Leroy on Leave

Leroy is now on leave from Iraq. Kristin and Leroy arrived in Minnesota this morning. We will have supper with them tonight. He doesn't know it yet, but he will be helping fix up the house so we can put it up for sale for our big move to Michigan.

Jeremy Mayfield visits FOB

Jeremy Mayfield taking in target practice.






Leroy and Jeremy Mayfield shaking hands






Leroy's favorite NASCAR driver, Jeremy Mayfield visits the FOB. Jeremy is in the front row on the right side. Leroy is kneeling front and center.

Deployment Day 160

An email from Leroy for the Blog....

Greetings everyone, I hope that everyone is doing
alright...Another day in Iraq.  Temps today are
supposed to reach 110. Lows around 85...I know its
been forever since anyone has heard anything from me
but I am doing ok...don't let anybody fool you
deployments are the toughest thing I have ever had to
do...We have been having power issues so most of the
time we don't have power or AC or anything like that.
They have for the most part got it all taken care of
and fixed.  I work midnight till 6 in the MWR where I
control computer times and phones...so that soldiers
can contact their loved ones.  I have one of the best
jobs on the FOB.  We have times when we can eat,
shower, and basically do everything. They serve 2
meals breakfast, usually cereal muffins poptarts and
occasionally eggs, hashbrowns and sausage...Supper is
usually our breakfast as well sometimes...so it all
depends we have to take combat showers which means
only run water when we have too.  The stalls our
divided by thin rubber matting which offer very little
privacy if any and they are only open for a few hours
every day.  Things are very quiet here not much going
on anyway I work midnight till 6 in the mwr then i
spend 3 hours in the office filing papers and making
sure the "place doesn't fly away"  i also fill out the
daily board with where everybody is and the moves if
any over the night...I burn the sensetive items trash
and call it a day...I go home (by home) I mean head
back to my tent which I share with 15 other guys. The
rumors are that they are going to be getting 4 man
chews but haven't heard anything about that so we wait
and see. I have learned that they should change the
slogan of the army from army strong to wait and see.
I sleep on a cot that has a paper thin mattress on it
2 lockboxes that are full of my stuff. along witha  tv
and ps2 that keeps me entertained.  One of my friends
sent me 5 dvds that have all of Jeremy Mayfields wins
so that keeps me happy.  Plus I have friends go to the
big base and get me movies and anything I need.  I am
excited I will be coming home around May 22nd which
makes me happy.  I can't wait to go home.  I miss
Kristen, and my family.  It seems hard to believe that
the deployment is more than halfway over Rumor has it
that we will be leaving a week after thanksgiving.
Wait and see.  I know mom is going to flip cause of
all the grammatical errors in this: Mom I'm doing my
best a little tired tonight! Love you...talk to you
all later!!!!!!


No, we don't serve cow tippers in the morning....freedom toast is a
possibility.

Deployment Day 73

Leroy has moved to the new camp. Kristin called last week to let us now he moved. Here is his first email to us from the new camp.

looks like mayfield just didn't have any speed yesterday at
all...things are going good brand new patrol base...we have
to pee down long pvc pipes that lead outside the wire...and
for #2? well they burn it when  we're done...sound like fun?
sleeping in a room that is smaller than your  bathroom with
7 guys...no power...and yesterday morning we got hit by a
couple mortars no damage though everything is going great
I love it...I work from 8-4 during hte day and then pull a
6 hour shift over at mwr where i hand out computers and
stuff like that...taking care of phone lines and
internet...it ain't that bad I kinda like it...it's about
300 meters square...hanging out with guys from 3rd ID
they're from fort stewart georgia...they're just finishing
up theyre 15 month deployment...and heading home in the next
couple weeks i will talk toyou latere say hi to everyone
everythings going good

Leroy

Deployment Day 58

It hardly seems that Leroy has now been deployed for 58 days. We received a letter from him on Saturday. The letter is not dated, but was mailed on Feb. 15. I'll include some excerpts from his letter.

"As I went outside the wire last week, I thought Iraq is so much different than the US and I really counted my blessings on the way that I grew up. The first ting you see when you go outside the wire, after going through the 50 checkpoints that is, is this really long freeway, and it looks just like the US with Arabic signs on the freeway. My driver say chuckling, 'anybody wants to learn defensive driving needs to learn to drive over here.' The next thing I know this Mercedes Benz goes flying past us like 110 mph. Of course my driver gives him the appropriate California gesture and chases after him! I think I'm going to die but he pulls up right beside him and smiles and the two of them laugh back and forth. I starting laughing cause I think it's a joke. So I asked the driver if he know him and my driver says nope never seen him before in my life. I thought I am so going to die out here....King (his driver) says we're going out to the Flying Man (its a statue in Baghdad) to pick up some exercise bikes from this guy. So we head out and its like a wild goose chase. We are on the phone with him and he speaks only 4 word of English. King gets so frustrated that he hands the phone to me and says you deal with him I can't deal with him. So I get on the phone with this guy and I am like hello? He goes fadja atou and I'm like what? He repeats himself and all I say the only thing I have learned in Arabic and that is "haya akie" which is how are you. He says in broken English what I assume to mean red 5 minutes. King goes ok so it's a red truck in 5 minutes. He patted me on the back and said nice job I was about to scream on the phone. So we get to this little shop where there are these 50 little kids all hanging out and the people are selling stuff (straight out of Aladdin). The one thing I was told was to stay away from the shops. The one thing I wasn't told was to stay away from the kids. These 5 kids come up to me and they're 'American! American" It was too late they all surrounded me and started saying 'money, money' and I said 'I have no money I really don't unfortunately that is something they don't understand. However they do understand when I grab my M-16 and load it. They scattered pretty fast. King said good job next time just load it right away. ...So we finally find this guy and right away he looks suspicious he has no idea what he is carrying (the people we talk too on the phone hire out other people to go take the goods on the base. We have to escort them in. Anyway this guy has no idea what he's carrying and it's covered in burlap bags. So while King has him search the vehicle (that way he dies if something happens (the Iraqi) and I stand guard. It was fun, scary, exciting and cool all at the same time. We brought him back and everything was fine the whole process took 4 hours. Anyway that's the fun stuff that I get to do when I'm here. I do that probably once or twice a week...nothing dangerous but enough that I have to go full battle rattle and go outside the wire.

That's part of the letter from him. Gives an idea of part of his job.

Deployment Day 29

Leroy called yesterday afternoon - 2:30 p.m. (Saturday) our time; 5:30 a.m. (Sunday) his time.

• He had a day off but needed to report for a meeting at 9:00 a.m. for weapon siting (make sure they shoot straight)
• It is quiet and not much going on
• He is working on awards and casuality reports
• He sent us a letter, but it was returned to him (no zip code)
• The paperwork went through for his promotion to Pvt. First Class
• He is tired, has an ear infection and is taking an antibiotic for it
• Pulled guard duty the other night from 6:00 p.m. to midnight (Time went fast because he had a lot in common with the other guys and they talked the whole time)
• It rains every 4 days and is usually wet and muddy everywhere
• He does have 30 - 40 minutes of PT (physical training) every day except when it rains
• He sprained his ankle when he fell in a mud puddle
• Drove a Hummer (almost took out two stop signs, but passed the driving test
• He was the first one to drive for the test in his group
• The were on high alert last week. Rumor had it that General Petraeus was going to make a visit to the camp. Guess he was a previously a commander at Fort Campbell with the 101st. They needed to be ready for his arrival if he came.
  

Deloyment Day 14

Leroy called today from Baghdad. Linda was home but I was at school doing a walk through with the Board of Trustees. Leroy reports:

• snowed yesterday in Baghdad ("and you know what snow and dirt make!" Leroy)
• received combat patches yesterday in a ceremony out in the snow - has an eagle on both arms
• worked today - did nothing
• tomorrow works from 6 - 4 in the mailroom then has tower duty the next day and then has a day off
• midnight to noon will be his regular hours
• at the new FOB (Forward Operating Base) he will be doing casualty reports
• today was up to 58F.
• has free postage for sending mail
• mail takes 4-5 day to and from Iraq
• from the air it looks like the midwest landscape except for really old ruins and occasional patches of desert
• Suni areas nice because Sadam took care of them
• Shiite areas not so well taken care of
• Suni's are cooperating with us (multi-national force)
• during his downtime he watches movies, goes to the rec. room
• there is no time for PT (Physical Training), but soldiers go on their own to the gym
• he power walks 2 miles to work each day - likes to sleep in
  
• taking pixs on 2 disposable cameras and will send home for Kristen to develop
• stomach ok, but no appetite - never hungry - easts because he know he has to, but getting better
• still feels jet lag - gets sick feeling when playing video games
• bosses taking good care of him
• works with a lot of brass - getting to know his captain - a very relaxed atmosphere in the office
• may get leave in June
• only 6 people working in the office
• on the humorous side a staff sgt. locked another one out of the office, Leroy had one sgt. telling him to let him in and the other telling him to keep the door locked, eventually Leroy let him in
• calling card ran out of time, so this is all for now from Leroy

Kristen update

• spending time with wife of other soldiers
• missing Leroy
• has been attending FRG (Family Resource Group) meetings which has been helpful
• the FRG is headed by the wife of Leroy's captain and Kristen is getting to know her well
• she is thinking of getting a job
• her friend Amanda (wife of another soldier) if moving close to Kristen and Leroy's place

Thank you for continuing to keep Leroy and Kristen in your prayers. Remember you can use the comment area to write messages to Leroy and Kristen, but remember these are public so anyone can read them.