Letter 1

August 31, 2008
Fort Lewis, Washington

Everyone:

This is my first letter chronicling my journey to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The intent is to tell my story as I am living it…for better and for worse. This letter is staring off during a very difficult time for me. Minutes ago I said goodbye to each of my four children, and to my wife. I wish that I could say that it is easier doing this a second time but it is not. In fact, I have found it to be much harder this time. My children are older and I have grown much closer to them. There are times when I feel as if my heart has been ripped from my chest, and I find myself wishing I did not have to leave my family. However, doing the right thing is always hard, and serving my country is bigger than my family and my wants. God does not hand us trials that we cannot handle.

These emotions are tempered by the pride I have in serving my Country, the pride in knowing that I will be caring for our soldiers. I take comfort in knowing that my family will be taken care of and all the amazing support that my family and I have received from Butler, from St. Thomas Aquinas, and all the surrounding community. I am amazed at how strong my wife is, how she can essentially be a single working mother of four…and do such a fantastic job. I cannot fathom the professional phase PA students throwing a surprise going away party and providing a digital camera so that I can share pictures with you. I cannot fathom the COPHS community and the office of Advancement throwing a surprise party and donating the funds for my family to get a flag pole for our yard. The meals that the parishioners from St. Thomas have already started to bring to my house. Simply put: THANK YOU…I love each and every one of you. We (my family and I) cannot do this without you, and our soldiers are only as strong as our community.

Below is a picture of Shelby and I at the farewell ceremony at Camp Atterbury.

If you look closely at the picture I believe the lead singer of Megadeth (rock band) is standing against the wall. Anyway, we left Camp Atterbury and flew in the middle of the night to Fort Lewis, Washington. It is between Tacoma and Seattle. The weather here cannot be more different. It has been in the 60s and 70s during the day and cold at night. This morning I saw my breath at our morning 5:30 formation.

This base is very old. We are living in barracks that were constructed for WWII. My uncle who served in Vietnam actually stayed in these same barracks. Below is a picture of my building….I think, they all look the same.

If you turn about 45 degrees to the right of the above picture, you get the picture below:

At the other end of my building here is the view:

I think you can appreciate all similar all the buildings are to each other. The last building on the left (the small one) is actually our chow hall. We share the chow hall with a large group of Air Force soldiers and some Navy soldiers. I am sure that the Air Force is getting paid substandard housing as there is not a concierge available.

It is actually really pretty here. There are trees, specifically pine trees everywhere. The weather is pretty nice, and I am able to work on teaching more class at Butler with relative stability. Speaking of that let me show you my desk that I have been using to teach from…I have made a deal with some crusty old supply sergeants and they are going to work to get me a “real desk”

Yes…It is three old footlockers in a closet. Hopefully, I can “upgrade” with my supply deal. Those of you with a military background know how important these “black ops” are. Below is the barracks that I am staying in from the inside.

Notice the strong decorating influence of the “barn motif”. The person looking back at the camera is 1LT McFarland, another PA…nothing but the best for our fine medical officers. Major Romig and I have it slightly better as we are “Senior PAs” and “higher ranking”. If I turned 180 degrees, there is my lecture closet and another small room where we get to sleep. Below is my bed and just out of view is Major Romig’s bed.

It really is no different then all the other beds except we do have a door. I must show you our latrine…I know who wants to see a bathroom? Well, from my previous deployment, it was actually one of the most common requested pictures…really!

I think that there might be two more sinks on the left side. To the right is four stalls with doors! Moving past the washer you move to below:

Cozy is the only word to describe the showers…yes that is the wall to the left…there is actually one more shower head that you cannot see. We have to set block shower times for obvious reasons. Actually we are better off than the other barracks as we only have 22 guys in our building. It will actually be nicer once we get to Iraq.

We have been training but the days have still been slow. We did receive our new body armor and I feel like a Middle Ages knight as it takes at least two people (squires) to get into the system. I will save that for the next letter. I hope everybody is doing well. I miss everybody…sorry PA1 class that I am not there, but I hope you are enjoying my lecture videos. Yes, I actually do laugh at my own jokes. I will try to get another letter out within the next two weeks. Keep praying for Shelby and the kids, if you have time throw a prayer my way as well. Remember to keep the soldiers in your thoughts as well.


CPT Mike Roscoe