Soldier's Diary/The Last 24 Hours In Iraq

PHAT MAX · 03-29-07, 09:02 AM

This thread will be the official place for our boys (and girls) in uniform to post their updates, pictures, news, and other interesting info for our enjoyment. Please please please keep the politics out. I know for a fact that every single person on this forum fully supports our troops, and as a sign of respect, please keep this thread about what it is supposed to be about....our boys and girls fighting for this great country. Bashing, politics, and other worthless bickering will be deleted and I encourage you to report such a post so that it can be removed.

THANK YOU!

(fingers crossed)

PacToy · 04-09-07, 10:43 AM

Well, after all the protesting/rallies/marches/demonstrations whatever they want to call it depending on what news agency you listen to.......

We gave the Iraqis classes on weapons, vehicle inspections, first aid, prisoner searches.

Then again the Iraqis gave us a big Iraqi meal. Forget about all the table manners your mom taught you. They are out the window at this table.

Gawd! I hate goat milk off the tit but Iraqi dirty hand bread is very nice.

I thought with all the bad news in the news the last two days I should share my little story.

More pics after we get back from our foot mobile night patrol. That is if our satellite connection is still good and I'm still in one piece.

IDave · 04-09-07, 11:56 AM

Thanks for your service, Pactoy! We look forward to your next pix!

Aussie · 04-09-07, 12:18 PM

Stay safe Pactoy, look fwd to having you back home safe!!

JJS · 04-09-07, 12:20 PM

PacToy, stay safe, man.

mj1015 · 04-09-07, 12:23 PM

Good luck and get on home Marine.

fzj80kidpen · 04-09-07, 12:55 PM

Nice pics.
I hope we get to see some more real news from you.
Iraq next to Syria - thats got to be dicey at best.
Give em hell

JuttyShabango · 04-09-07, 01:28 PM

Our family prayers are with you PacToy.

Stay safe and thank you Sir!

Shahram · 04-09-07, 02:28 PM

Fuck all y'all, I just want to know how the rest of the food was.

I'm especially curious about that pile of whatever in the middle. Looks good.

PacToy · 04-09-07, 02:49 PM

Hey Fellas,

Thanks for the replies and wishes.

<- I wish!

The good news is I'm back safe. The bad news is we missed catching the bad guy. Oh, well, we will head back out again in the morning and give it a go again.

There are a bunch of pictures I would like to share. My internet just sucks balls most of the time and the attachment management stalls out. We pay $300 a month out of our pockets for it but it keeps us in touch with family and friends.

Yesterday we had lamb, dirty hand bread, and hominy beans w/ cow's milk with water and salt added (Syrian). Tasted like shit and it gave me the shits. Glad I made it back to the porta-shitters just in time.

Shahram, that would be dirty hand bread on the bottom, thick layer of rice, roasted yard bird and lamb parts. Plus lots of other things I couldn't idenify. It was good alright. Still haven't had to shit yet so it must be ok with the stomach.

Thanks Again, Fellas. I will do my best to keep the pics coming.

PacToy · 04-09-07, 02:54 PM

Pic 1) Easter sunset over Syria. One of a couple.

Pic 2) Is for Shahram. Maybe he can help identify some of the food?

beaufort-fj60 · 04-09-07, 02:56 PM

that's a shit load of food.

semlin · 04-09-07, 02:58 PM

holy crap that is quite the meal.

nice hijack by whodat AND dave.

splitshot · 04-09-07, 03:01 PM

Bet you're dying for some baby backs, pork is probably scarce over there.

Hope you have better luck with the bad guy next time. Take it easy and keep the posts coming..

landcrusher909 · 04-09-07, 03:06 PM

from our family in so calif stay safe and let us know wherte you live here maybe we can plan a home coming run you deserve it and you bros. let us know again thanks for your service

IDave · 04-09-07, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PacToy

Pic 1) Easter sunset over Syria. One of a couple.

Pic 2) Is for Shahram. Maybe he can help identify some of the food?

Beautiful pix, Randy! Thanks

Shahram · 04-09-07, 03:27 PM

Wow...uh, yeah...

Okay, so I recognize some kind of birdy thing, as there's a wingish shape in the lower-left quadrant...

...and I see the rice there, at the bottom...

...bread...

...cucumbers and tomatoes, the salad of choice in any ME country...

...are those noodles? God, please let those be noodles...

...flaps of scrambled eggs, lovingly thrown from a great distance onto the plate...

...and a prodigious smattering of mystery offal...

...unpasteurized goats milk...

...and cans of unidentified "MC" soda beverage, which seems to have the word "Libia" underneath. Please tell me that "MC" does not stand for "Moamaar Chaddafi", and if it does, you will cease drinking it immediately.

How'd I do?

swank60 · 04-09-07, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PacToy

Hey Fellas,

Thanks for the replies and wishes.

<- I wish!

The good news is I'm back safe. The bad news is we missed catching the bad guy. Oh, well, we will head back out again in the morning and give it a go again.

There are a bunch of pictures I would like to share. My internet just sucks balls most of the time and the attachment management stalls out. We pay $300 a month out of our pockets for it but it keeps us in touch with family and friends.

Yesterday we had lamb, dirty hand bread, and hominy beans w/ cow's milk with water and salt added (Syrian). Tasted like shit and it gave me the shits. Glad I made it back to the porta-shitters just in time.

Shahram, that would be dirty hand bread on the bottom, thick layer of rice, roasted yard bird and lamb parts. Plus lots of other things I couldn't idenify. It was good alright. Still haven't had to shit yet so it must be ok with the stomach.

Thanks Again, Fellas. I will do my best to keep the pics coming.

Damn - other than adding salt to milk, it almost looks like Southern home cooking. Everything is fried, then, on the side (comprising maybe 5% of the entire table) is some raw vegetables - except in the south it would be tomatos, cucumbers and onions, not just toms and cucs.

krzyabncanuck · 04-09-07, 04:16 PM

All I have to add is it is not hand bread, It is foot bread.

Least the locals where i was in both the Stan and Iraq made it with their feet.

wct49 · 04-09-07, 05:37 PM

Thanks for what your doing over in Indian country.

Don't know about your Marine Corp. skills but if that food didn't get you a trip to a hospital ship... Your gastro skills are tuff as nails.

Stay sharp and be safe.

Good Hunting!!!

brownbear · 04-09-07, 06:10 PM

nan bread and curry is good stuff. Some cook over there was quite proud of that spread.

Keep up the good work and stay safe eh!

Shahram · 04-09-07, 09:20 PM

Well, Randy hasn't been back. Either one of two things has happened:

1) He's sick of our shit.

2) He's sick with the shits.

I'm goin' with #2.

Red Herring · 04-09-07, 09:32 PM

for the pics Randy!

And....

Is that a freaking deep fried sheep's head in one of the pics?

If so I want dibs!

Yummy!

PacToy · 04-09-07, 11:57 PM

Shahram,

No, Silly, I was asking you what the mystery things were! It was a not challenge question. Damn, I thought you had skills too!

Those are not eggs up top. That is lamb fat with a piece of bone somewhere in it.

Those are not noodles either. Well, not any kind of noodle that would call a noodle. Maybe they are noodles by Iraqi standards but they taste ok what ever they are.

Darin, are you saying that was a toe nail not a finger nail I found in my piece of dirty hand bread?

Properly it is called nan. We just call it dirty hand bread for our convenience.

Dan, (KliersLC)

We do get a tray rats in the morning and one in the evening. That is if you can make it there and the food hasn't ran out. There is no KBR chow hall here. So a lot of times we eat with the Iraqis and afterwards we discuss business with them. Apparently that is how they like to talk business.

Steve, there are no lamb or goat heads there. We haven't had the Octopussy experience yet.

So far my Iraqi food favorites would be the dirty hand bread (nan), lamb kabobs, and chi.

Don't worry about all the squabbling in the thread. You guys should have seen the Iraqis getting pissed at what their news agencies were reporting yesterday. It must be a world phenomenon to have bad and distorted news on TV.

krzyabncanuck · 04-10-07, 05:46 AM

Randy, If you ever get a chance to see them make it then you will know. We had to go eat with them all the time and we would see how they made all of that stuff. Green tea good, milk tea bad. Funny thing is they always told us we were eating chicken, but we never seen any running around. I had my own ideas what it was.

Stay safe over there man. And remember there are alot of us out there that support you, and have your back, back here.

splitshot · 04-10-07, 06:40 AM

That last pic is making me hungry......Again.

What about beer, can you get it over there?

Arya Ebrahimi · 04-10-07, 06:54 AM

Shahram,

I was gonna say it looked like "obgoosh" on the platter and "baudam joon" in the bowls. Probably not though

Forgive my farnglish spelling

GOZ 2 11 · 04-10-07, 10:06 AM

Stay safe Pac Toy and Give 'em Hell!

PacToy · 04-10-07, 10:18 AM

04-10-07

After we got a convoy launched out this morning we did a patrol out to the passport office. At first we had a chance to mingle with the locals and non-locals. Then as the buses kept coming and coming we saw that our IPs were getting overwhelmed by the pushing crowds.

So we posted two Marines at each entry point around the perimeter to help assist our IPs. Just the fact that Marines were now present at each entry point help relax the tensions the crowds were having with our IPs who doing their jobs.

Today I can not even begin to tell you how many times I heard from the locals that the Americans bring justice/fairness to the situation. For some reason they really like the word "justice". You would also not believe how many sobs stories I heard alone today on why someone had to get to the front of the line!!

We also had a good time with the kids before the crowds. Two boys even gave me some candy and pistachios

Then we had chow with the Iraqis. Lamb Kabobs and roast chicken + the ever present Ayran milk. Yuk!

PacToy · 04-10-07, 10:25 AM

Darin, I don't really know if I want to see them prepare the meals. What we see of the kitchens are awful!

When we started out today there was a sheep at the little exchange that had a "F" painted on it's back. After our lamb kabobs the sheep wasn't there anymore.

This evening sunset over Syria. 04-10-07