hello from the Stan.....

So hello to you all my Family and Friends,

So here I am back on line writing to you from a little place I like to call the A$$ end of the world. Ok so let me preface the rest of my email by saying that if you don’t have a good sense of humor then you might want to just delete this. Or if you can’t stomach what WAR is like you might want to pass on this one. I’m probably a little crazy or cynical right now but 4 months of fighting a Counter Insurgency War will do that to you especially if you’re an Infantry Platoon Commander leading some of the Bravest Marines you’ve ever met.

I can’t tell you exactly where I am right now but my Mom or Martha can and no I’m not in Marjah (but several of my friends are). I’m not at COP Payne, Camp Leatherneck or Khan Neshin Castle….I’m farther away from what we Americans would call ‘civilization’ (if there is such a thing in the Southern Helmand Provence). I slipped up and told them when I first got the chance to call them after being out of touch for almost a month. I’d been living in a mud-hut compound with my platoon, 2 doz. chickens and a whole lot of animal feces that after the first week I didn’t notice anymore. Oh yeah and the Afghan National Boarder Police who were attached to us but are more dangerous to live with than the Taliban. Not because they are ruthless fighters…no no no… It’s more because they are a bunch of whining men that (some) smoke hashish and all carry Ak-47’s or RPG (rocket propelled grenade launchers) and sometimes they accidently discharge (fire) their weapons because they only had 7 weeks of training and not 6 months like Marines. Don’t worry no one was hit or killed in either events but they did get their butts kicked by their ‘kid’ commander. Just another day in the ‘Stan’.

So a lot of things I’d like to tell you…….but I won’t or I can’t. The good stuff will have to wait until I get home. It was cold when I first got here. F__king cold if you want to know the truth. We had frost for a week because it was below freezing. Okay if you are living inside but living outside for a month….well it sucks. J But it was cool. LOL. Now it’s warming up and it’s been nice. But we’ve been getting sand storms every week and instead of a “white out” like you have with snow we have ‘brown outs’ with dust and sand. Yeah….it sucked but that’s just the weather. We now are living in a full COP (Combat Out Post) We have large tents, wooden $h!tters (we have bio waste bags), a chow hall (but it’s the same crap every other breakfast/dinner), 8 foot walls made of earth with a berm and razor wire around it….and sentry posts that are heavily armed. The enemy couldn’t over run us if he wanted to….don’t worry we are safe on the COP. We are just over a mile away from the villages. We have electricity, fuel, bottled water, etc….oh we even now have hot showers every other night! And the ANBP I mentioned earlier….well the good news is that we got rid of them a few weeks ago (they were a squad size 15). We got a company size last week (50 +) L. Really it is better to have them than not to have them. They are from this country and have a positive influence on the people. Besides they came with some real leadership this time not a 19 year old sergeant….who was only put into a leadership position because he could read Pashtu. (Pashtu is one of the native languages in the area….he was the only one who could read in his unit) NO joke! They have been in some real fire fights….and they say they are tough. My old Boy Scout Troop could kick their A$$ with sticks and stones if you ask me. J It’s going to be interesting I tell you. They look like a bunch of (how do I put this kindly???) retards that have a lot of man love for each other…..I guess you have to understand Afghan culture to know where I’m coming from but you get the idea. As long as they don’t seal from the Bazaar like the last group we should be ok….if not it is going to be a long 2.5 months.

So Afghanistan has a ‘drug culture’ like I’ve never seen before. And I’ve been around. I’ve confiscated enough raw Opium to make me a millionaire a few times over (because by Islamic/Afghan law ALL drugs are illegal in this country). Like I could be living in Beverly Hills and have all gold teeth! Well I don’t like gold so I’d have Platinum fronts. LOL>….anyways. They grow poppy (which is where heroin/morphine based drugs come from) like we grow corn. They have marijuana fields here like we have Christmas tree farms back home. Last week a platoon confiscated 3500 pounds of pot. 2 months ago our sister company confiscated 2200 pounds of unprocessed opium (that’s a street value of more than 500 million $$$). The province I’m in produced 4.8 BILLION dollars worth of Opium in 2007. And we’ve been in this country fighting the war for almost 10 years! I’ve learned a lot about what is really going on here vs. what we really need to do. I’m not into politics…..I use the F word far too often and my ‘Give a $h!t’ is broken. But don’t be discouraged by what I’m writing…we are doing the right thing by being here. And we are going about it the right way for the most part. If we don’t do it “this way” the next generation of Americans will be here again….my children and some of your grandchildren. If you want to know when and where American went wrong in this war you can start by watching “Charlie Wilsons War” because we messed it up in the end game. 90% of these people are illiterate. 1 out of 5 children die before their 5th birthday and it’s not because of the ‘bird or swine flu”. It’s because of malnutrition, dehydration and basic needs. I’ve never seen people so poor in my life. Kids will fight over a single piece of candy so we have to carry a lot. These people need schools, books and pencils. (Read 3 Cups of Tea…..that book prepared me for this fight more than any other book on the Commandants reading list)
These people don’t need MacDonald’s or Wal-Mart. They need wells dug so they can have fresh water. They need schools built so they can learn how to take care of themselves. They need to be shown what right looks like by their government which isn’t reaching down to this area of the country. The Taliban has forced these people to grow poppy and not allowed them to grow wheat to feed their families. It’s sad. We saved this little girls life when we first got here. Her father was ordered by the TB (Taliban) to pay them taxes or they were going to take her from him. So he gave us his compound to live in as long as we protected him. So we did and she is still alive and with her family. I have a few pictures I’ll send to you all later. Ok I’m rambling……sorry there has just been so much going on and I’ve not been able to tell most of you what going on.

So…..Know that my Marines and I are safe where our base is. Most of the people in the town/village are really warming up to us. They wave at us now when we go out on patrols. I’ve even seen a few women come out curiously looking at us and that NEVER happens. I’ve sat with several Elders and had Chai Tea and listened to their problems. I only got diarrhea once from the goat milk! LOL….sorry I had to share. But the conversation and the chai was worth it. My platoon and I are the Main Effort for our Company. That means we have the ‘big mission’. Yeah it sounds cool and all but the weight of the area we are in is on our shoulders. But it’s cool…..I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So I hope you are all doing well. Me I’m good! So are my Marines. We feel all your warm prayers and you should know that God is listening. The only incident we’ve had is Lcpl. Kim’s wisdom teeth coming in. And the Taliban had nothing to do with that! LOL. We appreciate all your packages….chow from home is lifting moral because the chow hall food sure isn’t! J Thank you for everything….it helps us feel that much closer to home.

Is it dangerous out here?………sure. But Freedom isn’t free. It’s paid with the blood of Patriots.

Hoorah and Semper Fi,

1st Lt. Wendell R. Simmons Jr.
2nd Platoon Commander, A Co.
4th LAR, USMC

Much love,

ws

PS: Please pass this to everyone I know. And when you get a chance please drop me a line.