Sitting in a puddle

Well, many people have been wondering about Adam, so here is an update. He has been "in the field" as he says for the past few days and will be there for another week and a half. He is still at the fort, but I guess the Fort is so big that he is very far away from where he had been staying. He is in the woods with no reception, except sometimes he gets one bar in the bathroom. We talk for a couple minutes a day before we get frustrated with being cut off all the time because oif the poor reception.

They have been enduring a crazy schedule of working from 11:00pm-7am and sleeping and having other meetings during the day. During these night trainings, they have been doing simulations to learn how to handle situations in Iraq.

Adam said that two nights ago the simulation was as follows: Adam's Hum v got hit and his right arm got blown off, so someone had to put a tourniquet on his right arm and then put an IV in his left arm. Well, they were also wearing gas masks and the guy that was trying to put the IV in Adam's arm couldn't see very well because of his gas mask and kept missing his vein. Adam said he got pretty annoyed with this process and now has a very bruised left arm. Then someone dragged Adam from where he was sitting on dry ground through a puddle and left him there for a really long time.

It sounds funny to me and even Adam was able to laugh about his miserable situation the night before, but I know Adam is getting pretty sick of it in general.
He said he is frustrated because there are a lot of people that really want to be there and are enjoying learning and doing these simulations, but Adam said he is in a different place in his life than them. He said he just gets down on the whole situation because he doesn't want to be there and he has more that he is missing out on at home, then the other guys that are 18 and 19 and excited for this new step in their lives.

Adam has begun to make a few friends there and I can hear in his voice that is is relaxing and opening up to finding positives in his situation. I just sent him the Italian Rosetta Stone, so he is going to learn Italian to take his mind away from the military during his down time.

He appreciates everyone reaching out to him. If he doesn't respond, it is because he can't check his email yet, he has bad phone reception, and mainly because he only has a little bit of down time right now. He still appreciates getting messages and letters though, even if he isn't responding.

Another thing to mention, is that the post office has a special where you can buy a box and send it to a military address for $11.95, no matter how heavy the box is or how far away the destination is. This is a good option to look into for anyone thinking of sending Adam anything over the next year. There are also other sized box options available. You should contact the post office or check out their website fore more details. Click here for their "Supporting Our Troops" main page.

If you are wondering to send Adam ever, let me know, ask him, or Google what soldiers like to receive. I Googled "what to send soldiers" and got a lot of information from soldiers that had been overseas on what exactly they wanted and did not want sent to them. Most of all though, Adam wants letters. Anything you could possibly think to say to him in a letter, would be much appreciated by him.

I will try to provide more updates from Adam as I get them!