An Iraq Tale Vol 20: (Farewell Baghdad)

Jessica and the Green Machine

Funny the name. Same as my daughter.
Well I sure it will take some time to adjust to a very different kind of life for you and I will miss reading the stories about life from Iraq, but I sure would rather read about life at home and you getting back to daily life once again. That sounds much better to me.

Thanks for some awesome learning and some great support for our country Rob.

Although I will miss your perspective on Iraq, hearing how you adjust to your life at home will be just as interesting. We take so much of our life for granted and you have brought me up short on that. My troubles seem so trivial compared to what you have seen. Thanks for sharing and please continue to write when you can.

So many people look at being deployed as a bad thing when in truth it is like everything in life. It is what you make it, you can make it suck or you can take it head on and do your best to enjoy the opportunity presented to you at that moment.

and, you use it to become a better man.

Yours has been a voice that has made Newsvine a better place.

I'm glad you are home. Hope you haven't been flooded out.

God Bless you and your family young man.

I agree with everything that has been said....so I won't bore you with a repeat. Rob, I will read and enjoy anything you write. So please don't be a stranger.....

Thanks for all you have done.

I'm glad you're back with your family and I'm looking forward to your future articles, seeds and comments.

Thank you ...wish I could meet more Americans like you. Unfortunately i don't.

Good job, Rob.

I'm a current soldier of 24yrs (CW3)......And this soldier said it best for all soldiers. I've been deployed countless of times during my career. And this soldier just summed up all of my thoughts I've ever had while being deployed. I take my hat off to this soldier for expressing truth feelings that most of us just keep to ourselves.......only fearing that know one would understand. Hooah to you soldier! And thanks for all you do.

Rob,

I have been reading your articles for a few months now and just want to say thanks. They give me some kind of in-site on what life is like over there. I deploy May 2009. This will be my first time going over to the "sandbox." To tell the truth, I am looking forward to it. My fiance, not so much. I get married less than a month before I leave and she wants a honeymoon baby. If she does get pregnant, I would have to miss the birth of my first child, its going to be hard but I feel I can do it. Again, thank you for your stories.

PFC G

PFC G,

I have some season folks deploying in May 2009 also. Are you coming out of Georgia?

Chief

But mostly, I miss the feeling of being part of something bigger than me. I miss the feeling of having a purpose, of doing something I believed in my heart to be good.

Rob, I'm sure your wife and kids would say that this feeling will hopefully continue at home. I bet that being a part of your family and raising your kids will be just as rewarding and challenging as your time in Iraq.

Thanks for sharing your Iraq Tales with us. I found Newsvine late into your deployment, but have enjoyed your stories immensely.

"I miss the feeling of having a purpose, of doing something I believed in my heart to be good." It's interesting you wrote this...you are a dad and a husband, you have a purpose and do something good every minute of every day. Don't ever forget that. What you did in Iraq is amazing to so many people but what you do for your wife and kids, well that's simply miraculous. Have a wonderful father's day.

For me my time in Iraq was not some horrible thing I wish to erase from my memory. It was a time I made some very good friends as well as spent a lot of time learning about myself. Times where tough, but not always bad. So many people look at being deployed as a bad thing when in truth it is like everything in life. It is what you make it, you can make it suck or you can take it head on and do your best to enjoy the opportunity presented to you at that moment."

I am humbled by people like you. Words cannot express it. Best of luck in your adjustment to the new phase of your life. Hope to hear from you again soon.

Hi Rob,

It was good to read your "closure" blog. What ever happened to Flat Stanley? Was he glad to get home? He's probably off on another journey by now. That seems to be his purpose in life.

You remind me of my son, perfect of course......actually, I'm talking about trying to make the best of whatever situation you are in, & doing the best job you can in that situation. Bless you Rob, & go back to living your "normal" life. I'm happy for you, thanks for everything, & I wish the best for you, whatever you do, for the rest of your life. You don't have to become a Pulitzer prize-winning author to make all of us happy.

Thanks again "for your service!"

Sylvia Spear

I got home from Baghdad last Dec in time for Christmas. I too miss the mission that i was doing in Baghdad as a National Police Team Chief. The memories that i have of the Iraqi's that i worked with will last till the day i die. I worked the western side of Baghdad in Khadra and through the highs and lows of our mission, i will always have fond memories of my year in Iraq and miss the friendship of my interpreters and National Police counterparts.

I am 50 years old. Much of your writing reminds me of my days in the military. Some fond memories: Some not. The point of this is to say that, as the years go by your memories will be embellished by those same passing years. We must remember that you fellows did much good over there, there was much good. Nevertheless, our country was shamed internationally and will be thought of in diminished ways for years to come. This is no small consequence. And I say this as a Republican who voted for Bush twice. What we did by overstaying our welcome was wrong. And one day, even when you are old and gray, you need to be able to make this distinction: That what you did as serviceman was good and honorable, while at the same time, what we did as a country was autocratic and... wrong.

I am glad that you could enjoy your stay in Iraq but think about this and I understand that you miss your family to but what about the alone time that mom needs to keep her self sane that she can take care of the kids and the relief that dad gives her. I don' t think it is fair at all I think that if someone misses that hell hole that they need help and that is my opinion. I understand the part of feeling like you have a purpose but my friend as a word of advice God placed everyone here on earth for a purpose and to do his work and to spread his word not just to fight for this country. To raise up their children in the way they should go and be a good mother or father and set examples for them that is your purpose and what you feel may not be it is what is God's will for you and yes maybe it took Iraq to fix your inner self cause it does many but for me it has just made me be thankful just for my family and to thank God for my husband and my children and the love that we all share and being able to have him as a light to lead the way and his word to be the guide along with the holy spirit because we live in a world that is so focused on material things it is unreal and then when life really comes and gives you a taste we can't handle the pressure so I am glad to go through it to help pull others through but I sure do miss my husband like crazy.........

Just reading your column sends chills up and down my spine I was there for OIF 2 my base camp was FOB Normandy and fallujah of nov 04. I was at the green zone for a few days before I was medevaced to Landstuhl and the med hold area in kaiserslautern Germany. But anyways I am glad to see you made it back in one peace. Good luck on future deployments. 

OIF veterean "DOC Thompson"

I find our articles very interesting. I am sitting here in Iraq now on my second deployment. Your words of how you feel remind me of how I felt last time I got back. They remind me of how I will feel once again when I get back. I had forgot those and how I know I will feel. Life here is tough. You have to make the most of your time here. It's so difficult to release it once you get home. Here you are in the mist of an amazing operation and once back home you feel as if you lose some of that (if not all of it). Running missions everyday is exciting and at times a huge adrenaline rush. But it will end and that is the difficult part, how to re-adjust to your 'normal' life. Good luck to all....