Paul has recently been deployed to a place with a bunch of sand so I (his girlfriend Shannon) will be keeping his site updated while he is gone.  I will keep everyone informed of what, and how, he is doing.  He was also promoted to a SGT before he left so that was very exciting news.  Keep checking back for more updates!  Below is a recent email I received from Paul.  You can read another email below, under Weekly Sound Off.  Check out the What's New Page for more of his emails.

HOW ARE YOU?  I just got this message.  It's been a while since I've been able to check my email.  I don't have a lot of time on the net, so I'll give you the brief version:

  I spent about a month at Ft. Lewis, Washington doing last minute stuff, theater specific training, getting more shots, more gear/crap.  --Training was pretty intense--

  I got to Iraq this past week.  Already it's been pretty crazy.  On the way in, the C-17 we were on did a combat engine check.  We got word that some asshole tried to shoot down one earlier that night.  I froze my ass off the first night in country.  But we arrived at the right time of year.  The weather is like California in the fall.  Each night we hear explosions.  The 2nd night we were here, we heard an AC-130 Gunship lighting somebody up.  We'll also hear the occasional small arms fire, mortars, etc.  Right now, I'm staying in what's called the Green Zone, which is supposed to be a "safe zone" here.  I don't buy it.  The Al-Rasheed Hotel is also in the green zone, and every time we have lunch there, we can still see the holes left there from the rocket attack a couple of weeks ago. 

  For the moment, I'm staying at one of Saddam's palaces.  Can you believe that?  I'm proud to say I use his latrine on a regular bases.  I've been to 2 of his palaces so far.  But that's about to change.  I'm about to go up north.  I haven't written yet, because I have no return address.  I can't say where I'm going, but I hear it's pretty bad. 

  On a lighter note, I did get pinned with [Bo's] SGT stripes.  I was truly honored.  Already, I notice a higher level of respect coming not only from my subordinates, but my superiors as well.  Today, I commanded my first convoy into the red zone.  Nothing happened, which is always good, but still, it was kind of cool giving the order to lock & load.  

  I should be moving out to my undisclosed location pretty soon.  I'm a little uneasy about whole thing, but along with my M-16, I have enough knives to take down a small country.  I'll write more later.  Sorry I had to send a mass email.  I hardly have time to write, and there was a line to use the net.  I don't think I'll be able to get back on for at least a week, so just bear with me.  Tell everybody I said hi, and God Bless.

Take care guys.  Miss you all.

SGT Dayes, Paul E.
United States Army

Why This Site?
This site may be under my name. But it is dedicated to the men and women in uniform who protect us, our freedom, and our way of life. I respected them so much, I decided to become one of them.

Weekly Commentary -- SOUND OFF!

Hi everybody!

  I know what you might be thinking.  This is another one of those annoying mass emails that someone took the forward off of the subject line to disguise it.  Well, okay, you're right about the first part anyway.

  How are you doing.  Some of you, I've been fortunate enough to keep in contact with on a somewhat regular basis, but some of you, this is my first time talking to you in a minute.  I'll give you an update on where I am, so if you've heard this already, then you'll have to suffer through it again.  :-)

  A couple of pictures are of the last "Family Day" we had at the unit before we left home.  At September drill, my commander came up to me and congratulated me on passing the promotion board for E-5, but with paperwork formalities, and other admin stuff, I would have to wait for it to be official.  In case you're wondering Bo, maybe it was just coincidence, but I got your E-5 rank in the mail the day before the pictures were taken.  I brought them to show my mother at family day, and I had caught wind earlier that morning, that I was getting promoted to Sergeant that day.  I made sure that I was pinned with your rank.

  For those of you that don't know the story of the E-5 (SGT) rank that I'm wearing, there's a special significance of it.  Back home at my regular job, Bo Wintrow is one of the morning show dj's "The Frogmen In The Morning."  Back in the 80's, SGT Wintrow did my exact same job (broadcast journalist), in a little placed called Beriut.  We all know what happened there.  He's obviously been a lot more places, but that one sticks out in my mind the most, probably because that environment is similar to the surrounding world I find myself in out here.  The last time I saw him, he told me that he would be honored if I wore his old Sergeant stripes, and if they got him home safe from there, they would get me home safe.  Thank you Bo.  I'm proud to wear them.

  We were at Ft. Lewis, WA for about a month doing some advanced, theater specific training (bomb & mine detection, ambushes, infantry movement tactics, riot, chemical, weapons qual, and a bunch of other crap).  It was fun, but it would have been a lot better if it wasn't so cold! 

  We flew straight into Baghdad International Airport, formerly Saddam Hussein International Airport on a C-17 Globemaster III.  That was an experience in itself.  I watched a couple DVD's, did some PT, and finally fell asleep on top of one of our HUMVEES.

  Don't believe the hype.  The weather in Iraq is about the same as California this time of year, so it's pretty nice.  But as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature drops about as fast.  Lately, I've been freezing my ass off, but being that night is when the bad guys like to fire mortars at us, being indoors, isn't a bad idea. 

  For about the first week in country, my group was staying at one of Saddam's 100 + palaces.  He may have been a piece of shit, but man, he knew how to spend money.  So far, I've been to 2 of them, and each time I go inside, I'm just amazed at the amount of wealth he had.  The funny thing is that he had over 100 palaces, but only SLEPT IN 74.  Meanwhile his people are beyond dirt poor.  I'm telling you, he had golden doors. 

  If you keep up with with the news at all, you might keep hearing about us losing guys over here.  Meanwhile, people are saying stuff like "We're losing too many soldiers."  If you ask me, ONE is too many.  I may not be an infantryman job-wise, but there is no safe place I can go.  I'm right there in the smoke with them.  I haven't been in a firefight, but I've already seen enough to make my hair stand on end on a few occasions.  I used to tell my squad all the time, to remember where we are, and that this is real.  After the stuff that we've seen go down, I don't have to remind them anymore.

  It hasn't all been bad though.  I was working camera when one of our soldiers interviewed Senator Hillary Clinton.  She was a big hit with the troops.

  Everyone's doing okay.  We were lucky enough to move into a building at our base camp.  From what I've seen of Iraq, it reminds me a lot of Mad Max.  It's like a new version of the wild west, and as soon as I step outside of this base, I know that I'm in Indian Country.  My base camp "Camp Anaconda," is in the vicinity of Balad, which is between Baghdad & Tikrit.

  Enjoy the pictures all.  I hope you guys are doing good.  My digital camera was full, and I was finally able to dump the pictures, so expect to see a lot more.

Take care guys.  God bless.

SGT Paul Dayes
United States Army