More photos from the courtroom

Here are the photos from my trip to the courtroom I had trouble uploading earlier.

Is this seat taken?

Got an unexpected thrill today.

I was visiting a friend at a different camp today. It is a camp that is situated on what would have become the new Bathe Party Headquarters right before the war. He is the commander of this particular camp and he is getting ready to redeploy back home. I went over, had lunch with him and he took me around to show me all the different old Bathe Party Buildings that are located at his camp. Finally he turned and he told me "there's one last place I want to show you."

I followed him through a guarded gate and found myself standing before the courthouse that Saddam is being tried at. I hadn't realized that this was the location of the trial.

He escorted me through a guarded gate and into the courthouse itself. It was the most clean and immaculate building I have seen in Baghdad!

We went upstairs and then my bud found a US Marshall that unlocked the door that led to the court room and then there I was gazing at the very seat that Saddam seats in while he waits for his fate and justice to catch up to him.

I asked the Marshall if it was OK to take pictures and he said it was fine but under no circumstances was I allowed to actually sit in the chair. Apparently, only Saddam is allowed to seat there.

I also got a good look at the Judges' chairs and the witness box. You can see the curtain that can be pulled shut so Saddam can't see who is testifying against him.

It very appropriate that the trial is going on at this particular camp. My friend took me down to a basement that had a huge armored door that led to rows of holding cells. The cells weren't much bigger than a telephone booth and we were told that several people at a time were kept there. It was obvious to us that once the armored door was shut, no one on the outside would have heard the people in the cells screaming.

Just down the way from those cells is where Saddam has finally answered for his crimes. And all the world was able to watch him scream but I don't think anyone was listening.

Like I said: very appropriate

PS...I have a very cool photo of me standing right next to Saddam's chair, but I'm having a terrible time trying to upload it to the Blog. I'll update this post when I can

15 Days of Freedom!

Hello again. I am now back in the IZ after spending 15 days at home for the R&R Leave. Although my internal clock is still trying to figure out what time zone it is in, I wanted to put down some words about the great time I had at home.

Every soldier that is deployed for a year is able to take 15 days of leave at some point during their deployment. After spending 7 months here in Iraq, I was more than ready for a break. I intentionally waited until after my half way point so that I would have the bulk of the deployment behind me. Now that I’m back, I only have a little over 4 months left and I am refreshed and ready to finish up.

The trip back home was a real blessing. Mara and the kids were waiting for me at the airport and we really didn’t have any major plans other than to sit around the house and spend time as a family again.

Mara had the words “Honk To Welcome Our Daddy Home From Iraq” painted on the back of our van and we received honks and waves from people wherever we went (not to mention at least one free beer!).

The major event while I was home was my promotion party. As you can see, fun was had by all. We wanted to make it a “kid friendly” party as well, so we rented an inflatable bouncing tent for the kids to enjoy. We were overwhelmed when the tent arrived and were told that the business had decided not to charge us for it since I had come home from Iraq.

This really amazed us. The name of the company is Laser Sporting of Georgia, and they carrying a full line of inflatable rides for parties. Their web site is www.lasersporting.com and email is jim@lasersporting.com and I would ask that if you live near Atlanta to please consider patronizing them for your next kids’ party.

My father and his friend Janice traveled down to be with us as did some very close friends of mine from high school and college.

The rest of my time home was spent just being a “normal dad”. I got to take Gabrielle to school and have lunch with her. Alexander and I ran around and play games together. And Mara and I were able to go out and enjoy dinner and a movie.

When we got ready to go back to the airport, we found that our neighbors had lined street with American Flags and left a sign out for me that said they would miss me and hurry home and that I should wear “God’s Armor”. What a blessing to have friends like that.

Finally at the airport, once all us soldiers had gathered together and were ready to line up to go to the terminal, a VFW member guided us through the airport and announced “Ladies and Gentlemen, these soldiers are on their way back to the war zone, please show them your appreciation”. A large group of travelers got up and began to clap.

I know this sounds like a cliché, but I feel like a new man.