David called us Friday morning from Camp Virginia in Kuwait. They arrived there Thursday night somewhere around midnight Kuwait time, which is 11 hours ahead of California. Lights didn't go out until 3:00 a.m., and even though there was no reveille call Friday morning, he was up at 7:00 for chow and a much-appreciated shower.
They had flown from Cherry Point, North Carolina, to Bangor, Maine, where they were met by a group of WWII and Korean War veterans, along with the Freeport Flag Ladies. Check out their web site for pictures: http://freeportflagladies.com
On the left side of the main page, under "Meeting the Troops in Bangor", click on "March." At the bottom of that page are numbers representing pages of pictures. Dave is on pages 4 & 5.
The Freeport Flag Ladies are a group in Freeport, Maine that drive two hours each way to meet & greet the departing & returning troops. The reason there are so many pictures of Marines talking on phones is that these ladies provide the cell phones. The Marines & Sailors can temporarily turn in their ID card in exchange for a few minutes of phone time. In the two pictures of David, he's talking to Kelly. On page 4, he's in the eighth row down. Four guys in the foreground are playing cards, and David is sitting in the background, leaning against the wall. On page 5, he's in the second row down, picture on the right.
After an hour or so in Bangor, they flew to Germany, and from there to Kuwait. About 28 hours of travel, with their only sleep being catnaps on the planes and in airports. They'll be in Kuwait for a day or maybe two, then fly into Iraq on C-130s.
Pre-deployment pics of Kelly & Dave at their apartment in Jacksonville, NC (click on a picture to see a larger version):
3 comments:
I love this site! What a wonderful way for everyone to stay up to date and connected. Together we will send our hero Dave all the love he needs!
I'm with Kelly.
Thanks for doing this Kathleen and Kevin. I'd like to hear from you when you update the site if possible. The link to the "Welcome Home a Hero" video was very touching; I hope everyone checks out that link.
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