Latest from Chris

This is the lastest email Chris sent out. For those of you who aren't on his email list I thought you might be interested in it. I think this picture was taken right outside his room.

Well hello,

It has been a long time since I have given anyone an update on my life this year, and I wanted to send a note to let you all know that I am still here in Iraq at the dirty, dusty, Camp Bucca internment facility, and doing pretty well. I got an internet connection in my little room and that has been nice. I am able to call home over the internet pretty frequently, and that is nice. The internet here is really slow, and there are a ton of people on the network, so the video chats and things have been a problem, but the audio calls have worked well. Overall it is a great blessing to be so well connected to home. It sure beats the weeks or months mail took during other wars, and the long lines for the phone center.

My job over here is still the same, and I keep having to remind myself that we must be doing something right because nothing is happening. It is good this way because we keep our detainees and my guards safe. There are other compounds here that always seem to have problems like riots and things, and I just feel lucky that we have relatively quiet detainees. We have some of the more hostile detainees here at Bucca, but through many prayers and the professional nature of all our men, I think we have been blessed to work well with them. I see the detainees’ attitudes changing a little. They are more receptive to our requests, and they are more compliant with the rules. It is a challenging job, my guards get bored sometimes, as do we all, but they keep hanging in there and doing an outstanding job for me. It is the guys I work with that make my job a little easier day to day.

I have been having some struggles lately with a recurring neck injury I sustained last year. I herniated a disk in my lower neck, and it started getting better last winter (06-07), but for about a month now it has been getting more painful again. That injury along with other things here has made my life pretty stressful lately, but I have learned to cope with things. I start going into the hospital here for physical therapy tomorrow. The therapist has put me on a three week trial to see if PT will help my neck before I am recommended for surgery. If I have to have surgery it is likely that I will be flown to one of the big Army hospitals in Europe or the U.S. I will think about that if it becomes a reality in a few weeks, but for now it is nice to finally have started taking care of it. Today has been one of the better days I have had since I have been here. I got to go to church, read a little, sleep a bit, and just relax (yes, due to scheduling for the chapel, and the many LDS people we have here, I get to have church on Monday afternoon). I am still happy enough, and very glad for all the help that Heather is receiving from everyone at home. She is staying strong, and I have realized that the long separation has strengthened our relationship perhaps more than anything else could have. Though myself, nor any of my men, ever thought that we would be doing a job like this, it has proved to be a great blessing for me. I look forward to two weeks of leave in a couple months, and though it is hard sometimes being here I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I sometimes have to remind myself that everything in life is an experience that I can learn something from. As long as I work as well as I can and don’t give up, I will be a success at whatever I do.

Anyway, life is pretty good for me and I hope life is rolling on for all of you, and that everything is well. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you for all your support and love. Thank you for all your mail, packages, thoughts, and for just being great family and friends. We are all blessed to live with the freedoms we enjoy every day.

Thanks,
Chris