Happy Easter

Dammit, you beat me to the punch… I was just going to e-mail you!

Happy Easter my brother. We are going to see your mom and family today. Won’t be the same without you…

Stay safe, we love you, we miss you

The Tomeo’s

From: Simmons Jr 1stLt Wendell R [mailto:wendell.simmons2@afg.usmc.mil]
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 2:29 AM
To: Adam G. Tomeo; Allison Botana; Amelia Ame Mosley; Ann H; Barbie; maggieoh82@hotmail.com; Bernard Belanger; Betty Z. Collier ; Bill Royston; billy simmons; Bx2; Brittney Donahue; Carolyn Ritchie; Merlotaz@hotmail.com; chris espinoza; Christine Pagtalunan; Argentieri, Colleen; DARIUS SANDIEGO; Dominic Doloiras; yozmitysam@aol.com; Erika Baker; Ernie; Gaczewski, Francine; Fightin25@yahoo.com; gburketek@aol.com; Glenda Boersma; J. Ortega; jason simmons; alisocoach@aol.com; Jenny; jdfan736@hotmail.com; Jim Burke; Jim Robinson; Joan Graves; Jon Shay; coachtribe@yahoo.com; Julie Garza; katie sommerfield ; Keith Caldwell; Krystle Sollie; Lana Tomeo; Leonora Doloiras; Smith, Linda S.; Lucy Doloiras; Maria Gonzalez-Plimpton; Gonzalez, MariaLucia; martharomero77@yahoo.com; maitlandco@aol.com; mfish91@hotmail.com; Dwyer, Meghan; Michelle Child; Mike Minakowski; Millie; MISSY VEEDER; lsimm303@aol.com; Pat Dwyer; mjjprt2@cox.net; pjmorrisette@yahoo.com; pyanka@hydetools.com; Ramirez SSgt Sonia; Ramirez SSgt Sonia; Reashon Taylor; rick doloiras; Boyd, Robert; Robin Colton; Roger Kern; Cintas, Sylvia; Teri Angeline; mrscapocoach@aol.com; Tim Putnam; tracy.dwyer-baker@transport.alstom.com; darthveeder6@cox.net; V. B. Pendergast
Subject: Happy Easter

To all my family and friends.

I just wanted to say Happy Easter to you all. Since there are no pigs in this country (a damn shame if you ask me) we are not having any Easter Ham but we didn’t expect to. But I have a can of Spam that I’m going to whip up and add some honey that Momma sent me. Sounds good to me. I have some canned carrots and dehydrated mashed potatoes to go with it…even some brown gravy! It will never compare to the feast that my Mom makes (she’s gonna freeze another Holiday meal for me so I don’t miss out) but it will do. At least I won’t be eating whatever crap they are serving in the chow hall tonight! LOL.

So just to keep you in the loop on a few things:

-We had our second Council of Elders shura yesterday and it went well. Establishing a new local government has been challenging but worth the efforts. Long hours of talking in the sun (I have great tan lines in all the wrong places lol) wears me out but the end result is worth it. Listening to stubborn old men gets boring but every now and then we have minor breakthroughs. At least now they are coming around and starting to understand what we are trying to accomplish and how we hope to achieve it….I laid the old guilt trip on them yesterday! (Chalk one up for Catholic School Guilt Trips!) I told them I’d be here every Saturday even if they decided not to show up!
-My Marines found a cache of weapons same morning…..foiled the ‘ambush’ we were expecting to have (and who says the military intelligence is useless?).
-They also found a cache of HME (homemade explosives)….this is what they use to make IEDs. We just lessened the threat and got to blow some $h!t up! That’s double cool for Marines….hoorah!
-The Battalion Commander came down that same afternoon. He even came out to link up with me (which means he had to walk a few miles and when a Lieutenant of Marines hears the Lieutenant Colonel is coming to see you out in the field it’s either really good or really bad!) and discuss how things were going in my platoons A/O. I kind of felt special….and not short bus special thank you . We had a good conversation and he is happy with the hard work and results my Marines are producing.
-The bridge builder is responding to the (I don’t want to call them ‘threats’) encouragement we’ve given him to complete the bridge. I bet against him and I was wrong. A little motivation can go a long way if shaming someone works!

All and all it was a busy week. Have another busy week coming up with a little more ‘local business’ improvement opportunities for the locals….I’ll have to tell you about those when I get home. I just wish that when I start my own business the city of Long Beach is willing to give me some money to get started….probably not but it’s the good intentions that counts.

Ok all……Happy Easter.

Semper Fi,

ws