Lock Down

I have talked to my brother since he has been over in Iraq. He has told my family a little bit of how he has been living and how things have been going for him. When he first arrived there, two of the deported groups were there overlapping their times. The ones that had already been there for a year were ready to get out. My brother first had to stay in a 10 by 12 room with seven men sleeping in it. He said that the mattresses were so old, that he would wake up with bruises from the springs. The food there is apparently the same every day and he has started to figure out what is the best to eat. For his job, he is in a big building where the Iraqis used to torture people. Most of the time he just sits by a computer he works with that has three different screens for him to pull up different things on. He says that there are also big holes in walls all over the fort, that are from J-dam's. The holes are about 5 feet wide and look like they would have caused a lot of damage.

As he has gotten settled in, he now shares a room with two other guys. My parents are starting to send him things back home that it would take away the monotony of the day and benefit his living. My dad sent him some comic book, candy, thermal clothes, and soon some boots. From Iowa to Iraq, it takes about two to four months to ship, depending on how big the item is and any difficulties along the way. I can not remember how long the first package took to get to him but I do not think it was too long for all the way across the world. There is a nine hour time difference between here and Baghdad. Usually he calls us when it is almost midnight for him on Sundays, making it around three for us. My dad always is great at keeping a good conversation with him. He found out that the people my brother used to get along with back at the base, now he can not stand and clashes with. And the people he used to not get along with he now does. He says that those people do not seem to have freaked out from the deployment over and their situation there and that is why he gets along with them better over there.

Recently for a couple of weeks we did not hear anything from him. My mom was worrying, but then again she always does. He finally called us but it felt like he was very distant. He seemed scattered and he could not really talk about anything. Then about a week or so ago he called again and seemed more talkative. He told us that they had been on lockdown and did not have internet or phone use. Two of their men had been killed when they were on patrol. Since their group had been there they never really felt the danger until then. The deaths really made things more realistic.

Mi Hermano

My brother has currently been in the army for about a year and a half now. He went in straight out of high school. College was never really his thing to do first. It is kind of harder to deal with because I never really get to see him. He came home for Thanksgiving break once and then Christmas but those were the only times I saw him. He has always been a very smart kid in school but never really applied himself. I think that his ideas have always been different and never has seen the direct point of the way things are done in school. This is mainly why I was concerned for him to go into college so I was glad when he decided to join the army right out of high school.

He took the test and passed with very high scores so he had many jobs to choose from. In the end he chose to train to be an intelligence analyst. Since he has joined the army in a time of war there was always the possibility of him being deployed over seas. The possibility happened and he was sent over on December 5, so he missed Christmas with us. Before he was deployed he got to come home for a couple weeks though, which was very nice since we wont see him for probably over a year.

My brother has always been a major part of my life and one of my best friends. I always worry about him no matter what, even if he thinks nothing bad will happen. He was an eagle scout when he was involved in boy scouts. My dad has always been a big part in pushing us kids to be involved in scouts and get high ranks. I wish there was a prestigous level for girls but girl scouts was never really my thing. I always would watch my brothers and want to do what they did instead of the girly house wife activities we did in girl scouts.

After boy scouts came a crew called Venture 2000. Here us kids were introduced more to shooting sports. This is how come my brother has excelled in shooting and maybe gave him more interest into joining the army. I have been so happy for him since he has been noticed outshining a lot of the other guys around him. He stays focused and puts his all into it even if he does get down on himself sometimes.

Since he is now in Iraq, I wish him the best and hope he just keeps impressing who he needs to impress to make his life better. All I want is for him to come back alright so I can stop worrying about his life and go back to only worrying how his ex that I don't like wants him back.