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thedrifter
03-17-08, 08:39 AM
Update #6 from Major Tucker

http://sandgram.blogspot.com/

Dear Family and Friends:

In a short time I will begin my journey out of Iraq to Kuwait and back home to the United States and my family. First and foremost, I am grateful for having had this opportunity to serve the Corps once again and to have been here during a critical phase of the American military experience in Iraq.

My unique job here provided me with a chance to live and observe Marines at the small unit level and it afforded me unfettered access to a variety of units and operations in Iraq that only a few outside those units ever see and experience. The other day I quickly tallied the cumulative distance I have flown in helicopters crisscrossing Anbar Province and they add up to somewhere over three thousand miles. Add to that number the few hundred miles on the roads in tactical convoys and mounted patrols and the innumerablevisits to Combat Outposts, Joint Security Stations, Patrol Bases, and Forward Operating Bases and you begin to get some limited sense of myodyssey.

There are many memories I will take with me, most of them positive, a few sobering, and some dispiriting. Several of my thoughts and impressions of Iraq, like the war itself, remain unresolved. To fully capture the experiences I have had here would be beyond the scope of this email, so I will try to convey my perspectives with regards to the situation here, a blend of fatalism, pessimism, and optimism.

Many back home say that the United States should not have gone to war in Iraq in 2003. This is the one position I have agreed with since before the war began, because as a student of history and a military man, I found it strategically unwise to open up a distinctly different front while we were engaged in Afghanistan. That strategic decision exposed how ill prepared we were for the sort of war we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a type of war that requires a different military mindset and significant non-military expertise and resources. We have spent the better part of the last five years trying to make up for those deficiencies and to a great extent we have succeeded when it comes to military training, tactics, and techniques.

However, much work remains to be done with respect to the resources dedicated to the non-military side. For now, the task at hand is to find a militarily sound, politically reasonable, and cost effective means to help the Iraqis maintain security and stability, foster economic growth, and reform their institutions of government. It is reasonable to ask, "Are we and the Iraqis making meaningful progress?" Based on what I have seen and heard, from the walks through Iraqi towns and talks while drinking tea in people's homes to the briefings I have listened to, I would have to say yes, we are making progress. But much of that progress is occurring on more of an Iraqi timeline and in the context of what is feasible for Iraqis, not what we Americans expect or desire.

Some suggest that we ought to simply withdraw and that act, in and of itself, will get the Iraqis moving toward resolving many of their outstanding issues. Well, we are withdrawing to a limited and prudent extent and the Iraqis are aware that our presence will decrease in the coming year. In some ways, their leaders are probably more anxious than we are about our Presidential election. They know that as we reduce our presence, they will have to solve more problems on their own. I don't think a rapid withdrawal, as some envision it, would be prudent, because it would be destabilizing,put many Iraqis and Americans at risk unnecessarily, and jeopardize our gains at many levels.

The gradual, incremental approach we are taking with respect to security, rule of law, and governance seems the best way to effect a transition that will have a better probability of success in the long run.What is the "long run"? Well I can't predict how the future will play out, but if we want to see a viable and stable Iraq, I expect we will need an American presence, civil and military, at least until the Iraqis determine that we are not needed, which may not be for several more years.

The security agreements being negotiated now will probably allow us to remain here beyond that point, more likely for technical and logistics support and with a shallower "footprint". In the near term though, if certain conditions are met with respect to security this year, I can foresee a further reduction in the American military presence by the end of 2008 and possible further reductions in forces in 2009. Five years into this war, many Americans are right to ask "What have America's resources done for the average Iraqi?" who still struggles with getting clean water, adequate fuel and electricity, and confronts an unemployment rate of at least twenty five percent.

As I mentioned earlier, security has improved dramatically since this time last year. Iraqi confidence in the local police and judiciary are essential elements of the move toward a functioning society with respect for the rule of law. The slow evolution of these elements is the subject of much attention and frustration here, but there are signs of incremental progress. The credit for the decline in daily violence against Americans and Iraqis can be credited in large part to a combination of American and Iraqi courage and cooperation at the neighborhood levels in cities across Anbar, with Iraqis (mostly Sunnis in Anbar, Shiites in other provinces) informing police and the military of insurgent activities and men standing guard at checkpoints as members of armed neighborhood watch patrols.

The insurgents, for their part, are still indiscriminately attacking civilians and security forces, but with limited effectiveness. Several days ago, near a neighborhood watch post north of here, an Iraqi on watch foiled a suicide vehicle born IED by shooting the driver before he could reach the checkpoint. The car exploded short of its target, killing the driver and wounding the Iraqi sentry. His swift action prevented serious injuries and damage. But it is not just the Iraqis responsible for security who are standing up for security in their communities. Recently in Ramadi, the provincial capital, a suicide bomber entered a restaurant, but before he could detonate his explosives, the owner tackled him. The would be bomber broke free and fled on foot, pursued by Iraqi Police, who shot and killed him.

Much is made in the news of the violent and spectacular attacks that succeed, but you rarely hear of everyday Iraqis fighting against the insurgents and thwarting attacks. When will these sorts of attacks end? I suspect Iraq will experience some level of this sort of violence for years to come, but we are at the point where this sorts of sporadic violence has yet to sow widespread fear and disrupt the momentum and desire for progress.

When I think about progress here I am reminded of a foot patrol I was on a few weeks ago in Fallujah, with a squad of Marines and a team of Iraqi Police. We passed a school that had been refurbished using Iraqi labor and Marine reconstruction funds. It had reopened a month or so ago and was just letting out for the day. A cold wind spattered rain and blew trash down the street. Mothers rushed their children along to get out of the weather and our path, while the happy chatter of grade school girls dressed in colorful garb and crowding at the corner broke the drab surroundings and the silence.

As we walked by them we were greeted with shy smiles and waves from the girls and a few deadpan looks from the teenagers, who like teenagers everywhere, were trying to appear tough and unaffected. Moments like that illustrate to me that Iraq's future,the youth, may finally be experiencing a new sense of normalcy. On our patrol route down dirty alleyways and roads, we said hello to every adult and child we encountered, while the Iraqi Police handed out candy to the kids who trailed behind us or ran to greet us. Along the way, the Marines joked with some of the kids who they knew from their frequent patrols in the area. Fifteen years from now, if these same kids have grown up in a neighborhood free of the violence their parents knew,received an education, and been able to marry and find a decent job,those will be significant measures of our success.

Through it all, it is important for us to keep in mind that the Iraqis are learning what it means to govern themselves and how to hold their elected representatives accountable. Given their history and the recent attempts to reform their government and find common ground, you can imagine that much hard work and sacrifice remains. It will simply take time for Iraqis to bridge these divides while making and coordinating everyday decisions at the local, provincial, and national levels. Their list is long and daunting: expand and train the army and police, develop the expertise to establish a fair and functioning justice system that respects the rule of law, harness the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to irrigate large tracts of arable land and provide power for businesses,and deliver basic services to the people.

Those back home who expect some magical moments of self reliance and reconciliation must understand that these will not manifest themselves as moments in time or singular events, but through the cumulative ebb and flow of negotiation and compromise within a society where religion and politics are intertwined. In this environment, there are varying degrees of societal resistance to solving seemingly intractable problems, like prevalent corruption and sectarian conflict. With the gains that have been made in the past year,there is now an urgent need for Iraqi leaders to roll up their sleeves and work together to instill a sense of popular confidence in their government before their people begin to lose hope. If they can seize this moment in time, America will witness the growing legacy of a worthy sacrifice.

Semper Fidelis,
Brooks D.Tucker Major, USMCR

thedrifter
03-17-08, 08:39 AM
the Home Front Hero's of this war

When serving in the Military, you take for granted that folks will die. Crazy as this sounds to me, you just know that if a buddy didn’t make it out of his plane or an IED blows up next to a guy you are friends with, it was part of their job. We are a unit, all brothers in arms, and we all feel that loss. There is also another Corps of folks out there supporting our Military Men and Women every day. They don’t receive medals for what they do, nor will you see their obits run in any national paper under the death toll of the war, but they help keep the morale of our men and women to the level where this thing is bearable and in my mind, are the backbone of our Military.

I have made many Cyber friends through my experience in Iraq. Some, I’ve had the honor of meeting in the last two years, and still many more keep in contact via email. These folks span many states and spend countless hours either on the computer writing our troops or standing in line at the post office to send a package of support.

So, when one of them dies, I feel the loss as one of our own has passed. In the last twelve months, I have lost two of my biggest supporters. The first was a mystery woman named “Betty.” Actually, the letters were always signed “The Two Betty’s” because as it turned out, Betty had moved in to take care of her mother, also named Betty, and together they picked out Marines and Soldiers on AnySoldier.com to support. Being a crazy Marine, I had posted a request for help tracking down the agent of Catherine Bell, the Marine LtCol actress from the TV show J.A.G. It was my intent to get her over for a morale visit to the Marines in An Bar Province. Betty saw this post and responded immediately to my request with a phone number, cell phone number, and address for her agent. I was blown away by this immediate response, and asked how she came across this valuable information? She wouldn’t say, but from her style of writing there were many clues as to her background, and it was obvious that she was someone of extreme importance. As it turns out, I was right; she was a retired Senior VP for a major company in the US and still had her finger on the pulse of all the right people all over the world.

She wasn’t one to complain or go into her problems but as it turns out, she was suffering from a pulmonary problem that restricted her to her house, and now in the care of her mother. She passed away last March, and a part of my “Army” was now gone. I still go back and read her letters, for she had such a great way with words.

Recently we lost a former Marine named “Big Bro Jim I.” Jim liked to support our guys and gals with a box full of cigars and chewing tobacco if you were so inclined. He had spent his time in Vietnam and, by God; he was going to let our troops know that there was a segment of this great nation who supported them. I always pictured Jim as a big grizzly former Marine sitting at the keyboard pounding out letters to us with mitts the size of an outfielder’s hand. Jim liked to type in all caps, which to me is hard on the eyes, but it made it easier for him to read, I guess. One day I was in my office and I received an email from his wife “SusanIron@XXX.com” and when I opened it I read “TACO, I WANT YOU.” That was it, no more, no less.

Hmmmm, Taco, I want you what? Is she hitting on me? That is strange. So I hit reply and typed "Thank you very much for your email. While I'm flattered I'm sure that Mr. Iron might have an issue with this as well as my wife. Thanks again and have a great day."

About ten minutes after I sent this out, I received another email from Susan Iron that said "TACO, I WANT YOU TO GET ME SOME SAND FROM IRAQ AND MAIL IT TO ME, BIG BROTHER JIM." Ole Jim, not too savvy on the keyboard, had sent me an email prematurely while using his wife's account. It gave me a big chuckle later but had me worried for a while!!! What a crazy ole bastard!! I had to beat him to stop using CAPS too!!

Those were just two folks out there like you, the average Joe who lead a secret life of super supporter, and while we don’t have a medal made up for them just yet, you can bet a million dollars that their contributions to the troop morale will never be forgotten. God Bless you Betty and Jim who are now guarding the Pearly Gates for us, and all the countless others out there in Cyber land I haven’t mentioned. Now that my sermon is over, the Church Ladies will lead us in our next hymn…
Semper Fi,
Taco

thedrifter
04-10-08, 09:23 AM
The New SandGram…
April 8th, 2008 Posted in Site News

http://www.thesandgram.com/

Dear Gang,

If you are reading this, then you found out I have moved. This was a goal I had six months ago and spurred on by my Uncle Bruce who helped me get the domain name for the Sandgram. We started to use MS Frontpage, but that is more for websites and not blogging so I was a bit at a loss on converting over from Blogspot.
After having dinner with Marcus from A Soldier’s Perspective, he volunteered to take on the task of converting me to WordPress. Let me tell you something, I’m like a fourth grader when it comes to playing with the programs needed to accomplish this task, but he made it look easy. His fingers were gliding over the keys, mouse clicking, dragging stuff, and putting it here and there at Hyper sonic speeds. I owe him more the 12 pack of beer I bought for the night’s work and owe his awesome wife a big debt of thanks for letting me borrow him for six hours of playing on the computer. So Marcus, if you are reading this, you are my new hero!!!
Guys, welcome to my new site, it’s going to be a bit rough at first, but I’m looking forward to some fun entries over the next couple of months as I head over to Afghanistan. I will be filling you in on how to apply for a job over in the war and what it takes to mobilize. Until then, take care and talk to you soon.

Semper Fi,
Taco

thedrifter
09-26-08, 09:06 AM
Popping up for You Sir....

Hope to talk with You again

Ellie

Taco Bell
09-26-08, 12:44 PM
Hey Ellie, should be back through your AO in about 3 weeks checking out and on my way back home. thanks for all you do!!!
OOOOhhhh RRRRRRhhhhaaaa,
S/F
Taco

thedrifter
04-08-09, 09:39 AM
Taking care of a Vet and fellow Marine
April 5th, 2009 Posted in The SandGram v1.0 | 1 Comment »

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/redirect.php?r=ac3a5a46908082f86352091962320199&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsandgram.blogspot.com

Dear Gang,
A few days ago, driving home from my daughters school, I stop by our small neighborhood watch office to chat with Dan our local Police officer. He’s a retired Army LtCol and one helluva a cop to have one our side protecting us. He rotated the computer screen he was working on to show me a report on a man that was taken to the hospital that morning having suffered a stroke. This man lived downed the street from me and when I saw his name, Richard Shaw, I gasped since he was a fellow Marine, a Vietnam Veteran and retired Police Officer. The initial report was that he was hit by a car and left for dead in his yard, but as they investigated, it looked like he had a stroke, fell down hurting himself and then disoriented passed out in the yard next to the street and wasn’t found until the morning, a very sad way to go for a man as great as Richard was.

I went walking two days later and saw his garage door open so I stop by to see how he was. His brother in law, George, informed me that Richard had passed away at the hospital. I was floored. He had just stop by my house a week prior asking me if he should accept a contracting job over in Iraq working with the Iraqi police. We talked about it for an hour or more before he jumped on his Harley and took off again.

The local Marines in the neighborhood are going to be pallbearers for the funeral this Tuesday. How is this for representation? A retired three star Marine General, a LtCol reserve guy (me) , a retired Gunny and former Cpl? We have all split bread, cut the birthday cake together during November 10th celebrations at the local bar and just been great friends through our association in the Corps. Vets taking care of Vets. I came across this great piece by Patricia Salwei on Vets that I thought I should share. Please pass it on. Take care and I’ll talk to you soon.
Semper Fi,
Taco
A Point of View
By Patricia Salwei
I approached the entrance to Fort Belvoir’s medical facility last year as an old veteran puttered towards me. Easily over 80 years old, stooped and slow, I barely gave him a second glance because on his heels was a full bird colonel.
As they approached, I rendered a sharp salute and barked, “Good morning, Sir!” Because they were heel to toe, I began my salute as the old veteran was about two paces from me. He immediately came to life!
Transformed by my greeting, he rose to his full height, returned my salute with pride, and exclaimed, “Good morning, Captain!” I was startled, but the full bird behind him was flabbergasted. The colonel stopped mid-salute, smiled at me and quietly moved on.
As I entered the clinic, the utter beauty of the encounter preoccupied me.
What prompted the old man to assume that I was saluting him. Perhaps he just thought, “It’s about time!” After all, doesn’t a veteran outrank us all?
I turned my attention to the waiting room taking a moment to survey the veterans there. Service people rushed around, loudspeakers blared, the bell for the prescription window kept ringing. It was a whirl of activity and the older veterans sat quietly on the outside seemingly out of step, patiently waiting to be seen. Nobody was seeing.
My old friend stayed on my mind. I began to pay attention to the military’s attitude towards its veterans. I witnessed indifference: Impatient soldiers and airmen plowing over little old ladies at the commissary; I noticed my own agitation as an older couple cornered me at the Officer’s Club and began reminiscing about their tour in Germany.
To our disgrace, I have also witnessed disdain: At Ramstein Air Base terminal, an airman was condescending and borderline cruel with a deaf veteran flying Space Available; an ancient woman wearing a WACS button was shoved aside by a cadet at the Women’s Memorial dedication in D.C.; a member of the color guard turned away in disgust from a drunk Vietnam vet trying to talk to him before the Veteran’s Day Ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial.
Have you been to a ceremony at the Wall lately? How about a Veteran’s Day parade in a small town? The crowds are growing faint. Why do we expect the general public to care if we don’t? We are getting comfortable again..
It is not my intention to minimize the selfless service of our modern military; my comrades are the greatest people I know. But lately I’m wondering if the public’s attitude towards the military isn’t just a reflection of the active duty military’s attitude towards its own veterans.
It’s time to ask — do we regard them, do we consider them at all? How does our attitude change when the hero is no longer wearing a uniform?
I was proud to wear my uniform. Can I admit that I thought it was cool? There is no denying that there is something about our profession, combined with youth, that feeds the ego a little.
We have all seen a young pilot strut into the Officer’s Club with his flight suit on. He matters; he takes on the room; he knows he can take on the world. But, one day he will leave his jet for a desk, and eventually he will have to hang up that flight suit. A super hero hanging up his cape.
How will we measure his value then? He will no longer look like a pilot, an officer, a colonel. He’ll just look like an old man coming out of the clinic with his prescription.
But, is he less of a hero? Will anybody remember or care about all the months he spent away from his newborn daughter while making peace a possibility in the Balkans? Probably not.
Our society has a short memory. Maybe it is not for the protected to understand. Rather, it is my hope that when a young lieutenant walks by him they will each see themselves reflected in the other — one’s future, the other’s past. In that moment, perhaps, the lieutenant will also see the hero, now disguised as an old man, and thank him.
The truth is there are heroes in disguise everywhere. I used to wonder why people would want to chat with me when I was in uniform, telling me about their four years as a radio operator in Korea. So what? I wasn’t impressed relative to my own experiences. Now I understand that they were telling me because nobody else cared. Proud of their service, no matter how limited, and still in love with our country, they were trying to stay connected. Their stories were a code for “I understand and appreciate you, can you appreciate me?”
The answer is yes. I separated from the military in February. I’m out of the club. Still, I want you to know that I’ll attend the parades, visit the memorials, and honor you while my kids and your kids are watching.
Then, maybe someday when I’m an old woman riding the metro, a young airman will take a moment of her time to listen to one of my war stories. I, in turn, will soak in her beauty and strength, and remember.
Today as I reflect on my adventures in the Air Force, I’m thinking of that ancient warrior I collided with at Fort Belvoir. I’m wondering where he is, if he’s still alive, if it’s too late to thank him.
I want to start a campaign in his honor — Salute a Veteran. Yes, this started out as a misunderstanding on my part. But, now I get it. That day was the first time in my life that I really understood what it meant to salute someone.
Dear Veteran, I recognize and hail you! I do understand what I have and what you have given to make it possible. So I’m wondering, if we meet on the street again.may I salute you


Ellie