Report From Peter Hill in Iraq
Maybe I could move to FLA someday. I always thought I couldn't stand the heat. FLA is much more Humid though.
I think of the Island all the time. We have "docks" outside our rooms and all the way up to the showers and toilets. They are only nailed on both ends and not in the middle. They sound the same as when you are walking on the docks on Kenniston. Boards slapping down with each step, banging against the Joists. It's the little things I miss that make me think of home.
Of course I miss Vicki too. She seems to be doing really well. She took on a project the first few months I was away. She took down a two-foot wall to the right of the closet upstairs in the bedroom at the end of the hall. The plaster (horse hair) was falling apart and the closet was too small to actually use. So she made it into an office nook. My pal Al went to check on her to see if she needed help and he said besides the 100 extra screws she put in (about every 4-6 inches ) she did an excellent job. She was too picky on the sheet rock cuts. They were perfect fits. She did all the compound work herself and even broke out my compound miter saw to do the finish work. While she was at it she trimmed out a window too, put in a new window sill or stool cap, and picture framed it too. Maybe we should go into business together when I get back.
I am taking two weeks leave in September to come home for a buddy's wedding. It is going to be in York Beach, Maine. Then Vicki and I will be going up to Caratunk and try to get in a couple of days rafting. Then it's back to Holliston to spend time with Vicki and Chilly. Say hi to some friends.
I am working with Iraqi soldiers everyday. Teaching them the finer points of how to set up and run a motor pool. They are very motivated people. Not very educated but I work with Interpreters so we can converse easily. Some of them speak broken English and some none at all. Some of them can't even read and write. That makes it hard to send them for better training.
Our group is only six soldiers. The rest of my company is down in Baghdad. We are left here with no real support so that is getting to be aggravating not getting some of the things we need. We are working with only one vehicle and two interpreters. Scheduling our time is a big task in itself.
The Iraqi supply chain is corrupt and seriously broken. It is a huge motivation problem for us to deal with the soldiers saying Yeah, I've asked for all these things many times before...we never get what we need, why should I do it again. I explain to them that I am not tired of asking for them yet...
I have been able to scrounge some brake pads from a motor pool on post. I have a head gasket kit coming from a buddy in the states from a National Guard Motor Pool. I tell the Iraqis that it is not the proper way to get things and you can't keep relying on the US to keep getting you parts. But I need to give them faith that I can help produce something and not to give up hope on their system. We have American advisors working way up the chain of command working with their counter parts trying to get the parts released to the Battalions.
The Iraqis love the American Soldiers and want their help. They need American soldiers to be here to keep their systems from becoming so corrupt and to let the Locals know that we are not the people that
Sadaam said we were. We have been invited to go home with a couple of the soldiers we are working with, However it is not that safe in the smaller towns.
I told my Terp I would like him to come and visit Vicki and I anytime if he gets to the USA. The terps take a huge risk working with the US. Some can never go back home because the people in their towns know they work for us. They think they are killing Iraqi civilians and turning on their culture. The interpreters said if their brothers were insurgents, they wouldn't hesitate to turn them in to be captured. None of them are but that's the loyalty they have towards us. They know we are a great people and want to help them.
I hope all that make sense.
Maybe we can get up to see you when I come home. I would like to take the Gold Wing (motorcycle) for a ride while I'm home. Hopefully all the rain you've been getting will let up for me.
Hope your summer is warm and full of smiles.
Love,
Pete