Back to “Our Military”
Subject: Ben Hoffman’s Past Emails (from February 20 through
July 15)
February 20, 2004
The weather here is like the spring its pretty warm to hot during the afternoon
and during the evening and night it gets pretty cool. The beginning of March
the wind is suppose to pick up its gets a little windier than South Dakota but
what makes it worse is all the dust and sand, so far we haven’t seen anything
to bad, plus it hasn’t rained since I have been here.
Dad, don’t worry about me spending a
specific amount of money, there is seriously nowhere to spend it here, I feel
pretty insecure giving a haji my money to get me something. I’ll drop you a
line specifically if I do ok. Raenette I don’t think Dustin is at the same camp
I’m at unless he is in the active army out of Oklahoma, but I did drop him a
line to see if he was near, but he hasn’t replied yet.
Dad what did the apartment look like
when you were up there was the room the same? Yes they do have the extra lines
for your own personal computer, but the Information Tech guy has to load
something on my computer before I use it but he is on vacation until early to
late march sometime so I have to use their computers until then.
I forgot to tell you what it was like
crossing borders last time. It was like a whole different world, in Kuwait it
is sort of bare outside of cities. Once we arrived in Iraq there were tons of
children at the border and “yes”… they do have a border control. Anyway, all
the children looked like they were waving at us but they were waving there hand
toward there mouth for food, it was really tough to keep on driving and ignore
them. Once we arrived where we are at,
the rest of the battery kept on going and as they got farther north east the
kids got worse, I guess they were swearing and flipping all of the convoy off,
it seemed to have a pretty big affect on some of the guys. Plus the guys that
are running the convoys seem pretty run down and they have only been going for
a few days so far, I think it is going to be a long year for some guys. I
really do have it pretty good where I am.
I have been talking and getting a lot
of good information from my counterpart from the regular army group that we’re
replacing … he has been a big help. Everything has been going great for me
still I just hope the other guys can keep doing ok. Today we played football
for Physical Fitness it was a lot of fun, the most best part was probably
kicking some of the older guys butts...I took them to school, they were still
talking about it at dinner meal.
But I’m off thanks a lot everyone for
the emails, I really look forward to them, the regular army guys will be gone
by 30th or 31st so I might get more time on the internet but I’ll have to see.
Talk to you all (or Oklahoma talk
… ya’ll) later.
March 10, 2004
20 of the 90 soldiers in my unit were chosen to stay at the camp I’m at, the 20
are made up of the maintenance, communication and the supply sections. The camp
as a hole has a total of 140 people, in a few days the group we’re replacing
will be gone so the camp will have 120 people. The 20 guys from my unit will be
the only military personnel here other than some Hondurans that pull security,
the rest of the people here are civilians like former rangers and navy seals.
They are the demolition crew, there main job is to blow up ammunition left
behind by former Iraq armies. They blow it up once a day 4 kilometers away from
camp and the amount of ammunition is about 100 ton on average (it’s what I’ve
heard). It makes a heck of a boom and a mushroom cloud, it never gets old to
watch. Every other day they take someone a kilometer away to watch it, when I
get my chance I’ll get it on tape for all of you to watch.
The camp as a whole has a perimeter of
a kilometer. It has a total of about 5 or 6 hard buildings, quite a few
trailers and three tents, I’ll give you one guess on which type were staying
in, how did ya know?! Yep … we’re
staying in a tent. It sounds like were going to get one of the hardened
buildings once it is refurbished, which is hopefully in a month or so … we have
heard. The food here is awesome! This small camp has the best cooks in the
whole world plus it seems pretty healthy. There is a recreation trailer that
consists of a room with 2 phones, another room with 5 computers that have
internet plus 3 ports to plug your own computer in, between those two rooms is
a small kitchen, then there is a big open area to the north side of it, it has
a pool table and to the south it has 3 rows of couches and a 40 to 50 inch
plasma TV + DVD player. The camp also has a weight room, it has 2 benches, 1
squat system, an incline bench and a set of dumbbell, all the equipment looks
brand new and over all is really awesome. If any of you could hook me up with a
good program that works the upper body, arms and sides of your chest with the
equipment I have explained I would appreciate it.
Mom I am aloud to receive my maxim
magazine here so if you could send them that would be awesome. The work day is
relatively easy we start at 8 and are usually done by 6 ish. It’s generally not
too tough of work either. There are a few other Iraqi civilians (a.k.a.
hoggies) inside the berm that do the s**t work for $9 a day...yes that’s right
$9 a day (God Blessed America!). I guess they could hook me up with what ever I
need from outside the camp (from steak to grill to alcohol) or so I have been
told. I have seen a few camels but only from a distance when I get the chance
to get close to one I’ll get a few pictures, plus there are a ton of wild dogs
running around every where. In fact, there are 3 of them that got into the berm
some how, they are pretty friendly overall.
The Drive to our final destination was
very safe, there was one part on the drive we drove by a village with guards
with weapons on the berms. At first I felt a little uneasy but then it came
through the radios that they where ally forces, that was about the only problem
throughout our whole convoy. One of the more interesting things during the
convoy was when we saw a part of the desert that actually looked like the
deserts you see in a movie, I didn’t get my camera out in time … sorry.
The last few days have gone by pretty
fast … just like the first few weeks I have been over here. I’m still as happy
as I can be over here in fact I’m having a great time. The other guys are doing
great too. We are all helping each other to make the best of the time we have
over here.
Well, that’s all I have right now other
than I would like to thank all of you for your emails and prayers, sorry I
couldn’t get you each an individual email but the internet is very slow here
and the line is very long thanks to the civilians plus doing a group email gets
all the info out to everyone. Once I get more time on the internet I’ll get you
all an individual email or may be a phone call if the timing is right (given
the 9hr difference). The civilians own the camp and pretty much everything in
it, except our equipment, so they take precedence on everything including the
phone and computer. When they kick someone off the computers they say it’s for
business but all I ever see them do is talk on instant messenger, o’well.
But I’m off. Talk to you all later.
March 15, 2004
Well it’s been a while since I wrote an email to you all, but not a lot of
stuff has been going on … which is a good thing I guess. I finally got a good
recording of the explosion that goes off every day at 4pm, but I taped it from
inside the camp. The EOD team still hasn’t taken any of us out closer to watch
it.
I did get to go tour Babylon for a day
it was pretty fun, the convoy there and back took a day a piece, and I was able
to be a tourist for a whole day so it was like a 3 day vacation. I was able to
see Sadam’s palace were I hooked my self up with some marble from one of the
walls and some plastic diamond looking things from one of the chandeliers in
the main bed room which is the size of my parents house. The next thing I
toured was the ancient city of Mesopotamia and the Ruins of Babylon, it was ok.
The coolest things there was the Hanging Garden and the pieces of the actual
wall that surrounded the city that was built in 500-600 BC or something like
that. It was hard to understand the
tour guide plus I was to busy taking pictures.
I took a total of about 250 pics and at least 20-30 mins of tape.
The last thing I did while I was in
Babylon was go to a hoggie market that was just outside the front gates, this
was probably one of the more interesting parts of the stuff there. They sold
everything there and I mean everything plus there were some of the best
salesmen I have ever met in my life there. I ended up buying a stack of old
Iraqi money which cost me $4, some coins, and a flag. They were selling awesome
area rugs for $7 which were amazing, but I didn’t buy one … may be next time.
You can also purchase bootlegged DVD’s they already have “Starsky and Hutch”
out on DVD here along with a ton of other ones that are just getting to
theaters in the states.
The final cool thing about Babylon is
the chow hall … you have the choice to eat inside which is like an old ball
hall with an amazing ceiling, or you could eat outside next to a branch of the
Euphrates River which Sadam had moved so it would run right next to his palace.
Eating outside next to the river was and will be probably the coolest thing I
do the whole time I have been over here. It was really breath-taking seeing the
view of the river and a ton of palm trees … It sort of felt like paradise.
The convoy there and back was pretty
interesting as we went through a few cities. The gas station lines are
ridiculous … they are blocks long! There are tons of kids next to the road
either asking for food, giving the thumbs up sign and the occasional birdie
(o’well). That’s about all that has happened lately, everything is going smooth
as planned and the days seem to fly bye as long as you are always busy … and
there seems to be plenty of work to keep me busy around here. I have finally
got into a good routine. Me and a buddy lift at 5:30 every morning, breakfast
at 7:30 work begins at 8:00, day ends 17:00 (5pm), then the rest of the day is
our own (well it is suppose to be but something always comes up).
That’s all I really have, I’m doing great and very happy. I’ll talk to you all later.
p.s. we have started a countdown (sort of as a joke) we have steak night every
Thursday at the chow hall so we are at 44 steak nights to go and a “wake up” or
something like that.
April 10, 2004
I just wanted to say “hi” to everyone and pass on a little information on me
and my situation. I have had a real
interesting past week. I have been real
lucky … thanks to the leadership I’m under and the great decisions they have
made. Not to scare you but I would like to share one occasion.
We were on a convoy to Camp Baker in An
Najaf on a Sunday to pick up supplies. Our leadership decided to take a less
traveled route through town, we arrived at the camp safely with no concerns.
The camp commander was in his religious service so we had to pull him out early
just so we could get on our way, still not expecting anything. We ended up
loading everything we needed and headed out of camp and made it to our camp
well outside of town safely without expecting to hear anything about any
attack. We rolled into camp and dumped and secured all the supplies we picked
up and went into the toc (tactical operation center). There was a small huddle
around the computer and everyone was watching the Rueters web site, the site
had already had a clip from an attack on the camp prior to us getting back from
our convoy which is less than a half an hour drive. What’s going on is a big
religious event (not sure what its called) but the route we usually take
through town they were having a violence demonstration, so we avoided that
thanks to our good leadership. The next thing we missed was the attack on the
camp … we missed this because we pulled the camp commander out of religious
service so we could get going. All of this happened with us having no
expectations of any attack. Since that
day, the camp where I’m staying has had 24 hour security, but we shouldn’t have
to pull it much longer…if you watch the news within the next few days you will
be hearing a lot of stuff about An Najaf, the military is planning a huge ….
HUGE overtaking of the city, like I said just watch the news. I would also like
to let you know that I’m going to have nothing to do with it. I will be in a
very safe place the whole time it will be going on … which by the looks of it
will be in a very short time.
I want to tell you about mail…if any of
you decide to mail me anything like a box or such with stuff inside with your
name and address on it you should tare it off prior to sending it for security
reasons. I have taken care of all address and names so far but just in case I
miss something … you may have already taken care of it for me … thanks.
I really have nothing else other than
thanks for keeping me in you prayers, sending me mail and email and I will talk
to you later.
April 20, 2004
Well not much has been going on lately. We have been doing guard duty on one
tower instead of the three we were prior to the rest of the army guys moving
in. It doesn’t sound like much has been going on in An Najaf either but that is
a good thing. The 3000 army troops that moved in, did so with out any way of
getting food, showers, and toilets of some sort so they have been roughing it
for the last week...some body did a bad job of planning before they moved all
those troops in. We have even been going without showers some days and our
afternoon meal is an MRE (meals ready to eat), but nothing as bad as they have
it outside the berm.
A 153 engineering unit from SD is
outside of the berm as well, I don’t know any of them but some of the other
guys do. The shower trailers that we build got put to use by a het company
(heavy equipment transportation). The het unit moved all the equipment of those
3000 troops, then the leader of those 3000 troops said they didn’t need there
help any more so they were left stranded here without any mre’s, water or tents
so we gave them what extra mre’s and water that we had and decided to help them
out with showers since they were getting so unfairly treated.
The weather is starting to change the
wind has been blowing pretty hard here for the last week, I was told that the
sand storm season is in February and March but I’m thinking it’s in April and
May. Its also starting to get warmer and humid, but other than the wind the
weather still isn’t bad at all. We have been getting pretty board here the last
few weeks, we haven’t been assigned any missions so everyone has been either
sleeping, watching movies, or playing video games. I’ve been watching a lot of
movies … they are even starting to get old … you can only see Spaceballs so
many times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have even started to volunteer for work believe
it or not.
We finally got all moved into the
hardened barracks, we have 4 people in a 15' x 15' room its really not that
bad, the rooms stay cooler plus the wind really doesn’t affect us other than
the dust it blows in the rooms. We have air conditioners for every room but we
don’t have the wire to hook them up but that’s being worked out right now. One more thing … the barracks is full of
bats....some people are terrified of the little things, its sort of funny. The
camp dogs are doing good ... they even protect our area a little bit, when some
of the other army guys walk by our operations building, which the dogs hang
around, they’ll bark at them and even follow them while barking some times its
pretty funny. We had a pet lizard for a little while but it got away.
I finally got out to the blast sight to
see one of the blasts up close, I got it on video so I can show everyone once I
get home. The shock wave of the blast was so awesome plus the sound was a huge
crack I really enjoyed it. Other than that it’s been pretty lame. I would like
to thank everyone for the mail and emails I really look forward to both.
Hearing from everyone back home is great and I usually check my email every
morning to get a good start for the day.
Well I’ll talk to you all later and
take care.
April 30, 2004
Well I’ve been really busy the last few days and a lot of stuff has gone
on! My battalion has been assigned to
clear enemy bunkers of all ammunition since the first day we arrived in Iraq.
The last few missions we haven’t been doing anything with the other batteries,
in fact they even broke our battery into a few different groups. The mission we
were just assigned to has the whole battalion working together on three
different ASP (ammo supply points) that are within a few miles of each other.
The guys will be living on bare necessity: meals similar to MREs, showers once
a week in the field, and they have to burn the sewage every day. They plan on
the mission to be done in a month but I think the guys will probably finish it
fast because of living conditions. They also will still have mail delivered to
them every week. For me, well, I was left in Camp Najaf or FOB Duke (not sure
what FOB stands for). There was a total of six of us left here with all the
nice things in life like warm meals three times a day, a warm shower everyday,
and most important internet and phone.
The last few days I have been helping
them load everything and I even fixed a few weapons. I fixed the 50 caliber
that wouldn’t fire and a m249 for a civilian that the handle was broke on it …
the civilian was so happy he bought me a case of pop. My job in the military is
in the supply section but I’m the highest level of maintenance for the weapons
so if there are any problems with any weapons, it is brought to me to fix, it’s
a pretty fun job especially lately.
The weather has been getting pretty
ugly just recently, its windy everyday but some days its only in the afternoon.
It’s been rainy off and on but it’s only for a short amount of time and the
drops are really big. The heat has been in the 90's but the humidity has been
the killer, it’s always so sticky. Our living area is pretty awesome, we don’t
have any air condition, lights, and electricity, but we do live in a room 16'
by 16' with four other people. The awesome thing about it is it’s a building
that is better than a tent when it comes to leaking and stopping wind. It also provides us with a lot more
protection from any enemy attacks, but I really doubt that will ever happen
where I’m at. I am located out in the middle of nowhere plus we have pretty
good security.
Well the next few weeks for me are
going to be pretty boring, which is a good thing, it will give me a chance to
get back into a routine of working out, running, and burning movies everyday.
The other night I was sitting at the computer checking the internet and I saw
something out of the corner of my eye, it was a huge camel spider, they are the
most nasty looking creature that God ever put on this earth. It was 2" by
3" and the abdomen was bloated. We ended up catching it in a coffee can,
we still have it and we also threw a lizard in with it. They are both still
alive but the camel spider bit off the lizards tail.
I know I just asked you all to do this
but I just want to try it one more time to make sure these letters are getting
to everyone so if you could reply once you read this, thanks a lot.
Well I really don’t have a whole lot
more to tell you all about so I’ll talk to you all later and take care.
June 1, 2004
Well it’s been quite a while since I have sent an email out, still not a whole
lot to tell. The majority of the battery … about 75 soldiers … have been at an
asp (ammo supply point) near Ad Diwaniyah for the last month clearing it of all
the ammunition. They are almost done … it sounds like they will only be there
for another week or two.
I have been at the same place since
February 23, excluding little convoys that last a day or so. They decided to
make FOB Duke (FOB?), formally Camp Najaf (where I’m at), a permanent camp. I
think they decided to make it permanent because it’s the only camp near Najaf
that doesn’t get attacked, so it makes for a good regrouping place.
I have been doing little jobs like
coordinating laundry service for the guys at the asp. I have also been doing a
little bit of carpentry and electrician work on the barracks where we’re
staying. This last week I have had 8 Iraqian workers assigned to me, we were
assigned to clear out a milvan (looks like a semi trailer without wheels) full
of water and palletize all of it. We have also been lining up all the food and
water for the next mission that our battery has been assigned. They will be
clearing out another asp, I can’t say where just yet, but it sounds like the
mission will last about 2 to 3 months. The leadership hasn’t decided the
personnel that they will be sending but it sounds like even more soldiers than
they sent on the last mission (I haven’t heard if I will be going yet, but if I
do that means they are only leaving 3 soldiers back at FOB Duke and sending 80
to the asp).
I would really like to thank everyone
for the mail, care packages and emails that I have received, I try to make a
point of thanking everyone individually for it but sometimes I get busy and
forget about it, sorry, but all the support I have received has been awesome
and makes everyday easier and easier.
The weather over here has been in
between 100 and 110 with a little wind. There was one day that we had the worst
sand storm since I have been here, it blew over our flag pole and made the tent
poles poke right through the top of a tent, I have it all on tape. To explain a
little bit what the average day feels like,(105 with a little wind), when you
open the oven when it is on that’s sort of what it feels like, and we still
have 30 degrees still to go. The bugs have been getting better, I don’t think
they can stand the heat as much. The camel spider that we caught nearly a month
and a half ago (and haven’t fed since that first day) is still alive some
how…they are the ugliest things ever.
For entertainment during the nights we
have been watching a different “Friends” episode each night, we have seasons 5,
6 and 7 on DVD, the guys have been starting to use quotes from some of the
shows … it’s pretty funny. We also play a lot of pinnacle …my partner and I
have had two 85 point hands in the last 2 weeks.
Other than that I really don’t have
much else to tell right now so I better get going, once more thanks a lot for
all your support, its made my life over here so much better!
p.s. 37 steak nights left !
July 15, 2004
I have been at the asp for about 4 weeks now and it has been pretty exciting. I
have been working the 3 to 11 pm shift and it goes by really fast.
While I have been here I have been able
to meet some of the Iraqi civilians, they are some of the kindest people that I
will ever meet. One day I was talking to the interpreter that has been working
with us. I saw his watch and I told him
it was pretty nice… he replied would you like it? … he was just going to give
it to me. That’s one thing about these people … material possessions play no
part in their lives … they could care less how nice of a car they drive, or
what kind of clothes they wear, the only thing that means anything to them is
the relations they make in there life. They pray 5 times a day, they always eat
together, they never complain about working,
they are always helping out whenever they can no matter what they’re
doing prior to being asked. They were always willing to share food, even if
they was barely enough to go around.
Another thing … we don’t have any way
to cool down our water at first, so we asked if they had any ice, they had very
little at the time but they would always bring some out to us so we could have
cold water. They love taking pictures with us, and they always remember your
name. They usually had they film developed the next day in a near by town, that
day. They would bring out their
pictures … just to show us that we had a picture together and they would always
have an extra to give you. For a few nights in a row each of us at the gate
would end up taking about 20 pictures all with different Iraqi people. Now when
they see us they always hold there hand to their heart and call us friend or …
Tell us they love us (same meaning as like over here). There are a few guys
that I joke around with. They’re always
acting like they want to box or something … it’s pretty funny. I have been able
to get to know the boss of all of them real well, he is a great guy, he is 52
years of age and comes and talks to us for a few hours a night. He just
recently gave me a new watch for a gift out of the blue. Its sucks though, we
will be leaving the asp and the Iraqi people in mid august to do a different
mission. I will really miss some of these guys and meeting some of these guys
has been a real eye opener for a lot of us. It will be nice to get back to
modern civilization though, or as close as we can get over here. I have never
missed running water and toilets so much!!!!!!!!!!
My unit will be moving back to a
permanent base for the remainder of the time over here. It is one of the safest
bases in southern Iraq. We will be escorts for KBR (the trucks that supply all
the stuff over here). Everyday we’ll be going from the base that we will be
living at and go to the boarder of Kuwait, we’ll be traveling on one of the
safest roads over here. The military guards this road day and night. I have
been locked in for R & R in September, Not sure on the exact day and it
sounds like I won’t know the date I fly out until the day prior to flying out.
If everything goes right I would like to be in Jamestown for a few days, in the
cities for a few days, in Brookings for two days and spend the remainder of my
time at Henry with my parents. J-bone plan something good for my time in
Brookings and T if you can try to make it down there … when I plan on being
there, we’ll have a good time.
But I have to get ready for shift, take
it easy and have a good one.
P.S. Two more things, the place where I’m heading to has very little internet
and phone capabilities plus the lines are killer but I will still try to get a
letter out every so often, I will be with Donnie Miller where I’m going so
we’ll be able to hang out a lot more. And since there are only four of us that
do my job in the battalion … and me and Donnie are 2 of the 4 … we’ll probably
be working together. Someone tell Dawn
if you have her email address. One last thing I would really appreciate it if
you would reply to this email, I have been having problems with my Microsoft
Outlooks, some of my emails haven’t been getting to some people, but I have
been working on it and would like to see if I have been making any progress.
Thanks
July 28, 2004
Well I just wanted to let you all know I might not be able
to talk to you all for a while. The Camp I’m heading to on the 29th
has few internet computers and thousands of troops so there are long lines and
time limits.
I would love to receive emails from
every one but I might not be able to answer all of you individually (not enough
time), but I will still try to send a letter every two weeks to keep you all
updated. Thanks for your support, and all the great emails and can’t wait to
see most of you on my two weeks of leave in September.
Benny
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Email Ben: Benjamin.louis.hoffman@us.army.mil