My little brother is on the way home

[UtterBlitz]

Just got word today that Paul is in Kuwait and he is headed back to the states. My last several emails did not make it to him, and I am a bit irritated about not being able to talk to him, but I shall get over it.

He should be back in Texas before Christmas.

Here is a couple of the last emails that he sent that were pretty funny.

Well it's looking like it's going to be an ugly winter here in Iraq. We had a massive fast moving front go through here tonight. Started off with the biggest display of lightning I'd ever seen, followed by a quick hard shower that reminded me of afternoons in Houston in the summer. I figured the rain was done, so I headed out of the PX and to my really cool ride, a Huffy Mountain bike. My left ankle started to hurt really bad right down to the heel of my foot. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but it was my internal barometer going crazy. Wouldn't you know it Mean Mother Nature blew my kick ass ride on to it's side. So I pulled my bike out of the dirt, (still have a hard time with that one, I make stupid money and I still drive a bicycle to and from work) and headed for the chow hall for some food. Well I made it half way there when the wind really started to kick up, I figured I could make it the rest of the way and weather the storm out while eating. Wrong again, two Black hawks went right over my head at less than 50 feet off the deck, going as fast as they could with a horrendous tail wind blowing them all over the sky. That's when I realized it wasn't even safe to be riding a bike in this weather. I was blown off the side walk and into the road, thank God no vehicles were coming. My helmet was sucked off my head and only stopped for a con create wall two city blocks away. It felt like being in a mini hurricane, little scary for me, a lot scary for anybody flying a helicopter. Strange place this desert.

I, of course, harrassed him about his cool ride. He broke his ankle dropping a dirtbike a while ago and it hurts when the weather changes.


Here is another one

Here's a dish for the whole family will enjoy, from your "Easy Bake Apache Oven"

Preheat your Apache Longbow to 150 deg F.

This can be done easily by just leaving your War Machine in the sun for the afternoon.

Next stuff your nearest 210 pound aircraft mechanic, or nearest available substitute into the interior of the tail boom. Note: the further you can get your mechanic into the tail the better.

Next reduce the heat to 120 deg F and slow simmer for three to five hours.

Make sure you attach a rope to a leg or an arm of your mechanic for ease in removal.

Then just pull firmly on the rope until your fully cooked mechanic has been extracted, and enjoy.

Warning in some extreme cases you may have to cut the tail off of your 17 million dollar war machine in order to extract said mechanic.

I was going to attach the picture that he sent with this email. He is hanging upside down and smiling like an idiot, but it the file is too big to upload in its current format.

I'll see if I can figure out how to make the pictures smaller and then I can post some of the cooler ones.

[r8rh8rmike]

I'm happy for you and your brother Utter. Please tell him how much I appreciate his service and sacrifice.

[RamWraith]

COOL BEANS UTTER!!

My son-in-law has been back state side for almost a year. He just got word that he could be re-deployed with in the year. :\

[UtterBlitz]

Cool beans indeed. I have not talked to him in so long. He came once during his year and 4 months but I just got a phone call out of him that time. I did not get to see him. He has missed two beach trips with the family.

I am glad we could email, but he has been really quiet this year. The only phone that I got was a 4 o'clock in the morning after my Dad's heart attack. I don't rate very high on the call list apparently.

I'll give him some props for his efforts over there when I get to talk to him again.

Wraith, let's hope they don't drag this thing on forever.

[HUbison]

That is outstanding news, Utter! Please thank him for everything he's done for all of us.

[Bruce=GOAT]

That is wonderful news! I am very glad to see that he is coming back safe and sound, and I appreciate his contributions.

[coy bacon]

Glad to hear he's coming back. I hope he doesn't have to go back. I'd like to see us get all of our boys out today. When will his enlistment end?

[AlphaRam]

I am always glad to hear about our soldiers returning home safe. You hear so many stories about horrendous injury and death of our people over there. I hope the two of you have a great reunion when you see each other again.

[UtterBlitz]

Glad to hear he's coming back. I hope he doesn't have to go back. I'd like to see us get all of our boys out today. When will his enlistment end?

Coy, he is not enlisted anymore. He left the Army years ago.

He does not have to go back, and he never had to go.

He was contracting with a company to work on the helicopters. He accepted the risk and the work load, since it meant big tax free money to him. He was working for Delta, but Delta has moved a lot of their repair work to Mexico due to the cheaper labor costs. He has made some decent money over in Iraq, but he still faces the problem of finding a job in the US.

Outsourcing....it's good for the stock holders and big business, but not so good for the US employees, IMO. Better stop here....starting to cross over that politics line ...... hehehe

I hope the two of you have a great reunion when you see each other again.

Me too....I just wish I knew when I will get to see him. I was trying to arrange for a family get together, but those emails never made it to him. I'll just have to wait and find out what can be planned when he makes it back here.

Here is a little thumbnail picture of him in the Apache.