12/25/2004 04:37:00 PM|W|P|Bradley Jones|W|P|The first portion of this post is going to be in German as I promised my German friends and family a german post.
Ich wuensche euch alle eine Frohe Weihnachten und denke an euch alle und erinnere alle die schoene zeiten den wir zusammen hatten. Trotzdem dass ich in Irak bin ich weiss dass ihr an mich denkt und hoffe dass ihr wisst dass ich auch an euch denken. Ich bin froh entweder ein freund oder ein teil euer Familie zu sein. Entweder habt ihr mich etwas gelehrt oder irgendwie mein leben beeinfluesst und anders will ich es nicht haben. Ich denke oft wie schoen es wird wenn ich wieder in Deutschland bin und euch besuchen kann. Nur noch ein paar monaten bis ich wieder in meine zweite Heimat sein werde.
Es ist zur zeit ein bisschen beschaeftigt mit einpacken und vorbereiten wieder nach Deutschland zu ziehen. Es ist komisch dass es schon fast ein Jahr gewesen ist seit ich nach Irak gekommen bin. Inzwischen ist meiner Mutter verlobt geworden, meiner Schwester ist umgezogen nach San Antonio an der Uni zu studieren, mein Brueder hat sein Diplom von der Art Institute of Houston bekommen (mit Honors), mein Vater hat sich in seiner Freundin verliebt, und die Liste geht weiter. Da passiert viel dass ich haette gern sehen aber ich hoffe meines Jahres in Irak ehrlich einen eindruck (a difference) fuer die Irakische leute macht. Ich weiss viele leute diesen Krieg nicht unterstutzen aber ich hoffe nach alles fertig ist dass wir richtig waren und wir haben die Irakische Volk freiheit gegeben. Ich hoffe auch dass ich meine erfahrungen mit euch teilen kann und euer fragen antworten kann. Ich vermisse euch alle und hoffe dass ihr eine schoene ferien haben. Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes rutsch in das neujahr!!
Euer Brad
I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. It has been getting a little more hectic with packing and preparing to move back to Germany but is a little exciting at the same time. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family in germany and then coming back to the states to see my friends and family there. I appreciate all of your support and thoughts during this past year. It has meant a lot. A lot has happened in the past year that I wish I could have been a part of but hope that my year in Iraq has not been in vain. I really hope to look back and be able to say that it was the right decision. I know the war isn't that popular but the support for the troops has been great. It makes all of us proud to know that the people support us. I have recieved numerous packages and letters from people all over telling me how proud they are of us. It means a lot to know that people who don't even know me are taking time from their lives to show us some support. Thanks, to all of you.
We are looking forward to a good meal tonight. The weather is pretty cool still and unfortunately has been quite rainy most of the day. Eventhough we are in Iraq most of us have had a pretty good attitude about Christmas. Well, I hate to cut this short but everyone is waiting on me to go to chow. We are going as a whole platoon. My Army family if you will. I miss you all and wish you all a happy holidays. Know that we are doing well and are looking forward to coming home. Love you all, Brad
|W|P|110398394431512702|W|P|Merry Christmas Frohe Weihnachten|W|P|calvin3ztt@gmail.com12/27/2004 05:34:00 PM|W|P| |W|P|Hi Son,
Always so good to see a new blog - and you sound like all is well there with you and your military family. Good to hear spirits are high, even though so far away from home.
It was good to talk to you Christmas eve and made it seem that we weren't so far apart. Next year will be so different for us with you home and I am already looking forward to that.
Guess you heard you missed the first ever recorded white Christmas in Houston - it was fabulous. Perfect timing as the snow started falling about 9 p.m. Christmas eve and came down until about 1 a.m. leaving everything so crisp, clean and white. Amazing sight.
Counting the days until you will be home, as always.
Love you much,
Mom1/01/2005 02:04:00 PM|W|P| brandy rebekah|W|P|I'm so glad to hear you're okay. I miss you so much, we haven't been able to hang out since you joined the army and I can't wait till you come back to the states, we have SO much to catch up on. Please keep safe and hope to hear from you soon.
Brandy12/11/2004 02:23:00 PM|W|P|Bradley Jones|W|P|Sorry for not posting in a while, as usual I do have an excuse. Since the day before Thanksgiving until recently, our computer has been freaking out and the internet access has been next to nonexistant. On the brighter side of things, Thanksgiving was actually pretty decent here. They had a pretty wide variety of food for us. Almost the whole platoon went to eat together which was nice. Things have been getting pretty hectic around here. Some people are about to leave while others have already left. We are starting preparations to get ready to leave as well. I have signed the contract paperwork for the civilian company and will be sending it back to them within the week. So, I am now an at will employee of a civilian company. All that is left is for the paperwork to go through and to pass one test. I am getting really excited and can't wait to get back to the states. Work is the same as usual. Although I was able to help the unit here on the ground by doing some translating for them. A couple of wounded guys came in and I helped the medics evaluate and treat them. That was a nice change of pace and I enjoyed doing it. It wasn't easy but I managed. Another time they asked me to translate for another unit. They wanted some information about the work some guys were doing on the installation here. Well, I was talking to one guy and he kept telling me that his boss was also on the FOB and that he had a phone and had the answers I needed. This was all in arabic. Well, they go get his boss, I start talking to his boss in arabic and he is looking at me like I'm speaking chinese. So, I stop and he says to me in broken english, "Turkish, Kurdish, no english, no arabic." Great this guy is Turkish not Arabic. So now what do I do. The infantry bubba's that I'm translating for look at me as if I'm supposed to know those languages too. I finally get from the turkish guy that there is someone at his office that speaks english. Well, turns out that guy is at lunch and won't be back for 45 minutes. Finally, I have an epiphany, someone that works with this guy has to speak Arabic and one of either Turkish or Kurdish. Sure enough there was and after racking my brains for 30-45 minutes of pseudo conversation I get all the information we need. As we are finishing up, the phone rings and the english speaking person is on the phone. Oh well, I needed the practice.
Soon I will be mailing stuff home as my unit has decided it has to be done by the 15th of this month. Thanks for the notice guys! Other than that nothing much is going on. I will continue to try and keep you guys posted on how things are going and when I will be returning. Talk to you all later.
BCJ
P.S. Ich werde in ein paar tagen einen eintrag ganz auf Deutsch posten fuer alle meine Deutsche freunde and familie. Ich vermisse euch alle. Ganz viele gruesse aus Irak.
|W|P|110276541893455454|W|P|Thanksgiving and the Job|W|P|calvin3ztt@gmail.com12/11/2004 07:28:00 PM|W|P| |W|P|Hey Jonsey,
I'm glad there is an end in sight. I was so happy you called the other day. It is always nice to hear from people unexpectedly. It sounds like everyone is doing well and has made it through ok. I'll be thinking about you all around the holidays and look forward to hearing all your cool stories (I know you have some). Take care of yourself and happy holidays!
Jess12/12/2004 03:45:00 PM|W|P| |W|P|Hi Brad.
Du bist ja schon fast so schlecht wie ich mit deinen "Briefen". Ich komme auch zu gar nichts mehr und meine Freunde hören nur noch selten etwas Neues, aber das hast du ja sicherlich schon gemerkt, denn du stehst schliesslich auch auf meiner Rundbriefliste.
Schön, von dir zu hören. Ich bin gespannt auf deinen deutschen Brief... Ob du da nicht zu viel versprochen hast?!
Also, alles Gute für die letzte Zeit im Irak, viel Glück und eine gute Heimreise. Hoffentlich kannst du bald in Amerika ein normales Leben beginnen.
Bis bald mal wieder,
deine Ulrike12/13/2004 07:09:00 PM|W|P| |W|P|Hi Son,
It sure sounds hectic there right now. I know there is a lot going on if there are guys leaving and new ones arriving. Can't wait until you are one of the ones leaving and we actually have a date to put on our calendar. I'm doing all I can to help with the job paperwork here but keep hitting brick walls. I know how great it must feel to know you have a job waiting for you when you do get home and how anxious you are to get home and get your civilian life started.
You Christmas box will no doubt be late with the added mail this time of year. Sorry about that - but it is on it's way.
All my love,
Mom
|W|P|Hi Son,
brandy rebekah|W|P|I'm so glad to hear you're okay. I miss you so much, we haven't been able to hang out since you joined the army and I can't wait till you come back to the states, we have SO much to catch up on. Please keep safe and hope to hear from you soon.