So here it is. My

  So here it is. My first Blog. Im in Iraq. Central Iraq with the US Marines. I have been using and communicating with the great website www.AnySoldier.com. If you have never been there you should click it now and go there to support your troops. Several people have told me to get myself a blog site so here it is in action. Plus now I have a place to through some of my thoughts at you all and see where they land. You may not agree with me but its ok to admit your wrong.

I guess Im just tired of listening to the media (not that they even say much really anyway) and other left-wingers go on about Iraq and Afghanistan and fail to paint the true story. Here is where you will get the true story about that and other things and if it doesn’t sell any ratings, as the media so desires oh well, this site is free.

BASICS
IM A MARINE. If you never met a Marine, sit down we can be overwhelming and a bit extreme, deal with it. When Im fired up be careful, when things are crazy Im going to take care of the things that might kill me first. There is more to life than a blog site and my postings, get out there and see and experience some of it.
REPLY. When I get this site developed more and make it so you can reply, GO for it. No harm no foul. Im here fighting so some low life’s can continue to have free speech and can badger the beliefs Im defending here. Hey, it’s a free country.
WHAT I STAND FOR. Service to the Nation comes after service to God. My family comes first in my heart, but the Nation comes first because it has to. So basically the Marines are for Thirty, the family is forever. I believe the US flag shouldn’t touch the ground and you should get on your feet when it passes in front of you. I believe America is the greatest place on earth and has the best people in the world. I believe in the soul, the truth, the smell of a woman, the bomb pass in football, regular Pepsi, a strong cigar any time of the day or night, the V8 small block engine could be the best engine ever built, I believe its ok to kill a mosquito with a sledge hammer, I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days but hey this is just one Marine’s point of view.
FAMILY. I come from a close and great family. This is where you sickos out there should play close attention to and read this as much and as often as possible. Say what you will about your family and experiences. Attempt (and that’s all you’ll ever get) to harm any of my family members and I will hunt you down like a stray dog and end your miserable wasteful excuse of a life. The enemy will be getting off easy compared to what will happen to you.
ME. I am currently stationed in central Iraq for at least 14 months. I have previously just returned from an 8-month tour in Afghanistan as an infantry Company Commander where I led 180 infantry Marines in over 4 major operations, and dozens combat missions and met the Al Qaida organization up front and very personal. I am a career Marine that began in 1993 as I enlisted in the Marine Corps after I had 2 knee surgeries and came to grasps that my college and any sights of Pro football career were over. I started training as a pilot for United Express Airlines and worked in Denver until I joined the Marines.

Being in the Marines isn’t for everyone as you may or may not know. Not to insult your intelligence usually Marine Officers usually have to commitment for a minimum of 4 years. Serving that time depending on your job you may or may not deploy often. As an infantry officer we deploy. We deploy allot. In fact not counting my enlisted time I have deployed to Japan, Australia, Korea, Spain, Kuwait (1st go around), Afghanistan and now Iraq. Marines always deploy for a minimum of 7 months. You tend to miss many birthdays, anniversaries, first words, first steps and taking care of monsters in closets. Please, don’t mistake me for one second, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else nor would our families want us doing anything else that wouldn’t make us happy. We enjoy the special gift of protecting this great country regardless of sacrifice. I tend to use humor and motivation to deal with the tragic loss of life, shattered families and cruelty that take place here. It’s a technique.

Now enters Anysoldier.com and all of the great volunteers. I was actually the first Marine on their site while in Afghanistan and now they have grown to thousands of supporters. You have been contacted and encouraged to support deployed troops. Now, please know that nothing is expected from you on our end and if you only said hi with an email that would be fine. Many people send emails and letters and that is great because we only really want your support, bottom line.

What to send, well that differs in each place. We use wet wipes, Gatorade and hygiene material the most. As our base is basically surrounded by neighborhoods filled with insurgents we don’t get allot of extra supplies. My third day here I was hit with and IED (improvised explosive device) with was about 40lbs of C4 explosives. That much explosives would flatten a 2 story house of 2000 sq ft, the backyard fence, ignite your cars in your driveway and shatter windows for about 3 mile radius. While in our armored Hummer it tore pieces off and ruptured the bulletproof glass. I had a 2-inch hunk of steel stuck in my window about eye level and everyone’s eardrums were virtually torn.

This entire procedure is worked however you desire to approach it and can be increased or decreased as you see fit. Once we receive items we distribute them out to other Marines here. You will probably get letters from Marines you may even meet a few friends and see the actual scenario instead of what the news portrays here in Iraq.

Whatever you do, regardless of what you send, when you see a service member, tell them Thanks.

Ok, you got it. So check back when you can, stay as long as you like regardless I’ll be around.

SEMPER FI

Comments

[Andrew Cordelo]

hey man first of all thanks for everything your doing man i appreciate it. second what type of knee surgeries have you had bc me myself has had 2 major knee surgeries and 1 for hardware removal. im only asking bc i'm trying to join and im worried they wont accept me bc of them.