Ryan and Christy's Place

Hey everybody,

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since I left home to start this long journey of deployment. As Christy pointed out, it’s very hard for us to even imagine the people we have become now over the last year. There have been some ups but many more downs, and I’m thrilled that we are on the home stretch for this entire thing to be over.

I would have to say that I have learned a lot of things about myself in the past year. I am a lot stronger than I thought I was and I have handled this situation a lot better than I thought I would, but I will admit that it has been taking its toll on me. We were sort of the guinea pigs for long deployment, spending five months between Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin before getting deployed, compared to the two months that soldiers are going through now. If we would have trained for that long we would be very close to going home. Which leads me to something else that I have learned, which is patience. Patience to deal with the long days of being away from home and patience for dealing with all of the unexpected curveballs the Army loves to throw in the way of its soldiers.

I’ve learned a lot about other people and other cultures over the past year as well. I’ve learned a lot about my buddies, and I have to say that going through this experience with them has definitely made this easier than I imagined it would be. The guys in my platoon are some of the best guys that I have ever known, and I consider them brothers. As brothers do, though, over a years time, we have fought, and you do get tired of them.

I have learned  live in a region with a vastly different culture than the one I live in. Iraqis have a completely different outlook on life than we as Americans have, and it has been challenging to adapt. It definitely has been an experience that I’ll never forget.

I am back at Bernstein now after spending last week in Baghdad taking a class. The trip to Baghdad was an interesting experience, but I am very glad that I’m not stationed there. I flew down on a black hawk helicopter and shot some awesome video. I think that had to be the coolest thing that I have done in my four years in the Army. I saw some interesting sites while I was on the base there, but the violence alone was enough for me. I heard gunshots and explosions off in the distance most of the time that I was there, and the shock waves off of a vehicle-born IED actually shook the windows of our classroom.

There really isn’t much else that is going on here. I’ve got a few down days to chill after getting back from my trip and I’m just trying to get some personal things done.

If I don’t get around to making another post before the 4^th.. Happy Fourth of July everybody. 

- Ryan