A Glimmer of Hope

I have 2 days left at Balad air Field, then it is a move north. I am looking forward to the change. I expect the danger level to remain the same. I have already operated in the [new] area a couple of times, it actually borders the sector we patrol, so it isn't much of a change. Enough to make me look forward to it, though. [ ... ] I never have much to say because things seem so stagnant.

Lourey and a fellow soldier died on May 27, a day after their Kiowa Warrior helicopter crashed under small-arms fire in Buhriz.

McGowan
Feb. 11, Ramadi

I hate always saying the things are the same here, but they are. Sometimes the good guys get hurt, sometimes we get the bad guys. We have done a couple of raids the past few days so that's about normal. The raids we go on are becoming routine for me. I know they must seem exciting to people back home, but the adrenaline isn't quite the same any more for me.

McGowan, 26, and three other soldiers were killed by an IED that hit their vehicle inRamadi on March 4.

Army Sgt. Kenneth Levi Ridgley
Feb. 13, Mosul