Email from Shane August 9th

Hey love I am sorry you haven't gotten an e-mail from me the last couple of days.
The internet has been down more they it has been up. Everything is still going good here.
I will try to bring you up to date on the past couple of days.
I am not going to use dates because I am lost all track of dates.
Well we had our big mission a couple of days ago (refer to news article posted below).
I was in the second track in the whole battalion.
My track followed behind a M-1 Main Battle Tank.
Once we hit the open desert we couldn't see a thing.
Not that I could see all that much to start off with.
It was soo dark we had to use our NVG's (Night Vision) to see where we were going.
I was the TC or Gunner for my track.
We pulled out of the gate at 9:15 that night to start the mission.
As soon as we turned off the main road into the desert we went just a couple of miles before a bongo truck that had been converted into a troop carrier got stuck in the soft sand.
So Murphy (as Murphy Law says: what can go wrong will) started early. So we did a quick stop and tried to get it unstuck but couldn't, so the troops were unloaded from that truck and put into an LMTV truck for the rest of the trip. Well when we hit the bowl we had two more vehicles get stuck in the soft sand. Which slowed us up again. To make a long story short and without saying anything I am not suppose to even though Murphy reeled his ugly head, everything still went off great and we completed the objected we went in there for.
We finally got back at 6:00 or so the next morning.
Man, was it a mad dash for the showers we were all dirty and nasty. So it was a shower for me then off to bed. So the next day was pretty much rest and recover for everyone.

The following day it was back out to OP 3 for me with a guy named Clark he is a pretty good guy. We were on from 7:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M. After we got off duty I went and took a quick shower and went to bed because I was going to Dog Patch the next day. They next morning or should say, a couple hours later at 5:30 ,I was awake to go to Dog Patch. I went and got Ice and drinks. Loaded up bodies and headed out the gate.
We got there about 8:00 in the morning and we didn't have a whole lot to do out there this time. We did a little cleaning up and picking up and then I sat down and read a book by Leonard B. Scott called the Expendables. It is a good book so far.

We left Dog Patch at a little after 8:00 the next morning after a sand storm came in on us. I was on duty on top of the house when it hit. My nose is still stopped up for all the dust. Came back in and some of us cleaned weapons while others worked on tracks. When we finished our details we were off until later that night when I went on PAD duty in the FOB. That is, sitting on the wire make sure no one tries to sneak in while we are a sleep. Me ane Dye was on the from 9:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M. the next morning.

When I got off I went to bed and wake us this morning at 5:30 once again because we had QRF (Quick Reaction Force). So we got up and checked out your vehicles and made sure they were ready to go. We didn't have anything until about 1:00 this afternoon when we had to escort a group out to Dog Patch. So it was a very quick trip there, dropped off and back. Well that is it till today.

I miss you guys a whole bunch and can't wait until I see you guys again.
All my love, heart and soul belongs to you guys.
To My Lover and My Best Friend
Shane
Refer to Kevin Kelly's Journal on Dixiesappers.org for more details or www.blackanthem.com.