NEWS FROM PATRICK

I just heard from Patrick. We were able to talk for almost an hour. He sounds good. He is in the city of *******. Some of the others are being pulled out of ****** and will be in the surrounding areas for the remainder of their stay. The way things are structured now, there are 95% of their battalion in the city for defense purposes.

Al Qaeda is putting out fliers stating that they will take over the city of ******* on May 1st but Patrick said that's not likely since Al Qaeda is not an organized fighting group.

Patrick is now a gunner on an MRAP. This huge truck has a machine gun on top and that's Patrick's job. He said they will never fire the gun in the city, but if they are called to the field, this vehicle goes.
The city is so crowded people can reach out and touch the vehicle when it rolls through the city. He said there were some really nice houses and neighborhoods in *******. Gated communities and everything. The concern he has is that if a terrorist gets into the city, all they would have to do is flip a grenade up in the air and let it fall down the shoot where he stands. With the streets so crowded, they would never see it coming.

He is part of a group referred to as EOD = Explosive Ordinance Disposal. They are called to go out into the field when an IED or some other bomb is found. They go, blow it up, and come home (to *******)

The other section he is part of is the QRF = Quick Reaction Force which means if there is an outbreak of fighting, they go in with "guns a'blazin'" to quote him. I would rather he just ride around the city and make friends with little Iraqi children.

He is enjoying the goodies that have been sent his way. He said the fruit roll-ups, gummies, cheez-it grips, and snack crackers are great. He said the food wasn't bad but sometimes they are out in the city so he can snack.

The only thing he said he would like to have that he doesn't is something like a whisk broom and dustpan to keep their vehicle clean, so I will try to take care of that the first of next week. And more snacks. LOL

He was using the computer based phone card but lately it takes an act of Congress to get to use the phone so he's adding minutes to his AT&T card. He said they only get mail once in a while, but every time they have had mail call, he has gotten some, so thank you for remembering him.

I'll pass on information as I get it, which is sometimes longer than I would like.

(for his safety, I have bleeped out the name of the city)