A letter from Dave

We received our first letter from Dave this week. It brought both joy and heartache, and was a true blessing to read. He told us that what is keeping him going is the great love he feels from his wife, his family and God.

Here is a portion of the letter:
"I have seen His hand at work many times already. Even the non-believers have stated that they have experienced a miracle. Indeed, it was a miracle that we took zero casualties when my squad was ambushed."

Dave added more detail about the ambush in a letter to Kelly. His squad was out on patrol. (They go out looking for weapons caches and IEDs.) A ways up the road, four gunmen in two separate houses started firing automatic weapons. At first, due to the distance, it sounded like firecrackers and kicked up dust all around and between the guys.

Dave said he could hear the bullets whizzing past him. Acting on adrenaline, he jumped aside into some barbed wire, and barely felt it at the time. The guy in front of Dave was hit in the chest where his Kevlar vest protected him. The guy behind Dave was grazed in the back of the leg. The lieutenant fell down, which saved his life (don't know exactly how, those are Dave's words).

The Marines began returning fire, but the other guys had an escape route planned, and took off in a truck.

Dave's company has suffered several casualties, but no deaths. Four of those casualties were the result of a suicide bomber.

Dave's closing advice to all of us were to cherish each other, because life is too precious to be taken for granted.

Out on Patrol

While Dave's platoon was out on patrol Friday, they had to stop for supplies, so he had an opportunity to call Kelly. (With the time difference, it was 4:30 a.m. for her.) He said they haven't been able to shower for weeks, and he's pulling chunks of dirt out of his head (not sure what that means?). His back is hurting alot because they have to wear their 60-pound Kevlar vests and other gear all the time, and they're sleeping on wood planks, which means not much sleep.

Dave says the packages he's received have been wonderful, and the motomails and letters lift his spirits tremendously.

Of course, no water for showers also means no water for laundry, so he asked us to send cheap marine-green t-shirts, PT shorts, and white tube socks that he can wear for a while and then throw away.

Once again, Kevin gave me a wise perspective on the situation. He said that if Dave is talking about being smelly and dirty and tired and sore, that probably means he hasn't been having to treat wounds from bullets & bombs. Better to have some personal discomfort to think about than the loss of a wounded Marine that he might have been unable to save.

In addition to having her husband in a war zone, Kelly is having a lot of stress with her new job as a preschool teacher. Please keep her in your prayers also.

BOX 4,000 for 4,000 has arrived at TQ!!!!

This is the special care package (number 4000) that Kathleen and Kelly helped pack for the Adopt-A-Chaplain organization; see the March 22 entry in this blog.

Chaplain McLaughlin is the chaplain who overseas all the other chaplains for the 4000 Marines in western Iraq. Thus the label on the box: "Box 4000 for 4000."

You can read an article about it in the Marine Corps news by going to the link below.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/748F32988B8AC26D852572B50034CE2F?opendocument

Thank you all for your continuing support of our troops!

Quick check-in

Kelly just called from the Phoenix airport. She's on her way from California back to North Carolina, and wanted to let us know that she received a very brief phone call from Dave at 3:00 this morning.

Apparently there's been some alarming news coverage of his Area of Operations, and the troops were given the opportunity to make a 5-minute phone call to assure loved ones that they're OK.

He's in a very remote location, so we don't know the logistics of how the phone calls were arranged. We're just extremely grateful to receive some news! Kelly said there was a lot of noise in the background, probably all the other guys standing in line for their turn to use the phone.

Dave said to please keep sending letters and motomails, because that's what keeps him going. The mail is slow, arrives infrequently in large batches, and is appreciated more than we can imagine.

(He also said he is "stinky and gross," and could we please send t-shirts, underwear, and wet wipes.)