Yay!! Thats great!

I hope u make it home safely

It'll go by fast, we'll help you. Here's to a safe last 90 days and an uneventful journey home.

Get back safe

What great news!!! May you have a safe return

God speed to you and your men!!!

Get home safe

Hell YEs! Brother Jorge is going home to the Dirty Red Beans and Rice South! Looking 4ward to your journey home. We will have to talk football!

hope u have a safe journey home

I this place..... thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and well wishes.....as I've said several times to folks, I can never EVER express what all of it means to me....I'm trying my best not to physically count days because I don't want to jinx things....but I am stoked....giddy like a schoolgirl I can honestly say that I've kinda come of age this past year or so....and I can say confidently that if I wouldn't have had the Org as an outlet, I would've lost my mind....y'all have helped me smile and laugh on days when being jovial was the furthest thing from my mind....and thru posting about different things, I was able to come to grips with myself and take that first step to really fixing things in my marriage.....I know it sounds like I'm but airing out some of my mess and the responses I got helped guide me to do the damned thing right.....

....so I to all of you in abject gratitude.....I think its fair to say that to me, y'all were right here with me the whole time.....

BlackAdder7 said:

things for us will slow down a bit as we get our stuff ready to ship out of here and what have you....and when our replacements get here, we'll train them up and let them take over for us as we fade into the background.....

reneGade20 said:

Hey, man! I'm here to wish you a quick and speedy road away from perdition. I hope you get home safe. How's it out there, though? I have a cousin whom might end up being in the same predicament and it got me wondering: Why make such a big sacrifice? Now, with him, I believe it's that paycheck, but with lots of others who have better oppurtunities, I often wonder why? So, give me your perspective on that, if you will.
[Edited 8/10/07 5:01am]

RodeoSchro said:

and I mean that in the most benign, married way.....

FarrahMoan said:

It's hot!!! For those of us in the service and support jobs (I'm in communications), its not nearly as nuts as it is for the grunts and ground pounders....but it gets crazy for us because the bases get hit all the time...and at least for me, I'd rather be able to do something about getting shot at rather than waiting for it to possibly happen at random....

When I came back in the service in '96, I did it for better opportunities....I was stuck in as dead end a job as one could imagine, trying to provide for a family to boot.....thats where I discovered that New Orleans was a great place to visit, but with so depressed an economy, not the best place to live....I didn't foresee this Iraq thing at all....at that time, Bosnia and Kosovo were the big thing (did the Bosnia thing)...but as soon as 9/11 happened, I knew that nothing would be normal again...and it hasn't been....

to me, the sacrifice comes as a matter of duty and committment....as in, some things are bigger than me...bigger than my politics.....which I think may apply to "others with better opportunities" as you put it.....its hard to say for anyone else because I see on a daily basis how my young troops deal with their decision....some deal well, others don't.....

reneGade20 said:

Yeah, I get this perspective from quite a few people. Like, my main thing is always, "Are you a level-headed patriot or what?," and even that sounds objectionable and level-headed to some extent. But, I guess it's safe to say that, until you've witnessed it all, you don't know a damn. I've got to work on that. But, for right now, it still stands that, from the outside-looking in, it's all really pointless. Sometimes it seems like different power-hungry executive officials in head of these war-waging countries rival for the sake of their own entertainment and machismoic bragging rights. Then, others.....
[Edited 8/10/07 6:19am]

FarrahMoan said:

Oh, and I edited my other post above, as I meant to say, "Away from such perdition!," because to wish a life in a barraging wall of endless flames wouldn't seem all too courteous. I know you probably had to think a bit about my ignorant wording. I apologize for that little mishap.
[Edited 8/10/07 5:07am]

FarrahMoan said:

I'm probably a patriot in the sense that I believe in what this country is ideally supposed to represent and stand for.....but much like organized religion, politics has a way of screwing up anything good and believable....I appreciate your opinion and honestly, you're not alone in that assessment at all....this is my 3rd trip to this region during this war, and I've felt the senselessness of it each time....from watching Colin Powell's speech before the U.N. to finding out how much money is spent here monthly (more than $10 billion).....I just long for a return to an America where people hold thier representative's feet to the fire for signing off on some of the shit that the government does.....




no apology necessary.....
[Edited 8/10/07 5:26am]
[Edited 8/10/07 5:29am]

YES!!!!!

thank you god!

reneGade20 said:

Awwww

cborgman said:

Long time....howya been?

reneGade20 said:

i have heard about the stories of them catching people coming over the mountains there i tripped out the first time i seen a grey baby deer when i was there ... it was so cute.... i can't belive U have been over there for a year already.... at least ur coming back to the nice weather of az and not the heat and monsoon season.... if ur up the phoenix way with the the family don't hesitate to drop a line to meet up with me and ness... take care and be careful

purplekisses said:

I'll do that.... when I get to the house, you'll have to orgnote me some info.....

reneGade20 said:

make sure to hit the Mesquite tree and get that famous bread

we could always babysit while U n the mrs catch up

purplekisses said:

WOW...that is a lovely offer.... but I have hellion teenagers, possessed by whatever demon it is that afflicts teens..... I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I unleashed them into your peaceful domain.....

Get home safe

reneGade20 said:

i have 2 teen girls and a 8 yr old .... trust me i know the deal

reneGade20 said:

i had to get a tooth pulled, which i was a total baby about, but am much better now. we had a toranado in brooklyn wednesday, which flooded the subways and left me stranded, but otherwise good.

VERY glad to hear you are almost out of iraq and back home. that news totally made my day.

and you?

Woo hoo!!!!!

It's almost here. Hang in there!!!!!

I can't wait for the ReneGade homecoming here on the org. Who's bringing the ticker-tape and the marching bands?

Come home safe and sound. Need to have some authentic Mexican food when you get back!

xplnyrslf said:

once you are home and settled with your wife, put me on the list for some NYC style fun and chronic as well.

authentic mexican, NYC fun... you are genuinely admired and loved, sir.


as much as i hate to admit how much this makes me a HUGE softy, knowing you are coming home soon and seeing the genuine outpouring of joy at the news from others (like xplnyrslf) totally makes me tear up a little everytime i open this thread.

under 90 days