Destination Iraq

“I wanted to share with my TT friends information on the news Jon just received this past weekend. As some of you know Jon has been working full-time for the Indiana Army National Guard for an engineer battalion stationed in Gary. In his position (S-1 officer) we really didn't think he would ever be deployed.

This past weekend Jon was told that he is being transferred to an infantry battalion stationed in South Bend. This particular company, Company F, 151 Light Anti-Tank Battalion, has been training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey for some time now. They are leaving soon for Iraq and are currently scheduled to be gone for one year. Although we don't know why, one of that company's leaders was just relieved of duty. So in searching for another officer to fill an open position, Jon was chosen. Jon will be the XO for this company.

As you can imagine this has come as a complete surprise to us. Jon will be flying to Ft. Dix later this week, but will return home soon after. We don't know when he will actually have to leave for Iraq. Technically he is supposed to be given at least 30 days to get ready and get his affairs in order, although he has been asked to waive that right. Still not sure on what will happen.

I ask that you keep him in your prayers. Also, we have been remodeling/gutting our home. Of course, Jon was doing much of the work himself. At the moment there is no heat in the house since he removed all the radiators and the old boiler has been put out of commission. There are walls missing and plumbing that has to be moved. We are also short a full bathroom, among many other projects. I will have to find a contractor to do this work in the next couple of months.

At the moment what is making this most difficult is the suddenness. Usually one would have many months to get prepared. It's just an unusual situation. I will post updates as I know them.”

“I was never a proponent of the action in Iraq. However, I do have the utmost admiration and respect for those called to duty there.

I will keep you in my prayers.”

“Wow. I wish I was in a position to help somehow. I wish you all the best.”

“Great timing --- !

You will all be in my thoughts.”

“Ruby.....hugs and lots of prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“God Bless!”

“"I was never a proponent of the action in Iraq. However, I do have the utmost admiration and respect for those called to duty there."

That about says it.

Good luck, Ruby.

This makes me wonder if the officer who was "relieved" wanted out.”

“Ouch. I wish you both the best for what will have to be a very trying year. How long has he been back from Afhganistan?”

“Thank you, Friends. Jon spent a year in Afghanistan from summer '04 to summer '05.”

“Ruby.... I trust you will all get through this well. It galls me that the National Guard has been pressed into overseas service. Keep us posted please.”

“Ruby, we'll keep Jon in our prayers. Let us know how we can help, you have our numbers. You should be very proud of him he is one of the 6/10ths of 1% of Americans who choose to serve their nation and its citizens. God Bless him for that. Peace to your family, lemme know if you need info on family organizations for those at home.”

“I hope I don't make things worse. But here goes... My above comment about the National Guard serving overseas was in no way to denigrate or challenge their service in any way. In fact it was intended as quite the opposite. We do not know what the aftermath of Katrina would have been had the full contingent of National Guard troops under the command of the governor had been available. In my opinion they serve far too vital a role in domestic strength to commit them overseas.

Ruby if in any way I came across as demeaning to your sacrifice or your husband's service I ask your forgiveness. It was my poor use of words that led to that reflection, not my heart's intent.”

“Remodeling party at Vic and Jon's house!

Seriously though our good vibes and prayers will be with Jon on his tour. We'll raise a glass this weekend.”

“"Remodeling party at Vic and Jon's house!"


That is a brilliant idea Brian! Ruby, if you do it we will be there. Think of all the painting and tiling and fixing that could get done. Give us at least two weeks to get ours done and we'd, (well maybe not all of ttdom, but Birch and me and maybe a few others), be glad to spend a weekend helping tie up at least some of the loose ends, maybe two or three. We could all bring our rolls of duct tape and you'd be all set! (That last bit was a joke, the rest of it is serious)”

“best of luck to you and yours, ruby.

i have a friend that called me the other day and as casually as you would say "howdy" he started talking about his pending deployment... the second. he is in the indiana national guard and last time was in afghanastan but this time will be going to iraq. it was all just business to him but to me it underscored how long we have been engaged in this struggle”

“That sucks. Shoot him in the foot!”

“good luck to a safe journey, rubes and jon”

“Wow Rubes, I really don't know what to say.....you know you guys will be in our prayers for sure.
And btw if you decide to have a remodeling party I'm in for sure....just let me know when and what tools you need :)”

“Damn Ruby, that sucks. You guys will be in my thoughts and prayers.”

“I really don't know what to say to make you feel better about the situation but I do wish you both the best and I pray for all the service members across the pond and at home. I will say that iffin he decides to stay in for the long haul that this move will definatly improve his chances for promotion.

SFC U.S. Army
(Ret.)”

“Wow. Prayers for you and Jon, Ruby.”

“Jon was in the regular Army for six years and then in the NG after that. He has 19 years in at this point. Somewhere around four years ago I think it was he went to IOBC for officer training. At the moment he is a 1LT, but is pushing hard right now for the promotion to Captain before he leaves. It's the least they can do for him in my opinion.

Although he wouldn't have volunteered for this deployment, he is proud to serve. I am of the opinion that his leaving for Iraq is inevitable at this point. I have always know that this is Jon's job so I don't quarrel with it. While I want him home for as long as possible, I also think that if his presence with the rest of the unit will make it run smoother and/or safer, then he needs to get there expeditiously. I am so proud of him and love him so much.


A remodeling party? I'm speechless!! I think I love you guys almost as much as I love Jon. You all rock! I'll get back to you on that offer. I would so love to surprise Jon with some major work done by the time he comes home.”

“We're all pulling for you and Jon.”

“Vicki, that is like that tv show where they get the wife or husband out of the house for a day or two and then the opposite person stays home and fixes something up.

Too bad you guys don't need foundation work. I seem to be good at digging ditches!”

“Sorry your plans are a mess Ruby. May Jon have a safe and rewarding deployment and you can have the place looking great for him when he gets back.”

“Ruby, thank you both for your sacrifices. You guys are heroic to do this for your country. Best of luck to Jon.”

“Ruby & Jon, you can certainly count on our families prayers, as we add you to several soldiers/families we are already praying for now. God bless you Jon and what you and your men do, we believe in you. You men are our heroes!”

“Wow, You both are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your service to our country. I'm in for the remodeling party. I'm a pretty good painter and am willing to do most anything.”

“Well....here is an idea....I am sure it would work.

Birch and Nigal can come to your house for a weekend. Find some really well-known gay bar and take all the boys to it. You would be the fag-hag, so no worries on your part. Birch and Nigal would wear their leather thongs and vests with pink leather boots. Jon would wear his dress blues. You take the camera. Get my point? Nigal and Birch already have their outfits, so I have heard, and apparently, so does Jon. Make sure you get them in some really gay poses, and leave yourself out of ALL PICTURES! That is important. After developing, send pictures annonomously to his commanding officer and a copy to George Bush. Make sure his name tag is very focused in all the pictures. Nigal might wear a collar if Jon takes the leash...just another hint for an explosive photo op.

If I am out of line here, I apologize. I was just thinking of a way to keep him home and with you. And Birch and Nigal really need a good excuse to wear their attire. They look really convincing in it. (LMAO)

(Nothing but love Birch and Nigal...nothing but love!)”

“Oh great!! Now you have put some vivid picture in my mind, Woleyes!! I'm not sure I'll ever be the same. ;-)

Thank you all for your words. It means so much.”

“I'm scared yet somehow mildly aroused at the same time....

I was going to offer to come up and help work on the house but now I'm not sure I could even look at Jon's plumbing much less touch it and work on it. LOL!

If you do send out the call for a weekend work party let me know also.”

“You guys will get through this. A deployment with so little warning does suck though. They seldom happen at a convenient time, although mine did. I will be tranferring to A Tennessee NG unit soon, and the closest unit is an MP outfit. You know what that means. I hope this war winds down next year. My best wishes and prayers for you and Jon. When he gets over to a duty station, email me an address and I will send him a line or two. Mail is everything in a war zone. An aside on the National Guard -- The NG was designed as a homeland defense and as a state level force to quell civil disturbances and help with natural disasters and such. It was hardly used as a force during Vietnam. It is only in recent years that it has been utilized as the Army Reserve. There have been times (WW I and II and Korea) that it was partially called up. With the downsizing of the active military, it became essential that the guard would become a primary player in these little vacations in Mesopotamia and such. I re-enlisted in September right after 9/11 and knew it would be the one to bite me in the butt.”

“I only wish I were close enough for the remodeling party. I've got tons of tools and I ain't afraid to use 'em.

Certainly you and Jon will be in my thoughts and prayers.”

“Oh Ruby...this is not the news I was hoping to read from you...what a mess! My thoughts and prayers to you and Jon...would write more but have to get ready for work....”

“Congratulations to you husband for the opportunity to serve his country in this important part of America's history. It is an honor few have the opportunity to experience.

Godspeed”

“The good thing about the suddenness of his deployment is that there is so much less time than usual for rumors and speculation and worry. I told Jon it's kind of like not finding out you're pregnant until you're 4 months along.”

“Ugggghhhh....
In doing laundry I noticed that the dryer was running an extra long time. I checked the clothes and they were still wet after two hours of tumbling. Wouldn't you know it, there's no heat in the dryer (it's old). The same problem happened two weeks ago. No problem then though. Jon had taken the dryer apart and replaced some parts (I have no idea which ones). It worked like a charm after that.

But today it seems it broke again, and Jon isn't here to fix it. This sucks.”

“I had the same problem. Check to make sure the vent is clean. I wound up burning out the heating element because of this. It turns out that there are lots of fire every year because of this.”

“Thankfully Sass and birch aren't here to chime in with the details of my tale.”

“Hmmmmm...vent? fire? Oh, crap!

I clean out the vent all the time on the dryer. Is there another one somewhere? When Jon fixed it last week he totally vaccuumed out the innards and found about $9 worth of change (this is the drywer that came with the house).”

“Sorry, should've been more specific, the vent pipe going from the dryer to outside the house is the one I'm talking about. Basically, this is the one that's built into the house and your flexible vent duct connects to it.”

“It's possible that he changed out the heating unit in the dryer ($50 or so) and that made it work until it over heated again from not getting to breathe. This is basically what happened to us. Ours died, someone from work had just gotten a new dryer and I grabbed their old one. It burned out within a day or two. I cleaned out this pipe, put a new heating element in my dryer and am going strong 4 months later.”

“PS. If this happens to be your issue then you can be walked through the process over email/phone. I took out the element and took it to a parts place. They tested it for me and gave me the new part. There are maybe 6 screws to remove and that's about it.”

“here is a really silly question. I ask it only because I have done it myself. Did the settings get reset to "fluff" or "No Heat" or what ever the label is that means the heating element is off?”

“Nope..checked the settings, Rev. However, I wonder if it's the vent pipe as dayhiker suggested. I am going to check that out. And when Jon gets home from Ft. Dix, we are going to go get my washer/dryet set which was nearly brand new when I put it into storage 4 years ago. Then we will scrap this old set. By cleaning out the duct hose and having new machines, hopefully they will not give me any trouble over the next year.”

“You can buy a chimney sweep type of brush from amazon and other places that will clean it.

Word to the wise, don't try to pull a t-shirt through the pipe unless it's connected to much stronger line than I used 8)

I was shocked at how much stuff came out.


The easy way to check it is to go ahead and run your dryer. Go outside to the vent and feel to see if much air is coming out. My airflow was so low that it could barely lift the vent cover to let the air out. Those shutters should be standing straight out when the dryer is running.”

“If the airflow looks good or even if it doesn't try to find out how to check the thermostat. I have never had a heating element over heat but I have had the thermostat go. That should happen before the element overheats to protect the element. Check the cheaper things before you get sucked into the big bills.”

“Good point. I wound up taking the heating element and thermostat off and getting them checked.

The heater is usually about 12"-18" long and maybe 6" wide. The back of it is just simple metal coils. The thermostat is maybe the diamter of a half dollar or smaller and maybe 3/4" thick.”

“hehehe you were lucky... the heater in my beastie is spiral coiled heating wire that makes a couple of circles around the back of the stationary drum. I don't think I could just take that out and have it checked. hehehe”

“In my house...we have gas heat and a gas dryer. When the dryer doesn't work, it is always (ok, so we've only lived in this house for 53 weeks now) that one of the kids has turned off the emergency switch in the basement stairs (it is right above the light switch.)”