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Dear Family and Friends,
Hello! October…I can hardly believe it! My favorite time of the year to climb, ride, run and swim (yep, that’s right, swim…in the strip mine ponds or Scrubgrass Creek near Westminster Highlands. Natalie, Michael, Andy and Rebecca all know what I’m talking about…those are great days. Thanks one and all). Cool evenings and comfortable days. A smorgasbord of colors and chances to get outdoors. The Applefest up in Franklin, camping in my beloved Allegheny National Forest or antiquing in the unique small towns of central Pennsylvania. It’s always seemed to me, although fall is the prelude to winter’s long night’s rest, it is the busiest and yet the most peaceful time of the year. I don’t quite understand this seemingly antithetical contradiction but it’s my experience and I accept it. In fact, I rejoice in it and celebrate it, so I hope you all will take advantage of this time. Go up to Terry’s cabin and soak in the Indian summer, as well as, the love of one another, h
iking the trails, canoeing the streams and sitting around the campfire drinking hot chocolate with Peppermint Schnapps, telling ghost stories and laughing until your sides split. Take advantage of every minute because you just never know…
We certainly have learned how things can change. Last Saturday, almost 24 hours after Dave and I were struck by an IED, a brave Marine reservist, SGT Brian Dunlap, was killed by another IED in the exact same spot. Brian was, like so many of the men and women I have met here, the best of the best. He was a professional firefighter from California. He understood danger. All firefighters do. He did what others would not do, he went where others would not go and he sacrificed what few are willing to surrender.
The Marines actually followed our lead in conducting the service. We did it on Tuesday with full military honors. We gave him our best and then said good bye. It was sad seeing those young men standing in front of the traditional battlefield memorial…boots, bayonet, rifle, helmet, ID tags, picture and for Brian, a devote Roman Catholic, a rosary. The Marines tried to hold themselves together. They stood stiff and straight but the tears still managed to squeeze out and flow down their staunch yet trembling faces. Thanks Dave, once again, for making everything just perfect.
A couple of days later, five more of Pennsylvania’s sons laid down their lives in the defense of this struggling democracy. And although these soldiers were not from our particular unit, they were a part of our Brigade. We grieved their loss, for their families, for their friends and I suspect, to a certain degree, for ourselves. We all know, although most never speak of it…it can happen to any of us, in the flash of a moment. We accept the risk. We are professionals. We are soldiers. We are in combat, so we strap on our gear, do our PCIs and PCCs (pre combat inspections and pre combat checks), mount up and move back out into sector. We refuse to allow fear or grief to motivate us. Our focus remains on accomplishing the mission. We will not rest until we achieve our goals. Our enemy does not yet understand this. He believes we are weak-willed, impatient or fearful. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can not; we will not be intimidated or manipulated.
Our firepower is not the only thing greater than his, so is our courage, strength, intelligence, patience, resolve and sheer grit. You can bank on it!
So I guess what I am trying to say is to rejoice in the life God has given you. Give thanks for the love you know and experience. Celebrate the support and affection of family, friends and co-workers. Make the most of every moment. Don’t take anyone or anything for granted. Laugh, sing and dance. Enjoy the flowers. Play with the children. Taste how sweet, a cup of cold water really is.
We do these things and hope you do too.
Until we get home, rest in the certainty and ferocity of our love. Let it surround, encompass and engulf you. Wrap yourself in it. Take strength from it. Be inspired by it, for we too, are inspired, encouraged and intoxicated with yours!
Dave and I are especially inspired by your many gifts for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines stationed here in Habbaniyah. Everyday we see your generosity and thoughtfulness. There are some days, when we receive so many boxes that Dave and Mufasa spend most of the afternoon, unpacking and organizing. I wish I could tell you there is no longer any need for you to send anything to us, but that is simply not the case. As quickly as everything comes in, it goes right back out. I thought we would reach a saturation point but that has not yet happened EXCEPT for the hygiene products for the girls. Please do not send anymore of those items.
If you are so inclined to send us something, the chapel manager tells me we still need: Christian CDs, DVDs and literature, shampoo, body wash, shaving cream, razor blades and replacement blades, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, deodorant, tuna, beef jerky, Twizzlers, Pringles, Lay’s Stax Potato Chips, and any other snack items you might consider appropriate. I would also personally appreciate, if someone could send me a thumb drive. A soldier accidentally broke mine last week. The supply system is too slow and we use these little wonders quite a bit.
Pieces of heart and home this week were received by Bernie, Janet, Caitlin and Jack Mabrey, Vickey McHenry, the Van Ollenfen family, Elizabeth Baldwin, Carol Carlini, Jack and Wendy Farrell, Sue and Wayne Stratos, my beloved congregations The Fairfield and Milledgeville Presbyterian Churches (I’ve learned the secret of keeping everyone awake while I’m preaching…shoot artillery during the service! I love and miss you all), Minna Blackson, Steve Dixon, Donna Funk, Sue and Ray Lussa, Sherry Latshaw and Mary Merritt, Mariettta Spagnola and saints from St Patrick’s Church, Scott and Melissa Johnson (tell your mom hello Shelly), Denise Snavely (who bakes cookies which make angels weep), Susan Marotori, Linda Darner, Edna Fry, one of my climbing buddies Joe Worden (Have a great trip Joe. Know I wish I was going with you), Don and Joann Malaspino, Lila Hart and Janet Walls in conjunction with the employees of Colliers, Turley, Martin and Tucker, Lynne Armstrong, Lisa Aden, Linda E
nnis and the AFSCME union at Slippery Rock University (they sent goodies and a shop vac, how cool is that?!), Heather Catherincchia, Ron and Bridgette Carbaugh, Karla Bronson and the Community Bible Church, Janet Wilkinson, Dan Meyers, the Porier family, Amy Quigley (I Hope you know you made my day!), Glenn Mazzara and Jenny DeArmitt of the FX series, “The Shield”, the Walden Family, the FRG for CO A, 1-112 IN, Operation Lifeline, one of my favorite partners, Anthony Rizzo (Holy Cow Riz! You must have spent your whole paycheck on cigars! Thanks Buddy) and of course, my new best friend Judy Volpatti (and her man gang at the post office).
We also want to thank in a singular way, Jackie Gilbert, as well as, the students and staff at the School of St. Elizabeth. Jackie and these kiddos sent 42 boxes of supplies! We would have run out of much needed items this week, if not for them. The truly amazing thing about these gifts of the heart is that they were all donated in memory of Jackie’s husband, Timothy Paul Gilbert, who died September 11, 2001 in NYC. If anyone understands the subject of time well spent with those you love, of life changing radically in an instant…it would be Jackie and the thousands like her, who lost those they love on what originally, promised to be an ordinary beautiful fall day but was transformed into the ugliest day America has ever seen. So Jackie and kids, from the bottom of our hearts and through my swollen throat, thank you. For you, for Tim and for all of America, we shall continue to push ahead.
Thank you for all you do for us. May God bless you and our American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. You’re in my heart America, and I shall always be,
Faithfully Yours,
Chaplain(Major)Douglas A. Etter
HHC 1-110 IN, 2/28 BCT
Camp Habbaniyah
APO, AE 09381 |
