Birch checking in

“Let's play caption that photo. With # 1 I'll go with:

Birchdawg
BMF”

“He is a Clooneyesque - less the manicure.”

“"Three Kings" came to mind.”

“Birch is my hero!”

“Forget it. Made no sense without the photo.

It's the first blog post here:

http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/
last edited: 9/22/09 8:29:31 AM”

“I am finally back in my room. This is the longest spell i've had here since the 14th of august, a total of 4 days and it rocks.

I've gotten to experience some pretty cool stuff lately. Most of the locals I have dealt with have been kurds and yazidis and they are amazingly generous people regardless of their financial situation. I've been fed by the dirt poor and the amazingly wealthy and have drank gallons of chai with everyone in between. The kids are beggars extrodinaire. As soon as we roll in all we here is "mista you give..." usually its food or water. The water is no biggy but we dont have much food but we scrape together what we can for the youngest and in my case the little girls (they are adorable beyond belief and the boys are much more rude). I've taken to carrying stuffed animals and will start bringing out school supplies.

I hung out in a village the other day and had (in order) crazy strong coffee, chai, dinner then chai with a high ranking sheikh. The food was ridiculously good, cous-cous, rice, chicken, flatbread, pickled peppers, olives, raw onion and a pepper similar to a green pepper yet slightly spicy and a salad made of apples, cucumber, tomato and pomegranete. We ate like kings then played football with the kids (who tried to steal the ball twice and trade it for whiskey). I hung out with an english teacher and BS'd with him for 2-3hrs about everything and anything. Days like that do a lot to boost morale since they are so rare.

I've been sick a lot lately, but hopefully am on the mend. Hygiene and lack of nutrition are probably big contributing factors. But as a whole I am doing well, and more importantly time is flying like crazy.”

“Thanks for checking in! Loved reading the above.

BTW, if you happen to run into Roman Polanskic can you kick him in the balls for us?
last edited: 10/01/09 11:50:47 AM”

“I'm glad you're doing well. Thanks for checking in.”

“Good to hear from you”

“Do you need school supplies or anything sent to you for the children? Glad time is flying for you. Stay safe”

“Yes Birch, please let us know what we can send for you to give to the kids. Good to hear from you.”

“You're a CHAMP! It's good hearing from you and readng your post brings a smile and admiration.”

“wow!!!....so good to hear from you!!!”

“tango, as of now I dont need any more school supplies. I have 4 boxes in my room, my church has 4 laundry baskets full enroute and I just found out some else is mailing me 100lbs more. I will need a connex for all this stuff. Thanks for sure though, I will let you know.

here is a pic of dinner


me and the kids


an absolutely adorable yazidi girl


an absolutely adorable yazidi girl”

“Why are those kids Texas fans?


That looks like a great meal.

Glad you're doing well.”

“LOL@dayhiker.....actually they are part of the Folks nation Gang...they just don't have the pitchfork sign down yet.”

“Good job, mista.


Hey Sunny!
last edited: 10/02/09 6:50:16 AM”

“Birch you are a hero...just keep remembering that. We are proud of you doing what you do.”

“Birch- Thanks for posting your interesting report and the lovable pictures.

You almost make me feel like reinlisting!
last edited: 10/02/09 7:25:28 AM”

“Birch and sass, we have our boy Scout troop working on packages. things to keep you busy birch :)
would you mind sharing the items with the rest of your outfit? package will include notes from the boys...

any music CD's?”

“DORK, SWEET! more stuff...i'll definitely pass the goods around. We have a few guys who dont get anything. No need for music, most of us have hard drives loaded with tons of tunes, but thanks.

I got in yesterday to find a pile of stuff waiting for me. A huge box of enertia meals from Binks (thanks again!!) and a HUGE box with 144 pouches of chew in it (redman rocks the free world!). I couldnt use that in a year so I have been passing it around.”

“oh i feel bad to hear he does not get any thing :(

i will let you know once the boys are done and we are ready to ship it out!

on a side note, they made us proud when they offered to share there Halloween candy with you all...makes a mother feel good :)”

“Damnit, now I feel bad for those who don't get anything :-( Give me an address and I send some swiss treats to one or two of those.”

“Is the Swiss chocolate any good?”

“It's simply the best in the world. And I'd consider it as a small return for the CARE packages my family once received from America ;-)”

“Euro, no chocolate until winter. It melts. It's coming soon though!”

“i thought the swiss were supposed to remain neutral. euro will have to send chocolate to the enemy now”

“That's real sweet, Euro....and I'm not trying to be funny.............this time.

Hey Sass, let me know if there is anything the boys need.

What about envelopes and paper for letter-writing?

I don't believe they need stamps.

Perhaps its a bit old fashioned, but paper letters mean a lot.”

“Birch'll be around for a few days, I bet he's got some ideas, if not I'll send you an email w/ ideas.”

“Crash, the Swiss are neutral. But I am German ;-)
While birch gets showered with attention (good for him) I felt so sorry some other poor guys go empty. It was a totally spontaneous decision, but I have been thinking three times about it, before I posted my offer here. I thought it might be turned down for political reasons or become target of more political rants. Honestly, the last thing this is meant to be is a political statement. I thought it is a fun way to return a small favour for another favour given from unknown senders a long time ago.

Sass, I know just the right sort of swiss good, that won’t melt or crumble and if the guy doesn’t need it for himself, he has something he can give as a present , trade or barter with, wherever in the world he is ;-)”

“No problem, Euro. If you frequented a Pakistan based backpacking board and members there were soldiers or family members of the Taliban why shouldn't you send them care packages.”

“Thanks for the suggestion you clown.”

“crash the clown?

pic please”

“I was actually being serious, Euro. The people on the other side of the guns are still people with lives and families and personal interests. They have loved ones who also want to send them care packages.
last edited: 10/09/09 6:33:44 AM”

“Hyway, if they will just send me a location where they want the "care packages" delivered I have friends who will be EXCEEDINGLY happy to send them (LOL).”

“Okay hyway. You are serious? Fine. Here is the deal: find the address of those "family members of the Taliban" and for each care package YOU send them I'll match it up with a childrens toy, or milk powder for infants or whatever is needed or a care package to a family somewhere else in the world.
You can take me by my word. How much is your word worth now?

You find my email address in my profil. As a matter of respect, please, I'd like to take further discussion off this thread and we settle it 'behind the scene'.”

“Sass can I ask a question. why would they want mcdonalds little happy meal toys?
for the kids or do the men folk play with htem.tell the truth!!!
:)”

“I assumed it had to do with target practice.”

“You misunderstand me, Euro. I wasn't trying to say you SHOULD send them care packages. I was saying that IF you (or anyone else) were an active participant on a message board that had family members fighting on the other side of the war it would be appropriate to send them care packages just like it is for us to send care packages to US and allied soldiers because we have a tie to them. My message was on how you decision to send care packages shouldn't be viewed as a political decision but rather as a personal decision.

To repeat, I was agreeing with you not trying to put you down.”

“....oh. I thought you were putting me down.”

“When I think of putting you down, my thoughts run to the more pleasurable reasons for doing that.”

“and the thread goes south of the boarder...”

“:-)”

“and the thread goes south of the boarder...”
The Dutchess of Road Kill
11:00:41 AM
10/09/09

Boarder? Is hyway a spanker or something? On second thought, don't answer that.”

“I am 5 days shy of the 180 day mark. Providing we arent extended I am almost to the top of the hill and time continues to race by.

My platoon mates are starting to rotate through on leave so we have been a bit busier with the decrease in man power. I will head home in a bit over two months and cant wait.

I am getting to experience Iraq and its unique bacteria on a very personal level these days. I will go so the Doctor today but my medic (6yrs hospital work as an LPN) has informed me that I have a sweet bacterial thing taking me over. He used a pretty cool sight and smell test of you know what in a zip loc bag. I have lost 3-4 lbs in 3 days and am about zero on energy and appetite. The plan is to get some anti-biotics and some bedrest and hopefully a quick recovery. This is getting quite old.

Here some recent pics from my facebook page.
Me and the Sir enjoying breakfast by our MRAP

My Halloween costume, not sure what I was supposed to be but I had a horse skull and didnt want to waste it

Me and my boys


I hope you are all well and getting some great fall trips in!
last edited: 11/04/09 1:54:59 AM”

“Get well Birch, stay safe and thank you as well as all the troops for keeping us safe.”

“Glad (extremely) you're going to the DR!”

“Is that a horse or camel skull? From this angle it looks more camel-like.

I hope the gut bugs go away quickly and don't come back.”

“A skull is a terrible thing to waste.”

“Yeah, 'cause they make great yard decorations!

Um, yeah, I have a few lying around... :D

Oooh, coffee and emergen-C kicked in.”