Monday, September 20, 2004
Armed Forces Tribute
My Dad forwarded me the link. It came from a close friend of the family that is a retired Air Force NCO.
It may seem a bit hokey to some. But, not to me.
Tikrit is in the middle of the "Sunni Triangle". Right up until the time that the 1st Infantry Division took over this base, this was one of the hottest spots in all of Iraq. Saddam was captured not here from here. Uday, and Qusay were killed not far from here.
I knew when I left that a lot of people were praying for me. My parents, their church, my in-laws, their church, the family of the preacher that married my wife and I, and the church that they now lead, the family friend that forwarded this to my dad, his family, their respective churches ... just to name a few.
Tikrit, now, is probably one of the safest places in all of Iraq to be an American serviceman. There were daily mortar and rocket attacks when we first got here. Now, if there is one a week, it has been a HEAVY week. They never have been able to hit anything. Now, it's not unusual to miss the base entirely. If you don't believe me, check the news. When was the last time you saw Tikrit in the news? My guess is shortly after the 4th of July. You know why? AP picked up and ran a story on our 4th of July celebration. Had a pretty nice picture from our fireworks display as well. Been meaning to link to the story here, but I have had problems finding it on a site where I didn't have to pay for it.
Am I saying this is all because of a few prayers, that some mystical thing that God has done has made this base so much safer than a lot of other places? Not necessarily. I think a lot of things have been done in this area to minimize the violence. Ordinary, mundane things. Now, if you ask me if God "guided", if you will, those things to come about as an end result of those prayers, then I have a different answer.
In any case, prayers/thoughts/meditations/whatever can't hurt, and they are appreciated.
It may seem a bit hokey to some. But, not to me.
Tikrit is in the middle of the "Sunni Triangle". Right up until the time that the 1st Infantry Division took over this base, this was one of the hottest spots in all of Iraq. Saddam was captured not here from here. Uday, and Qusay were killed not far from here.
I knew when I left that a lot of people were praying for me. My parents, their church, my in-laws, their church, the family of the preacher that married my wife and I, and the church that they now lead, the family friend that forwarded this to my dad, his family, their respective churches ... just to name a few.
Tikrit, now, is probably one of the safest places in all of Iraq to be an American serviceman. There were daily mortar and rocket attacks when we first got here. Now, if there is one a week, it has been a HEAVY week. They never have been able to hit anything. Now, it's not unusual to miss the base entirely. If you don't believe me, check the news. When was the last time you saw Tikrit in the news? My guess is shortly after the 4th of July. You know why? AP picked up and ran a story on our 4th of July celebration. Had a pretty nice picture from our fireworks display as well. Been meaning to link to the story here, but I have had problems finding it on a site where I didn't have to pay for it.
Am I saying this is all because of a few prayers, that some mystical thing that God has done has made this base so much safer than a lot of other places? Not necessarily. I think a lot of things have been done in this area to minimize the violence. Ordinary, mundane things. Now, if you ask me if God "guided", if you will, those things to come about as an end result of those prayers, then I have a different answer.
In any case, prayers/thoughts/meditations/whatever can't hurt, and they are appreciated.
