It seems like forever and a day ago since we did our December event at Dragonmead in Warren, and everyone was so supportive of our efforts to do something cool and a little different for the troops overseas.
Well, we just got an update in from Mike (he graciously took a break from dodging sandstorms, bullets, and explosives to let us know everything arrived), and if nothing else, I’m pretty sure I won’t be complaining about the meetings that I’m trapped in for a while.
Perspective is fun, but not as much fun as Mike’s having. Depending on your definition of the word “fun”, of course…
Which brings us to the update that just came in from Mike:
Just got the care package…WOW! Haven’t had a chance to inventory it yet, we’ve been in the field since Sunday. We took contact every day, but Tuesday was the worst. We got hit with a complex ambush. We were still in vehicles, but my boomerang was calling shots from different locations. I do know that it’s something I’d rather not experience again.
The other action I was directly involved in was doing a search of a village. We aren’t allowed to go inside, so we stay outside of the buildings while they search. We were coming out of the last chalet (sp?) when some rounds went off. We were far enough from the IDF that it didn’t hit us and we never got location on who took the shots.
Only at the base for a quick turn-around. I probably won’t get everything distributed until after the next mission. I’ll get you the pics as soon as I can but we’ll be gone for awhile next time. Gotta love squatting to poop and having nothing but baby-wipes and MRE TP.
In the meantime, keep those prayers coming!
Yeah. These meetings with auditors suddenly don’t seem quite so bad right now.
Keep yourself safe, Mike. And everyone else out there along with you. There’s still a cold beer or nine waiting for you folks when you get back stateside and want to pop by an event. You get a free pass from the IT industry requirement any time you want to make it.
In case you’re relatively new to the group, here’s some background for you. I’m just going to give you some quick reference material, and the links in case you want to go read more. Which you should, because we’re going to be doing this again.
For our event in December of 2011 (http://www.ITinTheD.com/event/december-2011/), we decided we wanted to do something a little different.
We decided we were going to do something to help support Michigan military families http://www.ITinTheD.com/2689/support-michigan-military-families/
We created an FAQ based on the questions coming in, so that people could do things the right way. http://www.ITinTheD.com/2735/dec-15-faqs/
We put together and published some profiles of the people involved, because things like this always work better when you have faces to go with concepts.
The category: http://www.ITinTheD.com/category/meet-the-troops/
Dawn: http://www.ITinTheD.com/2765/meet-the-troops-part-1/
Mike: http://www.ITinTheD.com/2776/meet-the-troops-part-2/
Jon: http://www.ITinTheD.com/2779/meet-the-troops-part-3/
Morgan: http://www.ITinTheD.com/2786/meet-the-troops-part-4/
Tim: http://www.ITinTheD.com/2799/meet-the-troops-part-5/
…and finally, Aaron. If you don’t have the time to go through any of the other links and profiles above, take the time to read his – http://www.ITinTheD.com/2819/meet-the-troops-day-6/ – because it’s more than just a profile. It’s a sledgehammer to the forehead with the word “perspective” chiseled into it so that it remains imprinted on your skull.
(damn…just went back and read that again…still hits me. seriously.)
The event itself went outstandingly well. There’s a recap over here – http://www.ITinTheD.com/2850/recap-dragonmead-december15/ – and a few photos out here – http://www.ITinTheD.com/2864/a-few-photos-from-thursday-night/.
After letting things run their course, getting a few late donations in that people asked us to hold up for…everything got bundled together, packaged up, and shipped off. And that brings us to Mike’s update and now you’re fully in the loop.
Like I said, we’ll be doing this again.