Kyle decided before he left for Iraq in December of 2006, that he would keep a journal of everything that was going on. That didn’t happen, as he was OBA (Overcome By Activity). However, he did manage to keep it up all throughout, here and there, whether he wrote something every other day or once a month. His journal was for his time there, events, work, emotions, everything; in order to share it for future generations to come, and now for you, our loyal listeners:

Entry #10 of 17:

22 Feb 07
8:25PM
H/C: 17

Yea... it's been a terrible couple of days. About 2-3 days ago, there was a mortar that hit about 40 yards away from where I sleep. That's not too big of a deal though, because when I stepped outside to see if everyone is okay, just as I looked up to the north, there was a HUGE explosion. The percussion was enough to almost knock me over. Some insurgents decided they were gunna blow themselves up along with a perfectly good couple of cars. The big explosion ended up being a tractor trailer full of explosives (2,000 lbs worth). It left a crater 40ft long by 20ft wide, and 15ft deep. It killed 2 Iraqi Police, wounded 15 civilians, all women and children. The past couple of days, after the attack on our base, it's been pretty busy. There has been at least 3 mortars launched at us, and one rocket. Fortunately everyone here is okay. I went to a memorial ceremony yesterday for some of our Special Ops guys that died in a helicopter that went down (cause still unknown). I can see now why some people come back from Iraq crazy. The constant attacks, and knowing that people just outside of base are always trying to kill you can take it's toll after a while. I'm certainly getting sick of it. They've killed/wounded less of us than I've killed of them. As long as I stay on top of my game, there will be less and less of them attacking (just heard another explosion... make that 4 mortars now). They're getting better with their aim, and my tent is completely exposed... no barriers around it. Great... oh well... off to bed. Tomorrow's another day to hunt down another one.

 

Kyle Mills - Humvee in Iraq
Kyle Mills - Humvee in Iraq
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Kyle Mills - In Our Toyota Hilux, Main Base Ramadi
Kyle Mills - In Our Toyota Hilux, Main Base Ramadi PX
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From Kyle, today:

Wow, this one was a tough read. I remember this day vividly. In fact, a few years back, the doctors found a golf ball-sized hemorrhage in my brain, and this one explosion may very well be the cause of the TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Things were certainly picking up at this point quite a bit, and the attacks were getting closer and closer. "

This is the 10th of a 17-part series, that will cover my entire journal, from my deployment to Iraq from December 2006 – July 2007. Check in next week for the next installment, when I talk about the new group of Rangers coming through, and shaking things up a bit.

CLICK HERE to see last week’s installment of this 17-part series.10

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