Nov 27 2004
E-Mail from Ben…
I received the following e-mail from my cousin Ben about his time in Falluja, Iraq. I thought I would pass it on to everyone.
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Dear Family and Friends,
Just wanted to give a little more info on what I have been doing over the last month or so. For those of you who weren’t informed by my immediate family, I was involved in the Falluja offensive that I’m sure was all over the news back home(probably still is). Because of the sensitive nature of the missions down there, and where we were going to be, I was unable to give specifics before going (I technically wasn’t supposed to let anybody know I was gone from here).
In a nutshell, they sent 12 of our medics down there, with 4 of our 113 tracked-vehicle ambulances. They requested us specifically because those vehicles are able to withstand nearly all types small-arms gunfire, which can probably tell you what the nature of our usage was going to be. They split us up into 2 groups and gave us to 2 different Marine battalions down there. There isn’t really any reason to give a detailed account of who, what, when , and where (and I’d probably get in trouble for doing so), but it is enough to say that it will always be one of the great moments in all of our lives. We were able to be involved in what most are considering to be the most important battle of this whole Iraqi war. Because of the nature of my/our jobs as medics, we saw many sobering things. Many of those things I hope none of you ever have to see in person. It is an over-used saying, but until you see it in person, you can never fully understand that “War is hell.” But we w
ere able to help treat many Marines and Iraqis (both civilians and insurgents), and we also dealt with the bodies of those who will never see home again, and we feel very honored to have been able to do so. There were many factors that came into play for us to be down there, and we were fortunate to be able to go help.
My time on the computer is nearly up, so I must wrap up. I don’t have any specific stories to share yet, as I want to take time to write much of it down first. But I want to thank you all for the prayers that you have been praying for me/us over the last 7+ months. I really felt a peace about being down there, knowing that I had such awesome support back home. You all are the best!
Ben
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