An Iraq Tale Vol 16: (A Day Without Internet)

For all that you guys and girls do, your internet should be FREE, paid for by the same companies which were illegally spying on Americans internet and phone usage !!!

looking for a good friend if someone could respond please I'd really apprriciate it. He's 3rd patallion D.W Smith. Marine. You can also contact me on myspace under DiverseAngel. Thank you!

Would have been nice to have had the internet in Nam. Was lucky to get 1 hot a day. Guess times are a changing. It's time to bring the troops home. It's another political war. Things don't ever change for the military. I support the troops, but give them a break, let them fight like they're trained for or get us out. Nuff said, 1stSgt USMC Retired.

i'am looking for senior sgt Elton B.Hudson.....was deployed on may 9 2008...anybody knows him tell him he is being miss dearly

My husband (USMC) was part of the initial invasion 5 years ago. When he was over there, we had pretty much no communication.. I remember some letters (few and far between) telling me they haven't had a shower for days.. I'm glad conditions are better there now. Thankyou for everything you do!

My husband (USMC) was part of the initial invasion 5 years ago. When he was over there, we had pretty much no communication.. I remember some letters (few and far between) telling me they haven't had a shower for days.. I'm glad conditions are better there now. Thankyou for everything you do!

I wish the military would offer soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan free internet, but I am glad that you can stay in pretty close contact with your friends and family. I have been reading a lot about the stress of longer tours, and I think that anything that could help to mitigate the stress and make life easier for our soldiers is a good thing. All of you remain in our prayers here at home.

yeah, it sucks when the 'net would go down. but then we learned that commo blackouts occurred because someone on the FOB had been killed, and his next-of-kin needed to be notified officially, not by e-mail gossip. after that, whenever it was down, we knew someone was in more hurt than just losing out on internet service. be thankful for what you can get, when you can get it.

yeah, it sucks when the net would go down. but then we learned that commo blackouts happened when someone on the FOB had been killed, and they needed to notify the next-of-kin officially, not by some e-mail gossip. after that, whenever the net was down we knew someone was having more hurt than just losing the connection. we were thankful for what we got, when we got it.

you know I am shocked that the internet isnt better for those in Iraq... I try to get to my friends there every day... if nothing more to let them know someone back here is thinking about all they are giving up to save my life....and way of living here in the United States... I think that that the US should be able to figure a better way for these proud people to stay in touch with the family better through better internet services.

In Vietnam, we had nothing but time. I talked to my family 1 time in over a year in Vietnam. Ralph Moerschbacher, Captain, USAF Retired Vietnam Veteran

Hey the internet is the same here where I am...$65.00 and slooooooooooow. I don't pay for it. Not paying for it has actually helped me better myself by releasing myself from the internet. I now realize how much time I wasted on it. Only reason to get on now is to email my wife back home. No chats or anything. Just simple emails.

It amazes me the amount of time that people waste on the internet!

In regards to the "in a muslim country..." thing about porn: I was at MWR talking to my wife on the phone the other day, looked over, and some LN linguist was on a website titled, "Babylon Hotties..." So yeah, they look at porn too.

I'm the proud father of my sons who are both currently serving,Nick is in Iraq and Brent is aboard the carrier George Washinton.
I agree that we are fortunate to have internet service to communicate with our kids ,but like so many they are paying for a service that is absolutely horrible. We cannot have a conversation without the internet dropping us,I think we could do better for our paying service members.

Hey I just wanted to make a comment and say thank you first off for what you do but then my second question is why do you do it. My name is Andrea and my husband is over there in Iraq right now to or actually stationed in AJ in Kuwait but convoys over there. I know the feeling of not having the internet because being a military wife and not hearing from your husband is a hard thing. I thought that this whole deployment thing was going to be easy because of other things that have happened over the past year making things so difficult as in my house burning down, loss of job, financial debt due to pay not being correct from military and having to leave off of credit cards, new baby, a six year old that when his dad leaves he gets diagnosed with add, adhd, odd, and bipolar disorder, and then post partum depression, and problems after delivery just from stress and the whole military life. All I can say is that I sit here everyday and wonder what life feels like for you that are over there because I know that deep down in the bottom of my heart how I feel each and everyday that goes by. Since my husband has been gone it has seemed like everything has starting falling apart one thing after another and up until I married him I was a single mom raising a 6 year old by myself and was perfectly well health wise and all and so was my son and then life in the military was great at first until July 23,2008 arrived we were suppose to be going to Europe and last minute our orders were changed and he was being deployed to Iraq. That was one of the most heartbreaking things that he had ever told me considering that our baby girl was going to arrive any day now and knowing that he wasn't going to be here to watch her grow up even hurts worse. I feel so sorry for all of you that are there and don't get a chance to see what it is like to be able to go through all of the stages in your childrens lives and how much all of you miss out on. I think about it everyday and I am thankful to be able to see my kids everyday and not just hear them over the phone but in the same manner being without the love of my life and no support from my current military base, family that is even against my husband and his family trying to tear us apart and everything all together has made me just pretty much shut all life out except the people I have to deal with. I guess you can say that right now you are not alone that my life in the United States I feel like I am married to a computer and all I can do is wait by the phone. I can't even get motivated and start my day. I know there are others out there that have it really bad to and I really have compassion for them as well and to all of the wifes of the military soldiers that are going through what I am right now. I will begin to say that I am a strong woman and have always been Miss Independent and out on my own since I was 16 years old and worked full time and raised my son for six years along with an ex abusive husband and still through all of that it has not taken the toll on life that this deployment has. When you really care about someone and you are over there and they are over here I don't see how anyone can begin to even function on a daily basis especially when you are so involved with the person emotionally. I have tried the meetings on base, family readiness, and so on and so forth and nothing can help. At first it was the baby girl having colic and gerd then her brother trying to hurt her for no reason like 6 times and admitting that he wanted to, now that part has gotten a little better now that he is seeing a psyciatrist and gets thearpy three days a week and is on medication but still not manageable. Somedays I just cry because of the fact that I am so surrounded by negative people I had to move back in with my mom and dad who tried to get me to live my husband and for part of the reason my son has issues along with step dad not being here. Now I have been facing the fact that he is not wanting to eat or drink anything and he hasn't been taking his medicine at school and he started having withdrawls from all of this. He told the doctor that he was really depressed and that the fact that his real father is never there for him and shows more interest in everyday life and then the only one who he did look up to is now gone he is heartbroken. He told them that he wanted his dad back at home so he could be a normal kid and live a normal life and as long as his step father was in the service he would never have that and that he wanted him back at home and at first he thought it would be cool for him to go over there but now that he has been gone for 4 months he is lost without him. He cried for 2 days straight until his little eyes were swollen from his father being gone and everyday as a mother I have to face this and answer questions that are sometimes even hard for me. He is so smart for a 6year old and doesn't even act like a child he acts like a adult when he is talking and carries on conversation like you have never seen. I guess the point that I am trying to get at today is that we as Americans are not free first off if we were then the soldiers that enlisted in the military would have options of where they want to go because trust me there are those that don't want to be in the war zone and would rather just be state side especially the ones that have families of their own back at home, I have spoken to several. Families is not one of the first things in your life when you are in the service either even though you would like it to be because if the military wanted you to have a wife they would have issued you one when you signed the papers. The way it should be is that you put God first, family second, and your job third in that order and no matter what you will always find yourself through. My husband feels now that since he has been gone that he has failed as a father and as a husband and now that outside living as a civilian is not easy especially when it comes to job security life outside the military is scary for him to think about, so what do you do? I think that since we have the freedom of speech and that is what I am about to give I believe that all soldiers who choose to go let them go but for those that have families and want to stay let them stay and those who decided that the military isn't what they thought it would be let them go with an honorable discharge that is why do many of them are coming back with post traumatic stress disorder and hurting themselves because they never want to be away from there families again and would almost do anything to bring themselves back. I see the positive parts of the military life as in the tricare by which does not cover everything I will tell you that all of us including myself have to have medicaid as a secondary insurance even though we are tricare prime, have to get Wic assistance, just to make it from one paycheck to the next. The other thing would be the bx and commisary because the prices are cheaper and then of course the part of if you are not deployed and are in the right career field you get all of that leave time and then a regular schedule that you get off of work everyday and knowing that for the next 4 years of your life you will have a job, but sit and think now what the downfall is family separation, mental stress physically, mentally, and emotionally in every way, being deployed to places like Iraq that is never going to be rebuilt and never going to change no matter what the president does we are going under, even though I still think some military should be there but only the ones that want to subject themselves to that atmosphere, and then as for the GI bill well hell if you can find time for school while you are working than that is great but for most they can't especially when they have family and trying to show them attention and make up for time that they are away, and not knowing everyday what is going to happen if you are ever going to see your wife or your kids again who you love so much, which we live the same life as civilians everyday but if you are not a military husband or wife you would wake up each morning and be able to look into each others eyes and say you know what, not matter what life brings I am so happy that I can physically look into your eyes and tell you how much I love you as for when you are deployed and if something happens or goes wrong we have to wait 8 months and sometimes longer unless someone dies you are not coming home if you come home, the part of being able to know that my husband would be here for me which he is through words and I am for him through words and encourage him every step of the way so that he comes back home but that is something that people everyday in life take foregranted and don't know what it is like until they have went through it first hand. Then if you are lucky when you get back home maybe your wife and kids will be stable. I think that there is more harm for your family than help and to those out there that are strong and there families don't fall apart may God Bless You and be with you but I just want to know how you do it how do you go everyday and sometimes 2 weeks and then sometimes a month without talking to your family and stuff that drives me crazy. I want my husband back home and I told him that I would even go to work and help take care of the family if he never left us again and I know for him it wasn't by choice but he is getting the opportunity to get out in Sept of 09 and based on how everything has been he may reenlist or he may not but I know that mentally I could not handle another deployment that I got married to spend everyday of my life with the one that I love, take care of our children together, watch them grow up together, and so on and on you got the drift but for me it would be easier to be a single mom and be motivated to take care of my kids and go to work and finish my school and focus my life on things like I did before and be outgoing and energetic as before than go through this again watch my family go through what they are especially the kids, because I love him and would never do anything to hurt him but the part of him coming into my life walking out then back in and out again is enough to mess you up emotionally and stress you out to the point that you are sick cause that is what physically has happened to me and since I was 32 weeks prego and still now. I guess what i am saying is that I actually want the soldiers to have a chance of life to feel freedom of picking and choosing where you go and knowing that you are here to support your families and just having a little more options and being able to have R and R time would be cool to but my hubby doesn't even get that. So here is my next question HOW DO YOU DO IT????? How can you go fight for your country for the people that would not even waste a breath to talk to you and hates you because I know that I couldn't sacrifice myself and my chance of being with my family while being over there. I feel like I could handle it over there better than my husband could because death is just another phase of life to me for seeing things happen to people since I am in the medical field but for him it gets to him mentally. I am worried for all of us. How do you make it through your days he has to call me just to go to sleep at night and for me I don't sleep anymore but maybe 2 hours a night if that. All of this has given me insomnia really bad. I go 24/7. How can I help him do you have any comments to this? Be Good and Safe and Good luck over there and once again thanks for being stronger than me and taking care of your Country. I support you 100% I just want to know how you make it day to day.

i have just stumbled across this page and i think it's great. my husband is deploying in a few weeks and with being new to the military way of life, this is a great insight. this may sound odd, but what is fob? i am not surrounded by fellow military spouses so i'm on my own! any suggestions on what makes your day by way of communication and care packages?