1LT Micah J. Garrison: A Soldier's Soldier

"Hello everyone. I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. It rained for an hour or two a couple of days ago, only the second time it has rained since we've been here (over seven months). The temperature ranges from the low 30s at night to the 40s and 50s during the day. This is a significant change from the 130s we usually had during the summer. Also, because everything is so wide open, the wind makes it seem a lot colder. The last several days have been pretty rough, we've had several friendly casualties. They seem to come in bunches. While our battalion has been fortunate that no one has been killed, it still hurts when fellow soldiers die even if we don't know them. It definitely dampens the holiday mood because we know that every time someone dies we think about who's waiting for them back home and what they'll go through when they are notified by the military and then you automatically think of your own loved ones. The surrounding units have to come through our area so we often link up with them if they don't know where they are going to render additional aid on the way to the treatment center. The day after Christmas a soldier died while we worked on him and today another one came through that probably won't make it. While being here has numbed us to death, feat, and physical pain it is still hard to deal with seeing a fellow soldier die. While we know that death is part of the Infantry's job description we know that someone back in the states had their lives changed forever. Don't get me wrong, fighting is why many of us joined the military. If I wasn't married and didn't have a wife I dearly love waiting on me I'd almost enjoy being here. We didn't join to train. We joined to fight.

I still believe we are doing the right thing by being here. A stable Iraq will forever change middle-eastern politics. Whether or not it remains stable after we leave remains to be seen. Bat at least we will have the intelligence networks in place so that we can continue to develop sources and leads in the war on terror. As I've states before, I would rather have trained soldiers fight the terrorists here than innocent civilians try to protect themselves back home. I've heard several people on the news who are against the war state that Iraq has turned into a terrorist battlefield. I think that's a good think. I'd rather fight them and preoccupy them here than wait for them to hit us again back home. 9-11-01 demonstrated that the enemy we face is willing, capable and ready to kill innocent civilians on our own soil. Hopefully fighting them here will prevent them from freeing up the assts required to carry out another such attack. Please continue to pray for our troops in the field. I cannot stress how comforting it is to know how many of you back home pray for our safe return and God's hand of protection. As the old saying goes "war is hell." But we also know that God is always in control. He doesn't let thinks happen by accident. Everything happens for a reason, everything happens for His purpose. Knowing that makes all the difference. I hope all of you have a blessed year. Micah."

If you want to write to Micah, here is his address.

1LT Micah J. Garrison
HHC TF 2-130 Infantry
Recon Platoon
APO AE 09381


Micah Garrison and his colleages are American heroes on the forefront of the War on Terror.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/1/117364