhoods to walk into houses knowing that any given house is a terrorist stronghold. At any given moment we are outnumbered 100 to 1, but they go on with no hesitation. Since they have been with me, now for over a month, they have experienced being shot at, car bombs, roadside bombs, Rocket attacks, Mortar attacks, hostile mobs and many other factors out in the city that could make you a KIA statistic. But no fear in their actions or on their faces is ever displayed. The combined age of these two young men does not even equal mine, (but I am still better looking than them). [Removed for OPSEC reasons] They may be young and inexperienced for now, but they are all Warrior!!
These two young men, unlike that 15-year-old and thirty year old coward, have real strength of character, conviction and courage. I have asked a lot from them, much more than their families or friends would appreciate it or agree with, but that is the nature of our job and of our own volitional decision to be working in this city. If you are praying people, please pray for them, even as you pray for me. Their names are [removed] and [removed].
I am now back on base, hopefully for about three or four days before we have to go back out again. We are in for a very busy week after out break and a very dangerous one. We are conducting operations to get the city ready (meaning safe) for the upcoming December 15th elections, the big ones that will determine the future of Iraq. This is the time when the terrorists and insurgents will undoubtedly do all they can to disrupt and terrorize the people and coerce them from voting. It is our job to make sure that the do turn out to vote. We have been working with a lot of media lately, Time, CNN and a few others. They are hoping that they will be there to see the death and destruction of Suicide bombers and car bombs that we know the bad guys will use to keep people from voting. One of the journalists was honest enough to tell me; that is what sells their particular media in reporting on events for Iraq. I promised him that I would not divulge his company, but I know all news networks work like that. Thus why we have so many up here at this time, they know Tall’afar is infamous for such violence and they are hoping to capture it on film. Be watching, I’ll try and wave to all of you.
One great point, I am glad to see the bears win 8 straight in a row and be in first place with a record of 9 & 3. This will help to offset the “Chicago Tragedy of 2005” with the White Sox. Go Bears and Go Cubs.
Although there is a lot of stress on my team and I at this moment due to lack of sleep, no time to eat, extreme temperature changes, constant fatigue and son, there is a good outcome. I came to Iraq weighing 215 pounds. The result of eating out every night while at Ft. Bragg for a month. That was the heaviest I had ever been. Today I weighed myself, about a few hours ago, I am 177 pounds. That is a loss of 38 pounds.
Of course it was not intended to come off in this way, but I can live with it. I am now at a weight that I have not been since 1988. Unfortunately, it was not all fat; there is a great amount of muscle loss as well. But hopefully in the spring, when things calm down a bit, or at least the should, I can concentrate on putting some muscle back on. Till then I will see if I can get a contract with SUBWAY to due weight loss commercials.
I have sent Christmas cards out to all of you, but I cannot guarantee that they will arrive in time. Even though I sent them with 25 days to make it there. Please excuse the poor or sloppy writing. I wrote these cards while I was out in the city in a safe house, at night, in 35-degree weather.
Wishing all of you the best, stay safe, enjoy the season and I will try and write to all of you personally if I remain back on the base long enough.
Your are all always in my prayers
With Love[,
Removed]
At any rate, he sends e-mails every now and then. I asked his permission to reprint this, and he's given me his blessing. Names and such will be edited out for OPSEC reasons. I present this with no comment, I think he says all that needs to be said. Both sides -- pro and anti war -- should hear what the soliders fighting and dying have to say from time to time. It gives a perspective that is impossible to get anywhere else.
Final note: Towards the end he makes a reference to temperature. He's not talking Celcius there. The temp he gives in Celcius is 1.67 degrees.
Subject: You Too can lose over 35 lbs on the Tall'afar Diet. Hurry and sign up Today.
Date: Dec 5, 2005 5:00 PM
My Dear Friends,
I hope that my letter finds all of you doing well and enjoin this Christmas Season. For those of you who know me well, you know what a Christmas Junkie I am. Out here however, you cannot get much of that Christmas Holiday feel, at least not the secular kind. No matter where you are at, or what situation you are in, the true meaning of Christmas can always be attained, observed and celebrated. What I am talking about is the Holiday aspect of Christmas that I am going to miss. The lights on Michigan Avenue, the TV specials, the German village on daily plaza, the snow and Christmas trees. However, I am doing what I could to get some of that here. I have with me about 30 CDs of Christmas music, and some of my favorite movies on DVD to watch these next few weeks. Such as:
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA
RUDOLF THE RED NOSE REINDEER
RUDOLFS SHINY NEW YEAR
NESTOR THE LONG EARED CHRISTMAS DONKEY
THE LITTLEDRUMER BOY
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (The original animation)
FROSTY THE SNOW MAN
FROSTY RETURNS
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (3 versions, two from the 30’s and one from the 50s)
HOLIAY INN
WHITE CHRISTMAS
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (The 1947 original)
A CHRISTMAS STORY
And of course the #1 Christmas movie of all-time “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Yes, I am still a kid at heart when it comes to certain things; Christmas and Halloween are two of them.
Besides that, everything else here is still routine with the consequences of war. In the last five days we have conducted a very intense campaign of raids to capture or destroy insurgents and terrorists. In twenty-four hours we caught approximately 85 of them in one of the worst sections of Tall’afar. I have been conducting operations in this neighborhood with my team for two months now. It is good to see that our work on the ground, going from house to house for hours on end, and talking with people has paid off.
We caught a great many High Value Targets; one of them was considered the #2 High Value Target in that district. His actions in one act alone took the lives of six US Soldiers. Some of whom I knew personally. As great as that felt, the sad fact is, this terrorist is 15 years old. He was also an accomplice in helping to kill a young man, behead him and cut off his hands. Him and another individual then cut open the victims stomach and filed it with explosives and dumped his body in a public traffic circle. When his father went to recover the body of his son, he was killed when the explosives detonated.
There are truly people out here that have no since of remorse, guilt, or the suffering they inflict on others. When we had him in custody, in one of our safe houses in the city, he knew that he was now in for justice. Him, and another man in his 30s, broke down crying and asking for sympathy and mercy. None of us could believe our ears. One of the Iraqi Soldiers grabbed him and asked him “where was your sympathy when the innocent victims were asking for it? At that, they cried harder and louder, obviously they thought that we were going to treat them like they treated their victims. No such luck.
They have to go through court proceedings and have the law meet out justice to them. Deep within me I just wanted to take them both and slice their throats right there and then, and I played that scenario in my mind many times. I am sure many others did as well. I am glad I had the opportunity to see these two cowards break down and act like little frightened girls, because that is all that they and the other terrorist are. Cowards who have to act on unsuspecting people by ambushing them in groups of 5 or 6.
There is a big difference between just killing people, and taking a stance within the Belly of the Beast. I am now working with two 19-year-old boys as my new team. Neither one of them have any hesitations of following me into neighborhoods to walk into houses knowing that any given house is a terrorist stronghold. At any given moment we are outnumbered 100 to 1, but they go on with no hesitation. Since they have been with me, now for over a month, they have experienced being shot at, car bombs, roadside bombs, Rocket attacks, Mortar attacks, hostile mobs and many other factors out in the city that could make you a KIA statistic. But no fear in their actions or on their faces is ever displayed. The combined age of these two young men does not even equal mine, (but I am still better looking than them). [Removed for OPSEC reasons] They may be young and inexperienced for now, but they are all Warrior!!
These two young men, unlike that 15-year-old and thirty year old coward, have real strength of character, conviction and courage. I have asked a lot from them, much more than their families or friends would appreciate it or agree with, but that is the nature of our job and of our own volitional decision to be working in this city. If you are praying people, please pray for them, even as you pray for me. Their names are [removed] and [removed].
I am now back on base, hopefully for about three or four days before we have to go back out again. We are in for a very busy week after out break and a very dangerous one. We are conducting operations to get the city ready (meaning safe) for the upcoming December 15th elections, the big ones that will determine the future of Iraq. This is the time when the terrorists and insurgents will undoubtedly do all they can to disrupt and terrorize the people and coerce them from voting. It is our job to make sure that the do turn out to vote. We have been working with a lot of media lately, Time, CNN and a few others. They are hoping that they will be there to see the death and destruction of Suicide bombers and car bombs that we know the bad guys will use to keep people from voting. One of the journalists was honest enough to tell me; that is what sells their particular media in reporting on events for Iraq. I promised him that I would not divulge his company, but I know all news networks work like that. Thus why we have so many up here at this time, they know Tall’afar is infamous for such violence and they are hoping to capture it on film. Be watching, I’ll try and wave to all of you.
One great point, I am glad to see the bears win 8 straight in a row and be in first place with a record of 9 & 3. This will help to offset the “Chicago Tragedy of 2005” with the White Sox. Go Bears and Go Cubs.
Although there is a lot of stress on my team and I at this moment due to lack of sleep, no time to eat, extreme temperature changes, constant fatigue and son, there is a good outcome. I came to Iraq weighing 215 pounds. The result of eating out every night while at Ft. Bragg for a month. That was the heaviest I had ever been. Today I weighed myself, about a few hours ago, I am 177 pounds. That is a loss of 38 pounds.
Of course it was not intended to come off in this way, but I can live with it. I am now at a weight that I have not been since 1988. Unfortunately, it was not all fat; there is a great amount of muscle loss as well. But hopefully in the spring, when things calm down a bit, or at least the should, I can concentrate on putting some muscle back on. Till then I will see if I can get a contract with SUBWAY to due weight loss commercials.
I have sent Christmas cards out to all of you, but I cannot guarantee that they will arrive in time. Even though I sent them with 25 days to make it there. Please excuse the poor or sloppy writing. I wrote these cards while I was out in the city in a safe house, at night, in 35-degree weather.
Wishing all of you the best, stay safe, enjoy the season and I will try and write to all of you personally if I remain back on the base long enough.
Your are all always in my prayers
With Love[,
Removed]