wife and I received a phone call from the army over the weekend that our son Gary was taken from his F.O.B. to a hospital for surgery. Scared the heck out of us he had to have surgery for a hernia in his groin area. My wife was about to fall apart thinking he had been wounded in combat. There was no convincing her otherwise. Matt and Gary both had told her about Gary being about 100 feet away from a RPG coming into there base and blowing up and Matt had told her about his Humvee being shot all to pieces on a patrol. We where all better when he called and confirmed that it was a hernia and not combat related. Finally setting my wife at ease. Strange thing was that his call coming in was on our caller I.D. as Richmond Virginia. I was thinking he was eligible for the John Kerry Purple Heart for strange wounds and scratches received while in a combat zone. Well had to tell all of you how my weekend went and hope all of you had a safe and great weekend.



Lou

I hope it go's well for your son.
Joe

The Man up above is surely looking over your two young men...

oh man i woulda died!! its good the boys are doing ok, and hope they return home in better condition than the left..

Lou,
Glad all was well in the end. We all dread those calls. No news is good news in a combat situation for sure.

My son just returned from Iraq, as the days go by I get some general details, what he does is pretty quiet stuff, without much publicity. Aparently on this trip he got into a couple of hot rescues, that is his job, received a couple medals and now has orders for the other sand pile in about 8 months.

I never knew what my parents went through in the 60s when I was a Recondo in the 101st Airborne. I guess it all goes around and comes back to you. Sure is different on the flip side though.
Best,
Ed

It's always good to see the boys come home safely. Tell them that we support them and their mission and wish them a safe return.

Cary

Just tell them, Thanks.

I appreciate the sacrifices that you, your family and your son are making for me and the county.

I pray God will protect him.

Hack

Sorry to hear about your scare. Tell the boys to keep their heads down and come home safe. We appreciate their sacrifice.

Gidday Duce.

What's the latest on your boys mate?

Are things going as well as can be expected for them?

Is there much longer left on their rotation mate?

Cheers, Vince

Vince he is home until this Saturday on leave and then back to Afghanistan until May of next year. He is doing as well as expected the guy that took his place was killed this past Friday and he found out today about it and is pretty upset right now. He wants to leave and get back in the action but I am convincing him he needs his down time. Thanks for asking buddy it really shows some care.

Thanks Duce.

Tell him to hang in there buddy and to not let his friend's death consume him. If he dwells on it then he will be letting his guard down a little. He has been doing things right so far so he shouldn't change his tactics or SOPs...unless he can improve upon them.

Give him my regards and wishes for a safe rotation.

Cheers, Vince

Thanks Vince, I will make sure he sets down and reads this before he has to go back to let him know that only a few support him. Your a great man and good friend.

Mate...I know that he has plenty of support, especially amongst the members of HuntingNut.

I think that I am the sort of person...being a retired aussie Infantry SGT...that never forgets those that go into harms way for the rest of us.

Cheers, Vince

Contrary to the media I think most people, especially those on this site, really do appreciate what our troops are doing for us. I look at my family and I know I do. Thank you all!