Note: I have not had time to proof this yet. Excuse the typos.

It's Wednesday, February 19, 2003. I can't believe he was able to call home. I'm thrilled. To hear his voice was phenomenol. We barely said hello and got disconnected and my heart sank to the floor. About 4-5 minutes later the phone rang again and we had an excellent connection.

He's with 3/4 which is part of 7th Marines. I'm only going to give the details of what life is like for them right now. I'm going to try to leave the emotion and our personal bits of information out of it.

• He Called from Camp Doha
  He called from another camp, which has been set up for quite a while. (He is not 'stationed' at Doha, he's at Camp Ripper.) They have pay phones, but he had to buy a calling card as the one he brought from home did not work. Doha has a PX where they're buying cigarettes to take back to their camp. It also has a KFC and a Hardees. They have money from their paychecks each 2 weeks if they had alloted that prior to deploying.

• The Flight Over
  The flight over was a commercial airliner with meals every 3 hours, movies, and a PA system announcing their travel plans and destinations. Two stops before arriving in Kuwait. I'll leave out those details, but all went well.

• The First Meal in Country
  A bowl of macaroni. Hot meals are now twice daily, but they're not very good. It appears that the camps that have been set up longer actually have much better meals; comparatively gourmet.

• Quarters are Tents nicknamed "Hooches"
  In his camp, Camp Ripper, they are sleeping in tents they have nicknamed "Hooches". The hooches have particle board flooring, but of course there is still sand everywhere. They do not have cots.

• Status of receiving letters and care packages
  They are receiving letters and they seem to be taking about 7 days to arrive. He has not gotten any of my care packages yet, but others have. I told him I had sent candy bars for his birthday and he was thrilled. The visine and blistex and chapstick thrilled him even more.

• What he asked for
  "Letters Mom, write me every day!" He asked for articles ABOUT 3/4, 7th Marines, and all Marines in Kuwait from the magazines, online etc, especially photos of themselves. He wasn't too interested in magazine or books. Food, cookies, comfort items...and he'll give the stuff away to others that need it if he gets too much. Their camp has NOTHING.

• Showers and Baby Wipes
  He said they shower every 3 or 4 days. He's dirty and his hands are calloused. They buy babywipes from folks that come to sell them there. Apparently they are more sought after than anything else. It's quite a commodity. Send them.

• AA Batteries
  They need them for their night vision goggles. Send them.

• Disposable Cameras
  They're great, but they are getting sand in them and then don't work anymore. But they're still taking photos and will send the cameras stateside when they can. Hopefully the photos will turn out okay.

• www.MarineParents.com
  We've reached them in 'Country'. He shared the printed stuff I had sent with others and they were going to tell their parents about it. Some other men had already told him "My mom wanted me to look you up; she met your mom on some Marine Moms web site". They're talking to each other and looking each other up when we mention names. He liked it; it felt a little closer to home. They know we are back here supporting them.

• News Teams and Journalists and Photos
  The news teams are crawling all over the place. He said Newsweek in particular had been scoping them out. He said somebody took a battalion photo of them yesterday, with the flags and all that. He told me how to find him in the photo. He thought the parents would get one or something like that; he was unsure. (Of course I'll try to find out...somebody else let me know if you know about it.)

• One of the men is on the way home
  I hesitate to mention this, but one of the men is on the way home. He did not get injured while deployed, but he has an injury that needed surgery prior to deploying, but he had opted to go rather than stay behind. He's coming home for surgery now; he has a new wife and a baby on the way. He was one of my sons roomates in the "Real World" as he called it, and he'll call me when he gets stateside. I feel some sense of comfort by this.

• Personal Stuff
  He misses music and his cell phone. He's homesick and even misses his younger sister. Some days are easier than others. They're just waiting for orders. They know their mission and are ready to get rolling. They've nicknamed him Radar. He mailed me a Coca-Cola label with Arabic writing on it. He thought that was just awesome and said, "Can you believe Coca~Cola over here Mom? I just had to mail it to you."

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