The Votes are In
and the results are unanimous. Teddy has been elected to all 275 parliamentary seats in Iraq!!! The crowd goes wild!!! Okay, I can't back that up, and the votes won't be counted for about three weeks. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't an option on the ballot. However, the elections did apparently go well today as I have seen in the news, and I no doubt would have known if something was wrong as I was at an important IP station near a polling site most of the day. With traffic restricted, people had to walk to vote, and it was very good to see hundreds of people on the street, men and women alike, some with their children. I saw one family walking down a road and their daughter who couldn't have been more than about 2 or 3 was happily waving a holographic Iraqi flag. I did hear the mortar that landed near the green zone this morning that apparently slightly injured one marine, and two contractors, but as far as I've been able to ascertain, those were the only injuries of the day. Right as the polls were closing (voting was extended an hour due to high turnout!), I thought we were going to "get it" as I heard more gunfire than I've heard all year and it seemed to be moving towards us. Turned out to be Iraqi Army celebrating of course. They still haven't figured out that what goes up must come down. I did read that 46 people were treated at Baghdad hospitals for falling bullet related injuries after the soccer victory the other evening. Speaking of gravity and bullets, two nights ago while pulling in to our home FOB, we saw tracer fire in the distance, far enough away that I couldn't hear the shots. Then they turned our way, and passed over me about 100-200 feet in the air and the tracers burned out right over me, which probably means they landed somewhere inside the FOB. I still don't know who was shooting.
As to Dad's question, once the TOA occurs, pretty much all that's left to do is get on the bird and fly out as at that point, all equipment will already have been signed over, training completed, etc. And for Chad, yes, I do know some of the guys returning home with that unit, as some of them were in my unit that got split up.
Happy election day, everyone! TeddY2K out!
As to Dad's question, once the TOA occurs, pretty much all that's left to do is get on the bird and fly out as at that point, all equipment will already have been signed over, training completed, etc. And for Chad, yes, I do know some of the guys returning home with that unit, as some of them were in my unit that got split up.
Happy election day, everyone! TeddY2K out!
posted by TeddY2K at 10:01 PM
10 Comments:
Hey, son.
Congratulations on making it through the elections...even if you won't be the next prime minister. I'm glad I didn't know beforehand that you'd be standing around near an important polling station. It's encouraging to hear that whole families turned out for the voting.
Keep safe.
Hey, son
Me again...just checked the Channel 8 web site and saw that Peoples' mom was interviewed.
If you and 275 friends had got elected you could have made some Bigga changes!!
But then you would have had to stay there, which we don't want.
With all the fighting going on, seems people would think of different ways to celebrate a good thing.
Keep the helmet on and keep safe.
Hey Teddy. Just a hello to say way to go, glad you're safe, and looking forward to your homecoming.
I think about you and your family a lot.
Linda in TN
I got this in an e-mail and thought I would pass it on to all who read teddy's posts. I thought all including him would enjoy:
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother...
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
Thanks, Chad.
It's really something to see how many people care about Teddy.
I like that poem, Chad.
My good friend Mike from school sent it to me and everybody else in our frat. I sent it to my father, and he cried. Again.
Hey man -
Just wishing you a Merry Christmas from Germany. Hope everything is all right.....
Hi Sean,
Just wanted to say "Hi". Even though you don't post daily I keep tabs on you from Aaron and Becky since they see you on IM almost daily and talk to you often. Take care and keep safe. Can't wait to have you home again. Looking forward to your welcome home party.
Hey, Nephew!
Uncle Paul & Auntie Kim would like you to be our guest at the International Motorcycle Show @ the Rosemont (Donald Stevens) Convention Center on 2/12/06. All the mfrs are there, you can play touchy/feely with the bikes, you can buy any accessory you think of. We go on a bus with our motorcycle club. Leave early Sunday AM, you could stay at our house the night before. Home by mid-afternoon, ISU is only 2 hrs from our house.
Interested? Send your response to O & O, don't think you have my email address.
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