Time to go home. It is Tuesday at 3:45am here in Iraq. In Honolulu, it's 2:45pm on Monday, the Memorial Day holiday. If I closed my eyes and sat still, I would be able to see the movie in my head - I would see all the pop-up tents, the family picnics and the barbeques going 2-40. Ala Moana Park would smell like one big, delicious, tender piece of teri beef.
It's interesting that we've spent our Memorial Day here in Iraq, where according to the Mideast edition of Stars and Stripes (a daily newspaper on base), more than 4,000 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since 2003. I hope you will join Carole Kai and our Great Aloha Run Team in honoring them each and every day, while you hold a prayer in your heart for the safe return of those who are still here.
We'd all like to thank Carole for asking us to be a part of the Great Aloha Run's "Mission of Aloha." I'll be honest - it's really been a physically tough trip. I doubt any of us got more than 5 hours of sleep each night, but somehow during the course of each day's events, we managed to pull ourselves up by our boot straps and made sure each soldier knew how much America was thinking about them, and how much our family and friends in Hawaii loved and missed them so much. But yes, we had fun! We had a blast! Thank you MG Caslen, BG Brown and CSM Leota. Mahalo to the Fun Factory, Princess Ka'iulani Fashions, the Rotary Club of Kapolei/R. Baird Company, Menehune MAC, United Airlines and Dr. Lawrence Tseu for your donations. SFC Rick "Sunshine" Maine, Kenne "Pop Tart" Sjoberg, the MWR staff and Jeff from Lonewolf Productions...YOU ROCK! Donna, Randy, Jay, Nohe, Lori, Krista, Jasmine and Radasha..."I love you, maaaan!"
Nohe said she would definately come back again if they asked her to. Her life has changed big time, and she's been humbled by living our soldiers' life - how they do what they have to do, without a single complaint.
Earlier today, Jay and I were wondering what we would do differently - what we would bring our troops if we ever came back for another tour. A donation of phone cards? No...More mochi crunch for the local boys? No...Caps embroidered with our company's logo? No...We sat there staring into the dust for a few minutes, wracking our sleep- deprived brains for a "feel good" answer. Suddenly I looked at him and said, "Nothing...we don't need to bring anything else different. Just us. Our smiles, our personalities, our messages of aloha...and our hugs and kisses... in person."
We're concluding an amazing two days at Camp Speicher, home of 15,000+ soldiers. Originally, we weren't scheduled to visit here, but through Divine Intervention (namely Gen. Brown), we ended up here afterall, just in time to participate in the celebration of Asian Pacific Month. Our first day at Speicher was spent recuperating from all the Blackhawk activity, the packing and unpacking and the 100+ degree heat, which caused us to be road weary. Bone tired.
I've been reading old blogs, just to make sure I don't repeat myself, and noticed how I've "highlighted" each person's "oh no!" moment. Well, I have to be honest. I've recently had one myself and if I don't at least tell you a little about it, Nohe, Lori, Jasmine, Radasha and Krista have threatened to blog about it themselves... So here's the truth.
The evening of our first night here (Sat. May 23), a few of us decided to look at the venue where the event was going to be held on Sunday night. We finally met the gals in Halau O Iraq, at their rehearsal, talked story, admired their Princess Kai'ulani Fashions mu'u mu'u, etc. It was getting late - almost midnight and I was beyond tired. Here at Speicher, we are staying four to a room in beautiful, air-conditioned dorms. I went out back and walked the 15 feet from our back door to the Female Shower. Only problem is, after my shower, I got lost in the dark and ended up at the wrong dorm, and passed out on the couch in the community tv room in my red flannel doggie pajamas, until Jay Ray, who was going potty in the middle of the night, found me on the couch. He said all he could get out of me was, "I got lost..." and was nice enough to walk me back to my room. By the next morning at breakfast, everyone, and I mean everyone, knew about my excellent adventure. So shame...
Tonight there was an impressive opening at the Pacific Asian Month festivities. Randy and Jay's Hawaiian food was delicious too! The first act was a dance troupe called Pearls of the Pacific, made up of male and female soldiers, led by a really funny emcee who was also their lead dancer. Halau O Iraq was second on stage with four beautifully-danced songs, and our "Hula From Hawaii" revue was on last. The crowd had thinned out a bit, but the show was "chicken skin" for a really appreciative audience. It was our final performance in Iraq. The Great Aloha Run Team had accomplished it's mission of aloha through six luau shows, four Meet and Greets, hugs deep from the heart, and smiles that were real and never faded. Everyone knew what the Team had done for the moral and spirit of these solders and we truly loved being here for them. One soldier said, "knowing you've come all the way here to entertain us, helps lift the weight off my shoulders." The 25th Infantry has been so supportive of Carole and the GAR for the past 25 years, and now we were helping her support them back...in the way we knew best.
Mother Nature wouldn't let up, but General Robert Brown made sure we arrived today. Yeah! The Blackhawk trip was awesome, allowing us to see a very different part of Iraq. Upon arriving, we went straight to the venue and performed our luau show. You see, General Brown was one of the persons responsible for the Great Aloha Run in Afghanistan in 2006. He loves the GAR, Carole Kai and Hawaii. He came on stage to introduce us, and even had an Iraqi officer as his guest. After the show, he hosted a party on his "Command Post North Shore Lanai," complete with a mural of the islands. We've just met Major Mel Juan, a liason to the Kurdish region of Iraq, who also happens to come from Kalihi. In fact, he is a true Kalihi boy, moving five times within Kalihi. As I told him, "from one calamungay tree to another..." Heeeere's Mel!
Aloha everyone! Howzit brah? I've been very blessed to be where I am today. When we first deployed I was with the Division staff. Now I serve as the Division Liaison and live in a part of Iraq that hardly anyone knows about--that is the Kurdish region. The people of the region remind me of the people of Hawaii. They have so much aloha and respect for what we're doing here for the region and their people. Compared to the rest of Iraq, this region is relatively safe. These people really do care for their "aina" and it shows.
I want to say hi to my wife Natalie, my sons Damon and Braden, who've been very supportive of me for the past few years during my deployment in Iraq and Korea. I want to say daddy will be home for r and r soon...
Another day in Iraq with the Great Aloha Run. It's "wheels" up pretty early tomorrow, so aloha!
Why am I here on the blog site? May is always Asian-Pacific Islander month and I was reminded just a few days ago that a group from the Islands was coming to Iraq to perform. I desperately needed to go. Luckily, General Brown's flight crew was able to pick me up from my location to where the wahines were performing. He knew I was from the Isands. Regarding the show, it was awesome. I had such a wonderful time. I was so excited to be here around local people. I got to speak pidgeon again. It felt so good. When I deployed to Iraq, I brought along with me my ukulele. I took it on this trip. And you know what...it came in handy. The show had some initial technical difficulties so I decided to play my uke. Let me tell you that I've never done this before, but seeing what sacrifice the performers made to be here I decided to go for it. Wow, that was nerve-wrecking but fun. I'm not a singer, but I did sing and play "Brown-eyed Girl". I hope it doesn't get publish on Youtube. Mahalo nui loa to Team Hula for coming out here in Iraq and support the troops, especially the local Soldiers in the service. Well, it's been a pleasure blogging with you. Shoootz...Mel
Maybe by this afternoon Mother Nature will let us fly off to our new adventure. Last night, we had down time. Almost everyone went to watch a store bought movie in the tv room, while I oped to go to salsa lessons and dancing with Kenne, one of the civilian workers. I mean, when will I have the chance to salsa in Iraq again? Kenne, at first, rolled his eyeballs back when he was told he had to accompany me to salsa. He was a good sport. He didn't say no when I pulled him onto the dance floor to learn a few steps. Poor Kenne. Now I know why he didn't want to to go. He moved like Ichabod Crane. But after 20-30 minutes of my special brand of instruction, he was moving along the floor really good! He even learned how to turn to the right and turn to the left. Kenne was finally smiling! There were about 50-75 soldiers there. Some were dancing in pairs, others in their own little groups off to the side, adding their own urban flavor to the routines. Sgt. Rick Maine, gun and all, joined us on the floor too. He's a pretty good dancer with lots of natural rhythm.
The others, unfortunately, didn't have quite a good time with the movie. Apparently, only half of the movie could be shown, which means all they could see was half a face, nose and mouth. Yikes! Donna was asleep in her chair within the first 3 minutes and snoring like a lumberjack. Which brings me to Donna and her sleep patterns. She can be out cold (like in the movie) or up and aware at the mere sound of something unusual. Like in Baghdad at 4am, Krista awoke to find Donna peering out the window and concerned. She had awoken to strange sounds, and told Krista she couldn't imagine why the enemy would put their messages on loud speakers, and maybe she should inform the front desk. Krista assured her it wasn't the enemy...it was the civilians en mass during their early morning prayer time in the mosque right next door. Donna went back to sleep and slept soundly.
Our "special mission" bus driver Johnny Bray, has been in Iraq for 3 years and 2 months. He used to be a bus driver for Greyhound and decided to come oversees to make some serious cash. The average worker makes anywhere from 70K and up, with management positions over 100K. They do not have to pay any Federal income tax and only state tax if it applies. They are required to take a 2 week R n R every 4 months, in which a portion of their airfare is paid for. By the end of the one-year contract, they take a 21 day R n R, and all travel and hotel (overnighting in Dubai) is paid in full. Not bad. But Johnny says that since the U.S. will be pulling out of Iraq, they are now concentrating on training the Iraq folks to take over all the jobs that the contract workers are doing.
Best part of this trip is, we've met so many soldiers who have participated in the Great Aloha Run, and those who had never run it, said they would probably check it out!
Poor Randy. In the beginning of the trip, he was so sassy! He was teasing Nohe and the girls at almost every opportunity. it was all in good fun, but he was still teasing. He didn't tease me though, 'cause he knows I'm Filipino and I might pull knife. How could he not know what he was up against with all these local girls? By the time we were riding back to our pods after the show in our "special mission" labeled bus, he said his self-esteem was damaged. The titas had ganged up on him. Krista and I couldn't stop laughing our okoles off! We knew it was all in jest, but it sounded so funny to hear him sound that way. It was hysterical to hear a grown man whine.
Thursday morning we awoke real early to make a 7:30am "wheels up" because of an impending sandstorm coming our way. Randy and Jay were nice enough to fetch us breakfast at the cafeteria which serves 2000+ soldiers and workers. They were impressed at the quality and variety of the food. There was every kind of breakfast meal one could imagine. Jeff, the agent, had heard that the average soldier consumed 2500-3000 calories per meal. I believed it. Who wouldn't burn a gazillion calories jumping in and out of Blackhawks, Humvees and MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protectant) vehicles with a 25-30 pound vest and backpack on, plus a weapon, during a full 8-10 hour day in 100+ degree weather? Personally, I was hoping this heat would just melt all my extra fat, but fat chance! They are feeding us way too good!
Midday May 21
Nohe was relieved. We didn't get on the Blackhawk to our next adventure. Mother Nature made that decision for us. So with all extra time on our hands, we looked at trinkets in the gift shop. The two handsome young men in the shop knew our names as soon as we walked through the door. They had attended the "hula hula" show last night and had gotten our autographs at the Meet and Greet. They were on their second two-year contract in Iraq. The owner of the company had advertised for workers in India to go abroad, and offered good money too, so they signed up right away. They were shocked when they saw their new digs in the middle of almost no where, amid a war. Soon after, they got used to the occasional sound of bombs being detonated and managed to fill their free time on the Internet. They had gotten used to their new life, plus they were eating like kings...three times a day.
