Back from Habbiniyah

Hey everyone. I've got a couple of minutes (actually I don't but I'll make them) to throw up a few pictures for everyone's viewing pleasure. These are some pictures we were able to snap during our op when we got into all those firefights. Unfortunately we don't have any during the fighting because we were all preoccupied combating the insurgents. These will just have to do.



This is the medevac helo leaving after it picked up our two WIAs. They were taking contact as they loaded them on and flew away.

This is the mess that became our boat. Strewn about everywhere were spent ammo casings, ammo cans, water bottles, an MRE here or there, all sorts of gear that had to be tossed back on the boat at the last second. It was a mess. the guy on the left is a Staff Sergeant from another boat that we thought had to be medevaced. He had a round impact nearby and fragment (break apart) and a peice of it hit him underneath his jaw and nearly knocked him cold. Thankfully he was good to go and he manned my extra machine gun. The guy on the right is the other bow gunner. Unfortunately his main gun went down so he was manning his extra machine gun. That left me alone standing in the bow (I got a picture of that somewhere), which is a very lonely feeling in that sort of situation, that I can assure you.
And this is me after we made it back into the base once we extracted. Pretty worn out, happy to back in friendly lines, and trying to relax but not really able to do it. What a day.

Good news. I've finally been able to get some good quality Bible reading in. I've been reading in Ephesians. I just reread the chapter over and over (usually one a day) and let God show the intricate points each verse contains. It's very fulfilling after all this time without anything.

I'd like to thank everyone back home for praying. As my experience that day, actually our whole units experience, can attest to the fact that God is protecting us. No one suffered any permanent damage and everyone came back alive. Many of us probably shouldn't have. If not for God, we wouldn't. If you could thank him in your next prayer, I would greatly appreciate. He deserves the glory.

I love and miss you all. The time soon approaches when I can tell you that face to face. What a wonderful day that will be. Keep praying everyone!