Purple Heart

Well, it's spring break here in the states, but I don't think anyone's taking a week off where Blake is. We got a couple of calls from him this past week and the best news of all is he's back to his own base. That's really good because his base is very safe and secure, while there are others out there that are a lot more dangerous. We learned that he had not been in quite as safe a location as he led us to believe. He came back with quite a few stories that were a little more than unnerving.

One thing he told us about was one evening while he was sleeping, a suicide Taliban wasp broke through the perimeter and stung him on the face. This, he said, woke him up right away and while he was dancing around the barracks screaming and waking up everyone else there, his sergeant called out asking what was wrong. When Blake told him, the NCO told him that he might get a purple heart for the injury. Blake was not impressed with the idea, thinking that getting a purple heart was a jinx and he wanted no part of it. We asked him to get someone to take a picture of his face and send it to us. So far, no picture. I'm not holding my breath.

The really good news is he's gotten his orders to return. He said they're for the end of June, so he should be back and able to visit with everyone by the first part of July, which will be just in time for Dusty's birthday. There's a couple of weeks of debriefing to get them acclimated to being back in the US, but once that's over, he can take a nice long leave. He has some business to take care of in Houston, but once that's over, we're hoping he can spend a lot of time here and in Dallas with Dusty.

The bad news in all of this, if it's bad news, is his unit is scheduled to return sometime around November, 2010. He's talking about reenlisting, which will put him there when he does. This, he believes will be an advantage if he gets a reenlistment bonus. Smart boy, especially considering how hard it is to get work in the US now. He may be the only one of us safe when the depression hits us.

Well, more news when we know more. Till then, take care and keep him and the other members of the military in your prayers. They need it now more than ever.