‘A Messy Situation’

Hey how you doing? Hope everythings going good back there. You guys better be doing your homework. I'm just chillin up here in Northwestern Iraq. We've done one 3 day mission so far and have a real long one coming up. I'm staying in a big tent right now with bunk beds. We should hopefully be moving into trailers in the next month here. I tell you Iraq isn't much but flat land, sand, and dust. Every once in a while there will be little sand storm from the wind. They actually have a Subway and Burger King here on base. It doesn't taste the same though. They also have this big tent with pool and ping pong tables too. The lines for phones and internet are crazy. Sometimes up to 3 hours. Remember when I got hit in the thumb by that golf club last time I was home. Well that nails about to fall off. It's pretty grose. Im trying to get as many pictures as I can to show you how it is over here and what we do. I am currently on guard right now writing this letter. It seems like as the days go by we have more work to do. We are training all day everyday with a few hours of free time at night unless you want to stay up late. That just means you'll get less sleep that night. Overall things are going good. We are really going to be doing what we came here to do now. Which is mainly get all the bad guys out of here or in jail. We all got new humvee trucks right when we got here. The armor on it is pretty thick. Theres not much else going on so I guess I'll talk to you two later.

Love,
Jake

Vanderbosch, , 21, of Vadnais Heights, Minn., was killed along with two other soldiers  on Oct. 3, 2005, when an explosive detonated near their Humvee in Haqlaniyah. It was his first day on his first big mission. This letter arrived home after the news of Vanderbosch's death.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Scott Lourey
Feb. 10, 2004

Things are good and getting better, our time here is getting shorter and shorter.  I am certainly ready to go home, all though I fear that I will be back here sometime soon.  Somebody sure did get us into a messy situation over here.  The funny thing these people I work with don't blame the administration.  Seems odd.  It is like they are blind.

Anyway that is probably enough politcal talk.  I just want to see the wife and the house she has been working on.  It would be nice to live with a real roof over my head and not to have to walk 1/2 a mile for a shower that is probably cold.  I think winter is over here, that is nice.  It was surprisingly cold.