This is as real as it gets

As some may know from a previous post I am an active member of the Day of Defeat Realism Unit, The 28th Infantry Division. (Computer game club) A number of our members are Marines and soldiers, Past and Present. One of our guys is currently serving in Iraq in the 101st Airborn, Easy company (Thats right the same Easy as in Band of brothers) He posted this the other day on the Unit Boards.

Hows it going everyone? Well my deployment is nearing an end, I cant tell you much more than that because I would be breaking OPSEC, but let it be known that Ill be becoming an active member again in the near future.

Anyways, its been getting pretty crazy around here now that the Islamic holiday/fasting month has begun, Ramadan. On the first day of Ramadan, the 24th of Sept. we got hit with a VBIED or car bomb, my squad [Edit-Leader?] was injured with shrapnel to thigh and he is now back in the states recovering. The next day a mortar landed outside our OP wall, no big deal. The next day our OP took small arms fire and sniper shots, which we followed up with a good 5-10 minute fire fight and another 5 minutes of shooting anything that moved, I fired about 200 SAW rounds, the first 100 of it I fired in 20 seconds. Ever since then weve just have IED increases, and ambushes on our vehicles rolling down the highway or sniper shots at our positions, but so far there hasnt been a day that something hasnt happened to our Platoon or Company.

So far Ramadan has turned out be the opposite of what we were all expecting, even the veterans that have been to Iraq before. We thought that they would fight hard the day prior to ramadan, then focus on worshipping Allah, then at the end of Ramadan they would use a car bomb or something to that effect. Unfortunataly its the opposite, they just fight everyday or do larger attacks than they normally would.

The insurgents that are responsible are mostly Foreign Fighters not Iraqi Freedom Fighters, in fact the Iraqi insurgents apparently had a source meet with a unit and tell us that they will not attack US troops and fight the Foreign Fighters if we keep US Troops in Iraq longer. So this is either good news or just a load of crap, but in a small way it brightens our spirits.

Well, thats about the latest, Im looking forward to rejoining the unit and having some fun. See you guys around.

By the way, Im getting eaten' alive by sand flea's as I write this!

Remember to thank the men and women in uniform that you may encounter in your day to day. They serve selflessly and are not the problem. That is in Washington