Taking cover at Fort Hood

Taking cover at Fort Hood, originally uploaded by The U.S. Army.

This photo is from the Army flickr feed. I hope we have the guts to convict this terrorist.

Air-assault mission in Paktika province

Air-assault mission in Paktika province, originally uploaded by The U.S. Army.

Cool pic from army.mil

Maureen at Al Faw Palace

Maureen at Al Faw Palace, originally uploaded by reenie61b.

This is one of my favorite pics when I was in Iraq.

Opening Day! Originally Published 3 April 2006

I can't believe this snuck up on me this year!! My beloved Red Sox are playing today. If I were home, I would have Joe and Jerry on my radio and not getting much work done. Here's an article that sums up my thoughts.

I can't wait to get home so I can catch a Sox game in person. Last year Dave and I went to Camden Yards for two games to see the Sox because it was so hard to get tickets to Fenway. It must be because I have either been here long enough or am close enough to going home that the hard rain that fell the night before last isn't bothering me. I just throw on the boots and slog through the mud. We have some new girls (very young) in our tent and they are still learning about how to be in Iraq. They took brand new M-16s right out of the boxes and were trying to figure out how to attach the sling. I've never seen a brand spanking new M-16, all black and shiny. Every one I've ever shot has been all hacked up. It's such a riot, they treat me like Yoda, since I am (a lot) older than they are and have done, well, just about everything I've ever wanted to do. They pump me for information about how I did this or that. They are very impatient to be successful and they sound very much like what I must have sounded like when I did the very same thing to some other Yoda-like woman. What I think is the most interesting is that they have no idea that although I have done a lot and they must think I am wicked old and wise, I still feel like I have so much to learn and can't wait to get to it. Anyway, back to Coco Crisp our new lead off guy - you've got to wonder whether he succeeded in baseball because of, or in spite of his "breakfast of champions" name (as Shaughnessy puts it?)

GO RED SOX!!!

Stop the Foolishness

Derry residents deserve better than the pathetic spectacle I witnessed during the last Council meeting. I will admit that I have learned a lot in the last few weeks. I found out that if you have the audacity to voice an opinion that gridlock and Parliamentary posturing are ineffective and embarrassing, then you get attacked by the perennial seat warmers who themselves call Council members "stupid" and "liars." I found that people who support me as a candidate for Council, who bravely have my signs in their yards, have been subject to such viciousness, that I am just plain disgusted. If I seemed unprepared to list my donors, it was because I could not find an elegant way to say that I refuse to subject them to the same viciousness that would certainly have rained down upon them had I left a verbal record in that venue. Apparently, the two seeking re-election will stop at nothing to ensure that Mr. Newell's "tipping point" scheme for controlling the Council is fulfilled (see pg. 18, March 5, 2009 edition of Nutfield News.) I'm confident that the residents of Derry are sick and tired of this foolishness, and will vote to make it stop.

Please Vote on March 10th - Derry, NH

The blog post below was originally posted on 18 December 2005 when I was in Iraq. The reason I feel it is so important is because of what I saw the Iraqis go through to cast their vote in this election. People risking their lives and the lives of their families, making their way through streets that had been turned into the wild west, in order to hope for a better future by casting one vote. Those of us who have become cynics should take this lesson to heart. Anything is possible. My original entry follows:


UPDATE - I had to block out Pauline's face for her safety. I'm sorry Pauline.

This is a picture of me and my friend Pauline who works with me here. She was so excited about being able to vote in the election that I asked her to write a few words for my blog. Thanks, Pauline!

Casting my vote was the second dream that came true,
First being the ousting of Saddam.

We hoped it would have been done in 1991, but between 1991 and the liberation of Iraq, saddam was left to execute the worst of his evil on the society, the people, the land, the environment, not even the apple orchards in the north nor the palm trees, that counted in millions, and the natural marshes of the south survived his wrath.

I believed the end had come only when I witnessed the 3ID (3rd Infantry Division) crossing the Kuwaiti border into Iraq on CNN.

I was cheering them along, and thought it is finally happening, over 30 years in forced exile, I will have a chance to visit my homeland again. You see it is not just my birth place, it is the land of my ancestors, the Assyrians, who contributed so much to civilization (visit http://www.aina.org), both in ancient times and their second glory was spreading Christianity from Iraq all the way to China.

Watching the 3ID, I suddenly felt that an invisible prison door opened and my soul felt it was free at last. It was unusual because I was never conscious of it before, yet we, the Assyrians and all Iraqis in exile, over 4 million, lived the same way.

I thanked General Webster of the 3ID for all their contribution towards the liberation of Iraq, as I told him, they didn't just liberate the Iraqis inside Iraq, they liberated the Iraqis in exile, thousands like me, have finally been able to come back and visit their families after years of separation. And now, we all participated in shaping the future of Iraq by voting.

A heartfelt thanks to our troops and their families for all their effort and their sacrifice to spread freedom and democracy - freedom has a price, that is why I’m here now to be part of that effort.

Pauline

Camp Victory Sports Oasis - Originally Posted 16 December 2006

This picture is of my co-worker Pat. He is an American but made a poor choice to snooze around me with a camera. He's been in Iraq in the summer before and told me they wear those headcoverings to keep their skin from blistering off in the 140 degree sun. Sounds like a good idea to me!! At least we'll get to ease into the summer.

Well, Camp Victory Sports Oasis happens to be the name of the big DFAC or chow hall here. There is a smaller one called the Coalition Cafe over by our tent city, but we usually go to the big one because it is closer to our work trailers. Both chow halls are surrounded by blast barriers and are guarded by about ten armed (locked and loaded) soldiers with full kevlar and flak vests checking ID cards and patting down all the Iraqis and other folks that don't look like Americans. Once you get past the first set of guards, you head over to the door that is used for DOD contractors and other civilians. Guarding that door today was a young soldier who I look forward to seeing there. As you are walking up to him, he always has a huge smile and says with the cadence of an auctioneer, "Welcome to the Camp Victory Sports Oasis the finest dining facility in all of Iraq have a wonderful dining experience and a wonderful evening ma'am Hoooooah!" Well, what else can you say to that but Hoooah? Anyway, I'd love to get a picture of him but he'd probably yell at me to keep moving, so I'll have to find him outside of the chow hall setting.

It's funny seeing the mix of people here while eating. Some of the young soldiers look no older than my sons Tommy and Andy. I saw a group of them sitting in a booth, six in a booth for four. You could tell they were inseparable. It was cool and sad all at the same time. Then you see the old guys, some are National Guard (my favorite patch on one rifle butt was "One Weekend a Month, BullS#$%!) some are the older contractors that the guys at Fort Bliss called the CW Vets, meaning civil war! Anyway, lots of women soldiers and us contractors, but I'll save the being a woman here thing for another post. Goodnight!!

Brits - Originally Posted 16 February 2006

I was very fortunate yesterday to have been deposited back at Camp Victory in the safe and secure hands of our coalition partners, the British Forces. One thing I have always been pretty good at is getting things done. I try really hard to know who the people are that I need to butter up, smile at and otherwise be nice to in order to get things done. So when Pauline and I got to the LZ to try to fly Space A home, I went right up to my buddy controlling the flights and told him we needed to get to Griffin (Victory) or BIAP (Baghdad International), he said, “let’s go” and we were on the British helo bound for BIAP. I don’t know where the other 40 people waiting were going, but we got out fast - key!

We found out quickly that the Brits must have must different protocol for flying than the Americans. I thought the Blackhawks flew low. We actually had to ascend to fly over the high power lines. We had both doors open with the gunner switching from side to side depending upon which door was facing down. I don’t think we spent too much time not flying sideways and doing wacky maneuvers. Did I ever tell you that I won’t go on roller coasters because they scare me? My helo ride was jolly good fun!

Brits will always hold a special place in my heart. Back in October 1983, when I was stationed at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus I got a first hand look at how wonderful and loyal allies the Brits are to us “Yanks.” As you might remember on Sunday morning, 23 October 1983, a terrorist drove a truck laden with explosives into the Marine Barracks at Beirut International Airport, killing 241 American servicemen. We were awoken that morning with pounding on our doors that a bunch of Americans had been killed and wounded in Beirut and they were sending many of the casualties to the British hospital on the base because we were so close to Beirut. We all jumped in our car to head up to the hospital to start giving blood and I saw something that still brings tears to my eyes to this day. The road to the hospital was clogged with cars full of British soldiers and airmen waiting to get in line for their turn to give blood for the “Yanks” who needed it. They knew we were Americans and started beeping their horns and telling us to go home and take care of what we needed to do – they were taking care of giving blood and our Marines that had to come there.

We never knew how many came through there because of all the usual confusion surrounding these events. I only knew that one of the Marines who came to Akrotiri that day didn’t make it. I never knew his name, I just knew that our detachment was responsible for ensuring that he made it from the hospital to the C-130 with the utmost honor and respect that we could possibly give. We had to take the flag from the Commander’s office flagpole to place over the casket, but we made sure we got everything right. If I remember correctly there were six of us – I was on the right in the middle – and I can still feel the steel handle digging into my fingers. It was only a short walk from the vehicle into the back of the C-130, but it seemed to last a lifetime.

Maureen P. Heard for Derry Town Council

8 February 2009
To the Editor:

I am a candidate for Derry Town Council, District 1, and would like to take every opportunity for the citizens of Derry to get to know me, my passion for public service and my vision for the Town of Derry.

I have spent my entire adult life in service to my nation and my community. Twenty years of military service taught me how to focus on mission accomplishment and how to get the most out of diverse teams of people from all over the country and the world.

Although I retired before 9/11, I felt compelled to serve again as an Army contractor in Iraq from Nov 2005 – May 2006. I am the Service Officer for American Legion Post 9, Derry, NH and am always seeking to connect veterans with all available services. I look forward to talking to as many Derry residents as I can in the next few weeks.

Leaders are responsible for the tone they set in their organizations. As a citizen of Derry, I expect accountability, good judgment, professionalism, civility and decorum in my elected leaders and public servants. As your Town Councilor, I would demand no less from myself.

I would be honored by your vote on March 10th.

Sincerely,


//signed//
Maureen P. Heard
52 Windham Road
Derry, NH 03038
603-216-1886

Please click to the site below for more information:
Candidate, Derry Town Council, District 1

Saddam's Daughter's Palace - Originally Posted 14 December 2005

This is the picture I was trying to post yesterday. It is a palace across the moat from us that Saddam reportedly built for his daughter. Tomorrow is election day here in Iraq. I know that many are very skeptical about how successful the election will be but we have to remember that democracy takes time. Remember that the US was born in 1776 but fought a civil war in the 1860's . I hope the Iraqis will be able to take care of their own country soon. The region filled the vacuum we allowed to be created after the fall of Saddam and the vacuum that would be created by us leaving precipitously would, I feel, destabilize the whole region even more than it already is. Anyway, I try to pray every day that nobody dies tomorrow. Sometimes it works.

Hot Water - Originally Posted 13 December 2005

Here's the hot water issue - taking hot showers is a pretty important thing around here. So when I got to the tent/shower container (the container part is a little trailer thingy that has the shower stalls in it) this morning and it was full of women yelling that there was no hot water, I was certainly a bit concerned. Actually, I woke up feeling like crap with a sore throat and stormed out of the tent/shower container heading toward the generator to reset it since nobody else would. Well, what would by wondering eyes should appear but a soldier in full PT gear, M16 and a Santa hat chatting with a Filipino guy. Of course, all of the Filipino guys have to say "Good Morning, Ma'am" to you even though, or especially because, you are half dressed storming toward the generator. Next thing I know, Santa soldier whips his head around to see who it is just as I slide on a pile of loose dirt in my shower shoes and continue to storm, pinwheeling toward the evil generator. Finally I reset the generator and head back to the tent/shower container and wait for the hot water. I'm thinking it will take at least 10 minutes for some tepid water. God Bless the Army, because that generator boiled about 100 gallons in those 10 minutes and I had one of the best showers ever!

Mr. Authoritative - Originally Posted 11 December 2005

This is a mural on one of the walls at Camp Stryker. It is supposedly of the Iran-Iraq war. We look at it when we are waiting for the bus to take us back to Camp Victory. I wonder if that would irritate Saddam? Hmmmm, anyway, back to Mr. Authoritative. Last night I was rudely interrupted while watching on my new laptop the first episode of South Park from a pirated "compleat set" that I bought in the "Haji Mart" for 20 bucks. I was just laughing at Cartman setting the cat on fire when I started hearing AK-47 fire. A LOT of AK-47 fire which has a pretty unmistakable sound to it. So Nancy, Kristy and I looked at each other over our laptop screens and decided we were going to go investigate this. Stepping out of our tent we see tracer rounds sort of in the distance, but flying all over the place. Then we hear some 50cal rounds going off and start thinking that this beginning to be irritating. Enter Mr. Authoritative - he comes sauntering over with his kevlar helmet and flak vest with no shirt underneath - yuck! For some reason, Mr. Authoritative sees three female military officers and thinks "Damsels in distress! I must save them!" So he and his barely shaving companion decide that they are going to tell us all about how they had heard that the insurgents were going to be attacking the compound in advance of the elections and that this was what was happening. I told him that I thought there would be a HELL of a lot more outgoing fire if that were true and Nancy said that it looks like they are shooting straight up. Just then the "Big Voice" comes over the loudspeaker and says "ATTENTION Camp Victory, we are NOT under attack. What you are hearing is celebratory gunfire because of the Iraqi national soccer team's victory. Stay indoors until further notice." Well, Mr. Authoritative vanished into thin air. It was amazing. We couldn't stop laughing. Now we think we know why the Iraqis are so angry. They don't get enough sleep! They stay up all night shooting into the air, then the Allah Akbar Guy wakes them up at 0500 to pray. Well, I'm off to bed. Hopefully no more soccer games.

Just When I Had No Hope - A Miracle! - Originally Posted 10 December 2005

Since I left the wonderful US of A, I've had a few things more than I should have had to worry about and still do. Some of you know about it - I'll tell anyone who doesn't later. I try to get through the day the best I can knowing that my dear husband is holding down the fort and taking care of our kids. Soooo, here's the deal - I've been ordering things to be sent here, just little things, like rubber boots, shampoo, toothpaste - stuff like that - that make life go. Everyone else has been getting their packages just fine after a week or so. I ordered things before Thanksgiving and still nothing. Well I found out today that our mail room here has had all of my packages for the last two weeks and didn't deliver them. AND they just mailed them all back to where they came from. For some reason THIS has caused me to cry and blubber just like a baby. So I called LL Bean and told them my situation - they are Soooo wonderful - they are going to try to intercept them - LL Bean - at Christmastime!! They never do that, but are making a special arrangement for me because I am in Iraq. Then I called Estee Lauder online to track down my moisturizer, again, not a big deal. I got Leslie on the phone who was just beside herself that this had happened to me. She was asking me about which free sample I wanted and then we were chatting about that I had other packages sent back too with my shampoo that I'm not allergic to, etc. So she asked my what kind of shampoo I wanted - I thought Estee Lauder started making shampoo and she was going to send me a sample. NO - she made me run down a list and she is sending me a care package of all kinds of stuff. Leslie apparently sends a big care package every year and never knows who get it. This time she is sending it to me and I promised that everything she sent I would promise that all the things would be passed out to some very grateful women that live with me in tent city. We had another unit arrive last night - so the tents will be filling up again. Can you believe how nice that is? Just when I was ready to lose my mind - a miracle of nice people to make me feel better.

This flower is the one I mentioned from a few posts ago. And - I got my laptop today!!! Thanks to Dave and my brother in law Allen for my wonderful computer - you guys rock!! Life is good. :)

All the Comforts of Home - Originally Posted 5 December 2005

Here's a picture of my Army issue rack in my oh-so spacious tent. Thank God Michaela made me the whale pillow you see. Otherwise I would have been pillow free for a long time. I have 550 cord (parachute line) and bungee cords strung up so I can hang up my stuff. I also bought a black plastic foot locker so I can get at my stuff without rummaging through my duffle bag. The tents are heated and air-conditioned but the dust still blows in the sides and gets on everything. It's not so bad here. The Dee-Fac (dining facility) is good and they have Baskin Robbins ice cream and diet coke. We even have a laundry service here that turns around in about 36 hours. I was sooo allergic to the soap they use though and have to provide my own. Because all of the laundry employees are TCNs (third country nationals) anything out of the ordinary causes a huge rift in the space-time continuum. It's funny turning your stuff in. You dump out all your dirty clothes on the table so the KBR (Kellogg, Brown and Root - a Halliburton company) employee can inventory everything. Two brown towels, two pairs pants ... etc. Of course everyone but me is carrying a weapon of some kind. I really have to get used to the people wearing these pistol harnesses that leaves the muzzle facing directly to the rear. On base they cannot have magazines in them, but after being taught gun safety by my extremely safe Dad, I can't get over having weapons nonchalantly pointed in my direction.

If you are not in the palace, you are relegated to using porta johns when you have to use the rest room. Luckily, they are cleaned once a day and new, blue goo added. The ones by our work trailers are sort of at an angle canted backward, so you don't feel especially secure. What's even better is that the humvees and other armored tactical vehicles come around the corner in the dark - oh yea, you're in the dark too! I would hate to be a casualty from being hit in the porta john by a humvee!! I have several little LED flashlights attached to my badge holder because there aren't too many lights around here and you have to walk everywhere. Civilians have to have their IDs, passports and orders on their person at all times - hence the badge holder.

Life here is pretty spartan, but it has a certain elegance to the simplicity. Last night I was awakened by what I thought was an alien spacecraft hovering over our tent. It sounded like a jet not the usual low-flying helo. But in retrospect I don't think it was alien. I'm still here anyway and haven't been abducted. I would consider letting myself be abducted by aliens if I could use a real bathroom. Till tomorrow ...

Evenings Are Beautiful In Iraq - Originally Posted 6 Dec 2005

This is a picture of one of our beautiful sunsets here in Baghdad. It might be because of the light filtering through all the sand in the air that makes it so pretty, but it may be also because things are so bleak, vegetation-wise around here, God thought to give us pretty sunsets all the time. I saw some pretty pink flowers on a tree the other day. I have to go get a picture of them because they are out of the ordinary.

You can see Saturn and Jupiter pretty brightly here now. Saturn was so bright I thought it was Venus at first but it was too high in the sky. There is a lot of light pollution here, mostly because of us Americans, but you can still see a ton of constellations. For some reason, the Army insists on having a night flag football league. It's not that hot here during the day now, but whatever. They have generators running at about a million decibels powering lights bright enough to alert people that might live on Neptune that there is a football game on. The Iraqis have about three hours of electricity a day because of rationing. If I were Iraqi, I would mortar the football game, just on general principles. But apparently nobody is too concerned about that happening.

I am trying to learn about how Iraqis think about things. They are very indirect communicators, meaning, they beat around the bush and think those who just say what they mean are rude. Hence, they usually think all Americans are rude. But they try to adapt to us and we try to adapt to them. All of the Iraqis I've met are very nice and like to hear that we are passionate about helping them bring peace and democracy to their country. Enough for now! See ya!

Good Morning From the Allah Akbar Guy - Originally Posted 7 Dec 2005

Actually, this is another beautiful sunset picture. I will try to get one tonight from another vantage point without military vehicles and buildings in the scene. But back to the Allah Akbar guy - As some of you may know, in the Muslim religion, one is required to pray five times a day. The first time of the day being at around 0500. Soooo, at 0500, there is a loudspeaker seemingly right outside my tent blaring the morning Muslim call to prayer. It is actually really a beautiful sounding call. How can someone singing God is Great (Allah Akbar in Arabic) be anything but beautiful? Well, I would prefer if they kept the volume down at 0500, but I really do sleep through it most of the time. I think it is very sad that the F$%^ing Insurgents or RBGs (Really Bad Guys) always say Allah Akbar right when they are blowing our guys up, or taking out Iraqi civilians, or GIs and the kids they are giving toys and candy to. I wish I knew what God thought about all this mess. He's probably sad.

DFAC Booty - Originally Posted 9 Dec 2005

It's amazing the kinds of things that make you happy here in paradise. Just the fact that the dining facility (DFAC, pronounced DEE-fak) had Iced Oatmeal Raisin Power Bars today is enough to put a little extra skip in my step! The milk here is made from powder and then is irradiated to make it shelf stable. As you can see in the picture, they are kind enough to translate what you are drinking from the Arabic. It's nice to know before you stick the straw in that it's not camel pee! They just got those little Cremora pot of nice creamer last week. I thought I went to heaven!! Back to the irradiated milk - I really doesn't taste too bad as long as it is in cereal. I have a sneaking suspicion that this milk will still be around for the cockroaches to drink if there's ever a nuclear holocaust. Off to get another cup of Joe!! xoxo