Born to Serve...

We heard from Chris on Wednesday. He is well and I will share his thoughts in just a moment.

First, I wanted to point you to a Stars and Stripe article on the memorial service in Vilseck, Germany for Spc. Wayne Geiger who served with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. He was killed in action on Oct. 18 in Baghdad when a roadside bomb detonated while on combat patrol with his unit. Spc. Geiger was 23.

Note these words about Spc. Geiger from the article...

“He was born to serve,” Rickard said, telling of Geiger’s parents, Randall, a former sailor, and Kimberly, who both serve with the Inyo County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department. “He was raised right, by a family with tremendous faith and pride in our nation.”

Before deploying, Geiger spoke to his father of his decision to join the military. His father recently recounted for a casualty assistance officer the conversation.

“You may not have noticed, but I’ve been watching what’s been going on since (Sept. 11, 2001),” the father recalled his son saying. “It’s not fair watching our men and women make sacrifices and me not doing my share. I want to be on the front lines with all the rest doing the fighting. ... It’s infantry or nothing!”

Spc. Geiger epitomized what it means to "show up, get in the fight and contribute." We are all so grateful for his service - he paid the ultimate price for freedom.

To read the complete Stars and Stripes article on Spc. Geiger click here.

So, how is Chris doing? Here's an update as captured by his mom...

Chris called this morning (24 October) - at 5:00 am again. This seems to be a pattern. I'm just going to have to learn to be a morning person, at least on Wednesdays:-) He had a little longer to talk this time, but really didn't have much news to tell me. He said he's getting plenty of sleep and not much action. All I can say is this must just be God answering prayers. He isn't real happy about it, but that's ok.

Actually, Chris didn't even complain of boredom this time. I think he's beginning to realize that no action is a good thing. He did say that he saw one fire fight that was very close to his COP when he was on guard duty the other night. He saw the bullet tracers and a couple explosions but when he checked the radio, there was no talk of any action with our guys. Must have just been the locals duking it out I guess. He only spends one day at the FOB per week on average so there's not much time on the computers or phones. The Army has brought phones and computers to the COP, but they are not hooked up yet. Hopefully they'll get it set up soon.

Chris also told me that he's thinking of re-enlisting so he can change his MOS to (I think he said) MI or Military Intelligence. This was what we were hoping he would do from the beginning, but he had to get that fighting stuff out of his system first. He'll probably still spend time in the war zone with this MOS, but not for 15 months at a time. I'm really quite amazed that he's thinking of re-upping. I thought for sure he'd want to get out after his 5 years was up.

Our guys are obviously doing a great job and I hope the word continues to get out in the press. That's the kind of news that we should be hearing on the networks!

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Chris, we love you buddy! Keep your head on a swivel and stay strong. You will never know all the people who are praying for you and the 2nd SCR!

v/r,
- Collabman