Another 4th in Iraq.

Back when I was here in 2007, I didn’t even care to blog about the 4th. We were so busy doing ground patrols, raids, and watching officers eat with Iraqis while we baked in the sun that I didn’t get the chance to enjoy it, let alone write about it.  In fact, I was probably asleep if I wasn’t on patrol.  It was hot, dirty, and nothing worth celebrating.

Its still hot and dirty.  We are suffering some of the worst dust storms in decades right now.  I am coughing up dirt and choking on dust, but at least I wasn’t waiting to get blown up by an IED this time.  In fact, the day was pretty uneventful.  I was on first-up medevac duty, but my curse/blessing allowed us to sit quietly for the whole duty schedule.

So what actually happened this year?  Well besides the dust, we had a BBQ at our hangar for everyone here, including another medevac unit.  We had a big grill out complete with ribeyes, “pulled pork” and the ubiquitous “Bubba Burger.”  Everyone sat around the break area ingesting meat of questionable quality, talking, and basically enjoying the moment.  We even received our Army Combat Shirts finally.

That was about it.  Except for the break at dinner, it was a normal duty day. All the same things occurred that happen every other day.  However, I think it worth mentioning that there were no fireworks of any kind at any of our FOBs.  That is a great thing. 

The one thing that holidays do though, is bring home exactly how much I miss my family.  It doesn’t matter how good a BBQ you have with your extended “army family” it doesn’t even compare.