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Post by Sister Penny on Aug 14, 2011 5:49:52 GMT -5
Please pray for my nephew & his Army unit they leave for Iraq today at 2am and the group that went yesterday was sent mortar fire at their base from the Iraqi's....not a nice welcome at all... Sister Penny
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Post by rachel4 on Aug 14, 2011 6:47:23 GMT -5
Will pray Sister Penny, how long will your nephew be over there?
Rachel
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Post by rachel on Aug 14, 2011 20:01:02 GMT -5
Will be praying for them. How long will the deployment last? My uncle was sent over to Iraq a few years ago but he's just a tech guy so he didn't actually see much fighting, his job was to keep all the computers working.
Does America send a group every day over to Iraq? I don't know much about the army over there but the way people act makes it sound like it's compulsory or something.
Anyway, will be praying for your nephew and all the others over there. There are lots of Australian troops over in Iraq too so we pray for them a lot. There's a man at our church who's an army chaplain and he deals with people after the come back from places like that. It sounds horrible over there.
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Post by michelle on Aug 15, 2011 14:41:38 GMT -5
Rachel, we have an all volunteer military. During past conflicts (Vietnam being the last) we had a draft that basically "forced" for lack of a better term, individuals to join the military.
However, once you are in, you get sent where they send you.
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Post by Sister Penny on Aug 15, 2011 15:17:11 GMT -5
Rachel, My nephew, Justin, enlisted before he graduated from High School last year. He spent some time in Georgia for Basic Training, then over to Texas. He has been in Kuwait for 2 weeks, he told me it was like having a blow dryer on high held about 6 inches from your face, it was between 130-140 degrees F. He left for Iraq, his Unit is basically the 9-1-1 unit, so where ever trouble is, they are sent, he is in direct combat and will be a gunner on a tank.
I realize it is an all volunteer Army Sister Michelle, Justin chose to do this to better himself and have enough money for a college education of his choosing and for the experience and to help people.
He has until the end of the year in Iraq, as our president says all of our troops should be out by then, he will then go back to Kuwait, however, with all the other muslim countries having issues its up to the ARMY where he goes.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Sister Penny
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Post by robertcolumbia on Aug 16, 2011 8:18:58 GMT -5
Rachel, we have an all volunteer military. During past conflicts (Vietnam being the last) we had a draft that basically "forced" for lack of a better term, individuals to join the military. However, once you are in, you get sent where they send you. This is true. Conscription in the US hasn't happened since the Vietnam war, though many of the legal structures are still in place and men are still required to register. I haven't been in the military, but I know people who have and yes, once you are in, they can pretty much send you wherever they want. So if you join figuring that, based on your background, you will be doing research in a lab in California or somewhere similar, and later they tell you that they want to on the ground in Iraq carrying an assault rifle, you have to go. There are different rules for commissioned officers - they can just up and quit under certain circumstances. Many antiwar activists here believe in something called the "economic draft", which basically means that enlisting in the military is seen by many young people as the best, or only, option for making a living.
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Post by rachel on Aug 16, 2011 18:44:26 GMT -5
I don't know how the army in Australia works but that sounds horrible over there! I don't think many people over here join fresh out of school because they see it as the only way to make a living... Australia's pretty good that way. We do have Army Reserves which lots of people join and they rarely get called up.
I didn't actually think the American army still conscripted people but from what you lot are saying, lots of people join because they don't have many other options which doesn't seem all that much better. I think it's because you send lots troops to lots of places quite regularly that it seems like that.
I really don't think I'm making sense here. Sorry for any confusion about the American army! Penny, I am praying for your nephew and everyone else in Iraq.
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Post by michelle on Aug 17, 2011 9:57:51 GMT -5
I realize it is an all volunteer Army Sister Michelle, Justin chose to do this to better himself and have enough money for a college education of his choosing and for the experience and to help people. Sister Penny, I was only trying to explain it to Rachel.
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Post by michelle on Aug 17, 2011 9:59:49 GMT -5
I don't know how the army in Australia works but that sounds horrible over there! I don't think many people over here join fresh out of school because they see it as the only way to make a living... Australia's pretty good that way. We do have Army Reserves which lots of people join and they rarely get called up. I didn't actually think the American army still conscripted people but from what you lot are saying, lots of people join because they don't have many other options which doesn't seem all that much better. I think it's because you send lots troops to lots of places quite regularly that it seems like that. I really don't think I'm making sense here. Sorry for any confusion about the American army! Penny, I am praying for your nephew and everyone else in Iraq. Not everyone who joins does so because they feel it is their only option. From what Sister Penny wrote, I would say that her nephew joined, in part, because it is an opportunity to gain some very valuable life skills. Others join because of patriotism. Still others join because it can be a very good career.
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Post by rachel on Aug 17, 2011 19:11:02 GMT -5
Yes, I know, I'm sorry. I came across sounding terrible ignorant and stupid, didn't I? All the same, I will be praying for Penny's nephew, because, however the army runs, I highly doubt that Iraq is that safe a place.
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Post by Sister Penny on Aug 18, 2011 18:37:56 GMT -5
Dear Sister Michelle, I didn't mean to sound rude to you..I didn't use my words correctly, Justin, my nephew joined as HE is very patriotic and he loves America. His father, my brother, has no real way to help his children get college educations and this was a great option for Justin to get the needed experience he wants to become a police officer, he is very level headed and we had him here 2 summers ago for 6 weeks, what a great time, he grew up a lot and also an inch in height :-) I feel no matter what, he will be ok, he is a born again Christian and has faith, we actually speak a lot on it, he is not into religion and dislikes it, so I told him to have faith and know the Lord is with him and we pray for him. He feels a lot of the world's problems are related to religious issues, which well very much are. He has 2 other brothers and 2 sisters. I do appreciate your prayers folks here and know I can always count on my friends here to keep the prayers up. thank you all... God bless, Sister Penny
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Post by Sister Penny on Aug 18, 2011 18:40:53 GMT -5
The troops that went last Saturday had a mortar attack on the base, no one was hurt as it missed. I was chatting w/Justin 2 days ago on Facebook and they were running to a bunker as mortar attacks were on them..he was safe and sound..but just a few minutes before he said he was bored...nothing like running for cover..He will be in Iraq til the end of the year, he figures the attacks will intensify once they pull troops out in November, then he will probably go to Kuwait or Afghanistan for 6 months..he said Kuwait was just sand sand and more sand..he really disliked it.
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Post by rachel on Aug 18, 2011 18:47:41 GMT -5
That is so horrible! Praise God he survived safe and sound! Although you're right, there's nothing to alleviate boredom like running for cover from mortar attacks...
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Post by Sister Penny on Aug 28, 2011 15:22:00 GMT -5
Dear Prayerful Friends, I wanted to update you about Justin while he is in Iraq, he and I chat frequently on Facebook and they have had a lot more attacks on his base in Cob Adder. They are going to be escalating more and more as the US prepares and begins to move our troops out of that horrific place in November.
I can't say I am not worried about him as that would be untrue. He has become a soldier and has a mindset of such, we stand behind him 100% and love him and pray he comes home safely.
He said while he was awaiting deployment to Iraq, he was in Kuwait and said it was awful, nothing but sand sand and more sand. After they leave Iraq he will go to Kuwait or Afghanistan for the next 6 months.
Our town had a solider come home this week unfortunately he was to be buried....
Please pray for our troops. Love, Sister Penny
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