Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Before this all gets started I want to first thank the people at VA Mortgage center for giving me the opportunity to express myself in this forum. Mil-Blogging is not something that I’m normally associated with and the chance to express my opinions on some of these matters is a refreshing one. But before we get to my contributions – some serious and some bordering on the ridiculous and sophomoric – I thought it important to acquaint you, the Mil-blogging community with who I am and what my credentials are.

Yes, I am in the military – if you count being a part of the Air National Guard “military”. Most of the Mil-Bloggers I’ve met are battle hardened Marines and Soldiers and using the Air National Guard moniker in those ranks is like screaming, “I’m a tough guy too,” at a mixed martial arts tournament because at, almost thirty years old, no one has threatened to beat you up and take your lunch money in at least two weeks. What can I say; some of the geeks I work with in the civilian sector are mean S.O.Bs.

I’ve been writing online since long before the term “blog” was en-vogue and after I joined the military I was expressly forbidden from ever mentioning my “affiliation” with any government agency on my now infamous and defunct website. A rule that I firmly stuck to until I was exposed, in a very grandiose fashion, thanks to some reporters in Northern California. At the time of the story I was the enlisted aide to the Adjutant General of the California National Guard and I ran a comedy website – a website based around sophomoric humor and wiener-laden off color social commentary – called HowToKillPeople.com. After the story hit the mainstream media I was made a public pariah at the expense of my blossoming career. The name of my site – in and of itself, without viewing of the content – was used as a rallying cry around which sycophants and the socially inept could clamor in order to express their distaste.

pictured: the face of public outcry or just a guy who likes Transformers too much?

Blogging, as a military member, is a fundamental part of the new media experiment that the world is currently ensconced in. Never before has the Private on the front line had the same ability as the embedded reporter to bring to the masses the true stories of the ugliness and beauty of war. Some of you may be turned off by equating the words “beauty” and “war” in the same phrase but the fact of the matter is that even in the midst of a bloody war, beauty can exist. The mainstream media often salivates over the numbers of people killed and the number of road side bombs that have been detonated on any given day.  The Private working patrols outside the wire is the one who will bring you stories of children playing soccer in an arena that was once used by an oppressive regime for troop amassment. As such mil-blogging is an invaluable tool to connect the American public to the events that are happening half a world away. It’s one of the truest expressions of the first amendment, an amendment most in uniform will unhappily tell you does not apply to them because though they have volunteered to die in defense of the constitution they are not protected by its governance.

Recent events have forced the government to deal with the reality of blogging and its repercussions not only here on American soil but also abroad. Mil-blogging represents the truest form of military reporting; an uncensored, unwashed, direct to the public, view of life in service to our nation. Though they’re very rarely given the credit they deserve people like Troy, CJ and Marcus not only bring you untold tales of heroes who would normally be forgotten, they also risk the animosity and rancor of not only their superiors but the public at large as well.

I’ll be out of the military in a little over three months, having served six years, but I’ll always consider myself fortunate to be counted among the few who have donned the uniform and the even fewer who have spoken their mind during that tenure. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to bring you my take on military events, though some of my opinions are patently ludicrous.  But thank you even more for giving these men the ability to bring you their stories. For history is no longer being written by a chosen few. And by visiting the mil-blogging community you are being given a front row seat to the stories that will populate the text books of your children and grand children. It’s an honor and hopefully I can rise to the occasion.

Travis
i am humbled

You can find more of Travis at his website – Whiskey For Breakfast or you can follow him on twitter .

Dr. Diane Hassan, who we recently featured here on You Served with our “On Loan” segment, has launched a blog over at www.angelsamonguseveninirag.blogspot.com.

We had a lot of positive feedback about Dr. Hassan’s posts here on the site, so if you’re looking for more from her, check out the blog!

You can read her posts from the “On Loan” segments here. Last Thursday, she was a guest on You Served Radio.

Buy her book Angels Among Us . . . Even in Iraq from Amazon.

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

As the days went by, we started having a routine. We actually became use to the planes coming every night at 9 pm on the dot. One night the planes did not come and I actually felt disappointed.

Early one morning around 2 am, I was listening to the voice of America, the planes were over head dropping missiles all around, I heard President George H. Bush say three words that I will never forget,”Okay cease fire.” Planes were still over head dropping missiles, I thought okay fellas, our President said cease fire you can quit now. They continued to hit our area until dawn and then we had silence.

Around 8 am we heard gun shots all around us, we heard continuous sounds of gun fire. We did not know where it was coming from. My nephew who was only 8 years old at the time, Ali, was listening to the radio and told us the people in Basrah are fighting the government.

The soldiers that were returning from Kuwait on the highway of death, when they made it back to Basrah one of the Iraqi tanks fired on a Statue of Saddam. Nothing happened, people were watching. It was their clue that it is time to rise up against Saddam, America is near by, they will help.

Every town, and village in Iraq rose up against Saddam. Men, women and children began the fight for freedom. We heard shooting day and night for days.

We stayed in our home, away from the windows and prayed for all the brave Iraqies that were fighting for freedom. They were willing to die in order to bring Saddam down. I was listening to the voice of America, while gun fire was all around us. I felt safe as long as I heard English being spoken. I heard President George H. Bush say, “We do not interfere in internal affairs.” Tears started coming down my checks, I felt hopeless, I knew how every one of my patients felt when I had to tell them they had a terminal illness. Iraq had a terminal illness, Saddam.

Iraq was destroyed, the Iraqis were fighting a hopeless battle, help was not coming. I knew what would happen next. Saddam was allowed to fly his helicopters and he and his Revolutionary guards killed in the South of Iraq 300,000 Shites who were fighting for freedom. The revolution was squashed, Saddam ordered everyone to return to work and business as usual in a destroyed Iraq. That was the Iraq of yesterday. The people were persecuted ten times more because they rose up against Saddam.

We left Iraq in 1993. The people left behind suffered so much. They lost their hope for Freedom. They were willing to pay the price, but they needed help. They were almost to Baghdad, the government had fallen and Saddam was allowed to fly those horrible black helicopters…

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

The first night of missiles being dropped all over Iraq was over. We made it thru the first night. When the sun came up planes left. The planes came to our area only at night.

I remembered the Iran war, missiles were launched into Baghdad, but they never hit their targets. Usually the missile would fall on neighborhoods and innocent people were killed. America was precise in only hitting military targets.

As, I watch the news today and see the unrest in Iran, I feel like I am back in 1979, when the Shaw left Iran, and there was so much violence going on in Iran, like I am seeing today. The Iranians are like the Iraqies were during Desert Storm, the people are tired and they want change. I feel I am back in 1979, when I see Iran today.

After our first night of bombing during Desert Storm, the people of Iraq knew what is was like to be at war with a super power. The Iraqies were not afraid as long as America was overhead. The farmers in our area bragged on America and were excited about how they only hit military targets, not civilians, I heard about the soldiers that went in to the South of Iraq, they bragged on how they didn’t even step on the tomato plants.

After the first week we no longer had food or water. We would save water in barrels outside when the government did turn on the water. We bathed every two weeks, water was scarce, and fuel to heat the water was scarce.

The farmers in the area knew what grew naturally that we could eat. They made sure they shared their bread with us and what food they had. We were tired, hungry, cold and scared, but that was okay, that was the price we knew we had to pay for freedom…freedom is not free

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

I turned the t.v.off and tried to sleep. In the distance I heard gunfire. I went to the window and pulled the curtain covering the glass back, the street light was on, surely if there were an air raid they would close the electricity.

I woke Hashmia up and we both stared out the window into the night. I don’t know what we thought we might see. The gun fire became closer and more intense. I turned the small radio on to the voice of America and I heard President George H . Bush say The Liberation of Kuwait has begun. I knew every Iraqi was saying the liberation of Iraq has begun. I told Hasmia the war started, they are bombing Baghdad.

We woke the boys up and we all all got out our blankets. Hashmia and I decided the safest place was under the stairs. Hashmia, her two boys, Mohammed and I all hid under the staircase. I was shaking so hard. I don’t know if it were from the cold or from fright. We were settled under the stair case, waiting for the planes. No one spoke.

Then we heard the sounds of the engines, it felt like the sky was filled with planes. Missiles were being dropped all around us. The floors moved, the walls shook, windows blew open, I want to say I was proud to be an American. The greatest military force in the world was over head. I knew if we died that night, we would die at the hands of the best.

Missiles were being dropped continuously until around 4 am and it was like the planes left as quick as they came. It was so quite, the most beautiful quietness I ever experienced. When we could move, I ask if everyone was okay. Every body was okay, just shaken a little. Then I realized there were cases of Pepsi behind us, I decided we would have a Pepsi break.

Mohammed ran to the kitchen to get the opener. I opened all of us a bottle of cold Pepsi. While we sat there and had a Pepsi break, we heard the engines again, my little nephew whispered to me, Doctora, I guess the Pepsi break is over…..

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

Saddam sent all the male doctors to the front with the soldiers and all the females had to go to the village or the bomb shelters. I was preparing to leave Baghdad and go to my sister-in-law’s home. She lived in Yethrub, which was a small village about five minutes from the largest airport in the Middle East Every military installation in Iraq surrounded her home.

My husband wanted me and Mohammed to leave Baghdad, he did not know what would happen. Everyone felt a coup against Saddam would occur, after all America was near by to help. Hashim felt if I were in Yethrub, I would be close to the Turkish border. I could escape to Turkey and the Americans would help me. Everyone wanted to leave Baghdad, because they were afraid Saddam would use gas on the Iraqi people and say America did it.

I was packing a few things to take with me. I did not know if I would ever see my home again. How could I decide what to take with me, something that I did not want to loose in case my home were hit. I decided on my microwave oven that I had just bought in the Duty free shop. There were very few, maybe four or five microwave ovens in Iraq. My microwave was a symbol of my life in America, a symbol of an easy life, a reminder of Freedom.

My husband took me, Mohammed and my microwave to Yethrub. My neighbors came out to say good bye, they wanted me to remain in Baghdad with them, they felt if I were near by they were safe after all it would be my relatives in the sky and relatives don’t kill relatives.

As Hashim turned on to the main street, I saw numerous cars with all their household goods on the roof, people filled the street going to the market on the main street where we lived. We passed gas stations that had long lines of cars waiting. Due to the mass number of people leaving Baghdad, we moved slowly, until we reached the highway to Yethrub.

We arrived at Hashmia’s ,Hashim’s sister’s home about 7 p.m. She was preparing for us. She had one room with mats on the floor and the one window in the room was sealed with tape. She hope this would be sufficient if Saddam threw chemicals over our area. Hashim said good bye and returned to Baghdad. He stayed in Baghdad and would come to Yethrub from time to time to check on us.

We were alone now, me, my son Mohammed, my sister-in-law, Hashima, her two small sons, Amar, Mohammed’s age and Ali who was eight years old…We had our dinner, everyone had their mats, Mohammed had a sleeping bag, we settled in for the night . Everyone slept, but me. I remained awake watching a Glen Ford Movie, and praying the planes would not come.

Nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen….

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

When Mohammed and I arrived at Baghdad International airport, we were met by Hashim and several family members. As we were collecting our luggage, a cousin leaned over and whispered, why did you come back, for freedom I whispered.

Things were the same in Baghdad as Hashim drove rapidly to our home. I gazed out the window looking at the various places we passed, people were in the market, shops were open, business as usual. One almost doubted the formation of the coalition.

Iraq was use to war, they had just completed a long war with Iran. Nothing prepared us for war with a super power.

My neighbors,were in the garden, when they saw us arrive, they came over to welcome Mohammed me home. I could tell the wonder in their eyes, why did I return when I was safe in America.

After settling in, Hashim returned to the office the next morning, Mohammed went to school. Life was the same. I would listen to the Iraqi news and hear about the troops in Kuwait. Saddam was settling in Kuwait. I listened to the voice of America every day at 12 o’clock, in order to hear what was happening around me. I heard Saddam had taken hostages from Kuwait and brought them to Baghdad. I knew they would be alright. Saddam would never hurt foreigners, he had enough Iraqies for that.

Every day family members of the hostages would talk to their love ones. I was attached to these family members, they were talking to Iraq as well. The hostages were freed..all the American news casters that came to Baghdad to interview Saddam were gone.

The coalition was coming to free Kuwait and in every Iraqi heart, free Iraq..Freedom is not Free…

This post is contributed by Dr. Diane Hassan, author of “Angels Among Us Even in Iraq”, who is currently participating in “On Loan at You Served” as a guest blogger.

Saddam was becoming more powerful and the members of the Baath party were becoming weaker. Saddam moved quickly with his ideas of bringing family members in position of power and finding excuses to imprison or execute old party members. He wanted to rid himself of any threat to his reign.

When Saddam saw the change in power in Iran, when the Shaw left, he felt it was a good time to invade Iran and recapture a strip of land he felt belonged to Iraq. Saddam thought it would take only a few weeks, the war lasted 7 long years. When the Iran war abruptly stopped, I was visiting in America. I saw the people rush into the streets, shooting in the air, women ripping their clothes. They were so happy they did not know how to react. The horrible war that cost the lives of sooo many young Iraqies and Iranians was finally over.

Saddam was not over. It was just a few months of peace.

I was watching Saddam on Iraqi t.v. visiting the country side. He would tell the people, we are not afraid. I thought what is he up to now. I had the feeling Saddam was going to war again, but where?

It was summer time, My son and I left in July to visit my parents. I was in Alabama when Saddam invaded Kuwait, I realized what he was talking about when he was telling his people, we are not afraid. I watched the news daily, I felt the pain of the Iraqi people they were tired, but they had no choice. The coalition began forming, Saddam was going to be at war with the world.

I felt this time Saddam would be ousted, a new government would form, the Iraqi people would be free. I wanted to be a part of the new free Iraq. I decided to return to Iraq. Against my parents protest, my son and I returned to Iraq. Saddam sent Iraqi airways to Jordan, my son and I were on the last plane that flew into Iraq..