What’s new?
Let’s see. Last week, Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff flew into Ramrod to give out 5 Purple Heart Medals and meet the troops stationed here. It was great to meet him and almost everyone got coined by him personally.
On Sunday, the Ramrod Chapel held its first baptism. Some things you never expect to see out here, and that was definitely one of them.
Since then, I’ve been out on a couple humanitarian missions and another small mission involving a tunnel we thought was being used to store weapons. Turned out it was a cooking pit and a tunnel to get under a main road.
On the way home from that mission, we came across a civilian convoy that had just been ambushed. Five trucks had their tires shot out and then set on fire. Only one driver was injured. The Afghan drivers were taking U.S. supplies to the Marines in Helmand. Too bad they didn’t make it there. Our battalion was able to help secure the area until we could safely remove the remaining two containers. We then dragged the burnt out trucks off the road. It took almost 10 hours to finish clearing the highway. All this after being up since 1 a.m. in the morning for the previous mission. Needless to say, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and crashed as soon as we got back.
Enjoy the pictures. More to follow.
July 23, 2009 at 11:49 am
Those are some great photos – thanks for sharing them. The local news mentioned that a hometown boy was killed this week in Afphganistan. Do be careful over there.
July 23, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Awesome shots- really cool.
July 23, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Great pictures! I gotta say…those Afghan children are really beautiful. Do they seem scared of the soldiers, or is it just a regular part of their lives? Can we send anything special that the grunts can give to the kids?
I’m suprised to see any “green” over there; I thought it was all sand! I know the heat has been just brutal, so how’s everybody holding up ? I know you’re very busy, and I gotta tell you again how much I appreciate you taking the time to post. The days probably go really fast over there, but they DRAG for us Moms here at home! Keep cool and be safe.
July 23, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I really enjoy seeing your pics . We all appreciate what you all do for us every day.Be safe and THANKS!
July 24, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Thanks for the comment Paul. I’ll continue to post more pictures as we go along. I typically take a couple hundred on any given day. It’s just a matter of sorting through them that ends up taking a while. Hope all is well back home!
July 23, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Thank you for sharing. It is always so nice to hear how life is for our 1/12th troops in Afghanistan. My son is there with you and it helps to see what he is seeing. This was not possible when his father was in they Army. Thanks again for sharing and I look forward to more photos and blogs. Stay safe!
July 24, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Technology has been great in that we can keep in touch so easily — even in the middle of this desert country. Everyone is doing well here. It’s busy, but I’ll do what I can to keep everyone informed of what we are doing. Take care!
July 24, 2009 at 12:01 am
Thank you so much for sharing the pictures! They were great. It sounds like you are really working hard over there. Thank you so much for everything that you are doing. Keep safe and know we are praying for you daily!
July 24, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Oh, it’s been quite busy here. And, pretty soon, it’s going to get even worse. On top of all that, mail has been taking forever to get here. It’s all backed up at Kandahar due to lack of transport out here. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Maybe in the next few days… Hope all is well. It’s always great hearing from you!
July 25, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I just wanted to say thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart for your fantastic blog site. Your pictures have brought both tears and smiles to my face, not to mention the posts from all of the brave relatives showing their love and fears. My respect and prayers are with all of you!
I would like to plan on using this site, with my students, this fall. You have really made it come to life… the media tends to be challenged with this aspect of reporting. Cest la vie. I am sure you have some missions coming up soon, but I will hopefully be able to report back in a month and get some ideas on how to go about sending care packages and letters from our little guys (K-6 graders) that you are so bravely protecting.
Thank you again.
Wishing you peace and offering much gratitude.
Fairchild
August 5, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Fairchild,
I’d love to work something out with you to get any care packages and letters sent out here to our Soldiers. Get back with me when you have the time to see about what we can do to arrange this. And yes, the media is focused on the sensational and quickly forgets the everyday grind that our Soldiers go through for our country. Thanks for your kind words as well. Keep in touch.
August 6, 2009 at 2:29 am
Will do! Thank you so much for your response! Wishing you and everyone the best. Stay strong and know we are NOT forgetting about any of you! I am sorry for losses, when someone is lost a little piece of each of us becomes lost. All are in in my prayers!
Peace,
Fairchild
July 26, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Awesome photographs…thank you for sharing with us and stay safe.
July 26, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Good pics, really. Hope to hear from you again soon: take good care. You’re in our thoughts and prayers (how’s your marathon training doing?)
July 31, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I stumbled upon your website when I “googled” FOB Ramrod. Thank you for an inside look. My husband is a Marine (& probably the only one) stationed at Ramrod, leading a joint IED task force. He’s not the most talkative guy on the phone, nor does he send very many pics home – so it was really nice to see that there really is life going on out there.
Great job! And again, thank you for sharing it with everyone.
August 4, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Hey Jetgwot, WHERE U AT? Haven’t heard from you in a while…gettin’ nervous!
Hey Carla, isn’t the site the best thing ever! Glad you found the rest of the Ramrod gang of parents, wives, relatives and friends.
I haven’t heard a single word from my son in weeks…I know that they’re busy, but I’m about to loose it if they don’t get a “Call home” break soon!
So I’m REALLY hoping for a Desert Bound update!