First Drill

This weekend will be the first time our whole company will drill since our deployment to Iraq last year. I am looking forward to seeing some of the guys this weekend. I hear that there will be some news coverage there as well as a team of filmmakers working for A&E about a documentary about my unit. The documentary is expected to come out around Memorial Day.

With that, here's some pictures from my spring break trip last weekend. Enjoy...

Marine Firefight Investigated

Here is a story that I found very interesting considering I once walked and fought in the same streets where these Marines have fought.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,91337,00.html?ESRC=marine-a.nl

This story also invoked great anger towards the reporter who is reporting this bs.
IED followed by enemy small arms fire; so what did the reporter expect the Marines to do? Just take cover and take a few minutes to determine who is the enemy and who is not when in fact the enemy blends into the local populace a lot of times, while the whole time taking small arms fire. I don't know what the hell the media is doing with reporting this war.

"Military officials will try to determine whether the Marines positively identified or tried to identify the enemy and whether they determined there was hostile intent, as they are supposed to do."

This is the best statement out of this story; I guess IEDs and small arms fire don't really count as hostile intent.

Spring Break 2006

With the end of my 1st quarter back to college, after more than a year, I must say that I did pretty well. However, I did have to drop a stats class, and it was a rough start for me getting in the habit of homework and studying. In the end, I finished strong and was able to pull a couple of A's out of my classes and hopefully a B in my financial management class.

With that, my spring break started this morning at 10:15 AM; that's when I finished my last exam. Now I am preparing to leave for my spring break! Nothing too wild, like with what is on TV; rather going to Kentucky, this weekend, with some friends to hang out in a cabin with no running water or electricity. One thing we will have plenty of is weapons! Seventy acres to roam around in the wild shooting, clay pigeons with shotguns, and honing my pistol shooting skills. Who knows, maybe a squirrel might "accidentally" get in my way. Just a little side note, I am a combat lifesaver.

Things Times Four

Alright, I think I am well over due for a post. Now, I am not normally a fan to post these type of posts, but then again, I have never been tagged before, not just once, but twice. So, here I go...

Four jobs I've had:
* Fox's Pizza Den - Assistant Manager & delivery driver
* Vector Marketing Salesman - I sold Cutco cutlery
* The Cooker Bar & Grill - bartender & server
* Team Leader in the Marine Coprs infantry

Four movies that I can watch over and over:
* Band of Brothers - it's like one long movie
* Braveheart
* Fight Club
* Zoolander

Four places I've lived:
* Fairborn, Ohio
* Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
* USS Tortuga
* Haditha, Iraq

Four TV shows that I love:
* Mythbusters
* Fox News
* The OC
* Star Trek TNG

Four places I've vacationed traveled to:
* Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
* Germany - several cities
* Manchester, United Kingdom
* Lima, Peru

Four of my favorite dishes:
* Sweet & Sour Chicken - not that crap from a buffet either
* Biscuits & Gravy
* Chef Boyardee Ravioli
* Montgomery Inn Ribs!

Four sites I visit daily:
* mail.yahoo.com
* Flickr
* Wright-Patt Credit Union
* Everyones' Blog

Four places I would rather be right now:
* My own place
* Germany
* Somewhere else in life
* The open road on my motorcycle

Four bloggers I'm tagging:
* Staven
* Larry
* Jennifer
* Rachel

A Million Miles Away From Home

Someone left me a comment about this song and I liked it, so I just wanted to share it with everyone who reads my blog. So, please check it out and leave a comment for Bob Stewart.

A Million Miles Away from Home was written on August 8, 2005, Ohio's official "Day of Mourning" following the deaths of 14 Marines from Ohio. Factored out over the population of the United States, it would be the equivalent of more than 350 Americans dying in a three-day period. I wrote "A Million Miles Away from Home" to help me grieve the loss.

Bob Stewart
740/594-3843
bob@bobstewartband.com

GQ's - This is Our War: A Soldiers' Portfolio

GQ is asking service members, serving in Iraq, for their pictures of the war. So, they created a forum for marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen to post their pictures and comments. Every month, the editors at GQ will select the best photo they receive and the winning photographer will be awarded a new Canon PowerShot SD450.

With that, I submitted some of my photos and as you know it, last week I received a email from one of the editors saying that I won the digital camera. Needless to say, I am really excited to hear that! And the very next morning, on my doorstep was my new camera; I love it! It takes some great pictures, small in size, plus great video - something my old camera didn't do very well. This is the link to the picture they choose.

In addition, I was also interviewed by Marine Corps Public Affairs, in New York City, for a Marine article. Here is also the link: click here.

PFC Jacob Spann

Yesterday I attended the funeral of Private First Class Jacob Spann. He was a Marine killed in Iraq last week in the city of Hit. The same city that my company lived in and built a firm base for about a month. Jacob was from Columbus and this offered me a chance to attend a funeral of a Marine, since I was unable to attend the funerals of our men.

It was a beautiful service. Many people talked about Jacob's life and I was able to get a glimpse into his life. It did make me sad to see such a young man die, though I know he did it for our country and another country's freedoom. There were about 750 people at the service and well over 100 cars in the funeral procession to the graveyard. He was honored with a 21 gun salute and afterwards, the people attending released dozens of balloons into the air. It was a beautiful and fitting service for a hero and I only wish everyone would see one.

Afterwards, the group of Marines from my company went to visit Sergeant Hoffman's grave to pay our respects to our fellow Marine.

FAFSA

Last night I filled out my FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid); this is the form needed to get federal grants and/or loans from the government for students going to college. Well, while I was filing mine out, I got really angry with the questions and information it was asking for. For next school year ('06-'07), I thought I was going to bank on some grants to pay for me education. The FAFSA asks for your tax information and such, but then it went on and asked for my combat pay, which is nontaxable, my food & housing allowance (nontaxable), and my investments.

I figured that since my combat pay is nontaxable, I won't have to claim it on my FAFSA, but nope, they like to know about every single dime I made and invest. This is what angers me probably the most. Why in the world am I getting screwed out of grant money because I invest my money?! I keep a couple of CD's just to make a little bit of money while I determine what to do with it. You know, I like to keep a little bit of cash handy in case of something that would happen and now I am being treated like I have all this money for college. I should be like a lot of other people; spend everything I make and carry large debts. That way, I would get free grant money from the government! I think this is stupid because I like to be a productive and wise citizen and keep a little cash handy. Oh, they also want to know about my savings and checking account balances. I really am pissed about all of this.

Oh, I can't forget my GI Bill benefits I get from the VA. FAFSA wants to know all about that and include it in with the money I make. Now, I served my country's armed forces for this money, and yet, I am getting penalized out of grant money because of it. I don't even have a job right now, and yet they expect me to contribute almost $10,000 for the next school year! All because I was sent to war, made some money, and saved a large amount of it.

This was something that just got me upset and wanted to rant about. Oh well, there's always more student loans I can take out to continue my higher education while someone who doesn't work and saves nothing, s/he can go to college for free.

Brokeback to the Future

To any fans of Brokeback Mountain and Back to the Future, this video clip is very funny.

Check it out and let me know what you think:

Brokeback to the Future

To end speculation, no I have not seen Brokeback Mountain, but I have seen Back to the Future; all 3 of em!

My New Toy!

After much searching far and near, I came across something of great beauty and speed. I now present you with my 2001 Yamaha YZF R600



I found this great piece of machinery at Integrity Cycles in Columbus. Probably paid a little bit too much than what I should have, but I don't regret it.

Washington DC

Last weekend, I made a trip to Washington DC, with another Marine from my company. The main reason of the visit, was to visit Arilington National Cemetary and pay our respect to our fellow brothers. We were also able to stay with another Marine that we went on a deployment together to South America. I had a great time meeting up with some guys there and even have a friend that is a staffer for a congressman. With that, we were able to get a private tour of the Capitol Building compliments of the Capitol Police. The officer showed us some great places around the Capitol, even some rooms that are not open to the public like the Senators' Restroom and the Senate Majority Leader's Private Balcony. The officer offered next time we visit, he can give us a more detailed tour if we contact him ahead of time and not just show up because the Capitol was actually closed to the public when we went through. We could even do a 2AM tour if we wanted!

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see the Iwo Jima Memorial, but there's always next time. And next time, it will be longer than a weekend. Here are a few more pictures I took during my trip. As always, check out my flickr for all my great pictures.

Most Views

I was recently talking with a buddy and we got into talking about our flickr accounts and what pictures had the most views, or interesting, or favorites. So, in light of that, I will be making this post for my most viewed pictures on flickr with 3,140 views:

Sergeant McKenzie

If you ask me, I don't know why this is the most viewed picture because I don't think it is all that great.

2nd runner up with 2,970 views:

My Hand

This is a picture I took shortly after I let some Iraqi kids write their name on my hand.

Some Minor Changes

Just in case you haven't noticed, I put in the sidebar, to the right, my war stories. They cover pretty much the 9 months of my deployment including my company's predeployment training in California then 7 months in Iraq. So, if anyone wants to read up on them, they are now pretty easy to find. Also, right below them, I put several links to my friends' blogs. Enjoy...

Bill O'Reilly

If you missed the Late Show with David Letterman the other night when Bill O'Reilly was on, you missed out on some good stuff. Check out this link:

David Letterman vs. Bill O'Reilly

Off Active Duty

With Tuesday being my last day of active duty, it was also the 1st day of class as I continue with my education at Wright State University. I am glad that I am going back to school because I think I was starting to miss it, though I will also miss my salary from the Marine Corps; I guess that's why they have unemployment compensation available.

As for school, I took an easy load; a physics gen-ed, financial management I, and probably the most challenging class, quantitative business modeling (basically statistics, this will be my 2nd go at it). I also took a guitar class and a Army ROTC class; both of which are easy A's.

Goodbye To An Old Friend

On Saturday morning, my family lost an old friend. Milo, our dog, died of natural causes. This was a rough year for him as his health was failing and was having some seizures. My mother was relieved that I was able to make it home before he died.

Milo was a fun loving and very well behaved dog. He was liked by all the people who visited our home.

My Recent Vacation to NYC

To start things off...

You are looking at my lovely room at the West Side Inn in Manhattan. Don't let the professional web site confuse you; this place was exactly what I paid for in Manhattan-cheap.

To start things off, the flight to New York was alright, except for the small aircraft that experienced a large amount of turbulence, but nothing I'm not used to riding in military aircraft and helicopters. On a positive note, the jet stream pushed us along and put the flight 25 minutes ahead of schedule! Next up, took a taxi from LaGuardia Airport to our hotel only to find that check in time is 3PM; time on deck, 1PM. So, my buddy Cpl. Rahman and I pay $5 to store our luggage in the basement. After that, we tried very hard to use the elevator to take us back to the 1st floor, but for some reason, the elevator like going to the 6th first, then hit up some random floors on its decent to the 1st floor. What fun!

After lunch, we actually took a nap before heading out into the town. The first place we went to was the Rockefeller Center to check out the Christmas tree and other such happenings.


During our short 5 day stay in Manhattan, we went to a lot of places; Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Chinatown, Grand Central, Times Square, Guggenheim Museum, and many other places. Even went to a musical called Avenue Q.

Overall, it was a great trip that allowed me to experience New York's many landmarks and life in the Big Apple. It did wear me down with all the walking we did and trying to learn the subway system. Thankfully the transit workers didn't strike that weekend.

NYC

Well, with a long year behind me, I have finally arranged to take a short vacation. Originally I wanted to go on a cruise somewhere, but I decided to put that on hold to next year. Instead, I will be going to New York City and staying in Manhattan this week for 5 days. It's been a dream of mine to visit New York and now I get a chance to visit it for a bit. Some points of interest I am looking forward to seeing is the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and the New York Stock Exchange. Of course there will be some quality shopping to do as well.
Any suggestions of places to go?

Nothing New

I have nothing new to report at this time. Though, this has me thinking, since my return, I don't think my posts are no where near as interesting as they were while I was in Iraq. So, who still likes to read these posts anyways?

By the way, I am doing various Toys for Tots this week throughout Columbus. So make sure to go out and drop off a toy in the box.

Thanksgiving

Well, as you can see, I was responsible for cooking the turkey this year. Actually, more like deep frying the turkey this year, which is something new for my family. I must admit, I was a little concerned about my lack of training on deep frying, but it turned out very well in the end and quite delicious, along with the rest of the fixins.

I would also like to take the time to recognize some things, this past year, that I am grateful for.

First and foremost, God's protection over my life and giving me the strength to continue on with the mission during the most trying times.

Family and friends. I have such awesome people backing me up that it just amazes me sometimes. I know that whenever I am gone, there are people who will take care of my mother and my mother will take care of me when I am gone.

The Marines. No better person than a Marine to cover your back in combat.

The Columbus community for showing tremendous support to Lima Company.