A Soldier's Journey: Michael Mundell

We have lost, this month, four jundees killed in action and around 15 wounded. All the KIAs are from IEDs or suicide vehicle bombs. I SAW one IED strike, not 75 meters from the front gate. The driver was killed instantly, all three other passengers wounded.

An incident of note, among many. We have started shutting down the city, meaning that we close all of the entry control points (you cant get in to the city without going through one). After they are closed, every military unit of note rushes out and does snap Traffic control points. In English, this means we set up at a busy intersection, stop all traffic and search EVERYONE. We were out on one and the Marines got into a firefight to our south, big enough that they had close air support flying in low and dropping flares. My little force of 15 men total, US and IA, was called in to reinforce. We went south, way south and got there as things were at their crescendo. After we linked with the Marines, we were told to withdraw, as we didnt have enough combat power to do what they wanted us to. As we were leaving, my truck came under sniper fire and we took a hit in the windshield, eye-high, on my side. Thank God for Lexan [a bullet-proof glass].

We have been mortared three times in the past week, one bomb not exploding. We had to call EOD to come blow it up. The highlight of this was when my brigade called and asked "how did the mortar round get there?" I told them that Santa Claus brought it. Jeeeeeeeez, some people really ARE that stupid.

Finally, I was interviewed by CBS news today, some female radio correspondent. ... She did everything she could to get me say that the war was wrong, the IAs suck and that Bush is a stinker. It didnt work out well for her. I believe my comment was that "Since I am here and will be here for a while, the politics of it all are rather irrelevant, dont you think?" and "the Jundees will fight, I have been with them doing it, have you?" It was an interesting experience, to say the least.

I am sorry this isnt very funny, there just hasnt been a whole helluva lot fun going on here. With so many missions, we are tired and tired people make mistakes. People who make mistakes here die. I have to constantly nag and bug and harass to keep the boys from forgetting, from getting sloppy or lazy. Fredette has started calling me the "team bitch". Oh well, if it keeps them alive, they can call me anything they want.

Mike