Folks,
I just sent the below out to my Key Volunteer Network back in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Johnson City, Tennessee. It is with a heavy heart that I say hello to you but I feel compelled to update you since it seems like such a long time ago since I sent an update. Despite our casualties the Marines continue to press the fight. I got to speak to my father last night and mentioned to him that there hasn’t been a day when we haven’t exchanged hot lead with the enemy. I don’t say that out of bravado but out of reality of the environment that the Marines live in every minute of every day. They put on their gear, head out on patrol, hide in the dark shadows of the canals and palm groves along the Euphrates and patiently wait for the opportunity to apply their trade. We have also captured our fair share of the enemy who likes to try to hide in plain sight amongst a people that is in the tight grip of greed and fear. These amazing young men work 20 hour days fighting an enemy who has resolve but has felt the wrath of the Marines of Alpha Company. The main purpose of this update is to ask you to please pray for those families who have lost Marines. They carry a heavy burden right now and they need our support and prayers and sincere thanks for their sacrifice. In addition to those we have lost, three other Marines have been injured in days past and have been since medevaced back to the states or are in the process. Lance Corporal Webster and PFC Musk received gun shot wounds to the legs and are both recovering well in San Diego, CA. Lance Corporal Bueno has a broken lower left leg and is currently in Germany but we expect him to join his Marine brothers in CA over the next couple of days. Lance Corporal Teesdale received a concussion the other day as well but he remains here in Iraq recovering nicely and is already asking to go back out with his fellow Warriors. We will see success here despite our losses. The Marines will not have it any other way. Their resolve and their fortitude inspire me daily. The responsibility they feel to each other, their love of family back home, and the commitment to the Marine Corps and to our great country are beyond belief. We will privately mourn these losses in days to come and we will continue our fight. Do not lose your resolve. Do no hesitate in your thoughts about our mission. Pray that these Marines apply their trade justly, swiftly and accurately. Pray for their vigilance. I have to continually thank the Lord for being a part of these remarkable Marine’s lives. What I have experienced over these past couple of days has simply been astonishing and we’re not even 30 days into this deployment. I have been able to talk with the families of these Marines and they are truly heroes as well. I thank them for giving us their sons and husbands. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these families and their Warriors who sacrificed their lives for freedom and for their fellow Marines.
Semper Fidelis,
Dan
Psalm 144:1
October 29, 2006
October 15, 2006
Renee Klavohn('99) Spends Summer in Romania
Renee Klavohn('99) is the current 3rd grade teacher at MMBA. This summer she spent the month of July working with missionaries Roy and Rella Chestnut in Oradea, Romania. Renee primarily ministered in New Hope Orphanage, but she also was a camp counselor for a week and worked in 2 Vacation Bible Schools. Over 50 gypsy children made salvation decisions during VBS and over 300 salvation decisions were made during the evening Evangelistic meetings in the gypsy village. Praise the Lord for our teachers at MMBA!
October Update on Dan Whisnant
Friends and Family,
All the Marines have arrived in Iraq safe and sound. I haven’t seen them for nearly three weeks and it was very different operating without them. Now that they are here and we begin operating in the area as a unit it will be amazing to be with them and watch them fight an insurgency that unfortunately is alive and kicking in this area. Our mission in front of us is to get our hands and feet around the throat of this insurgency and start to choke the life out of it. That is no small task as I’m sure you all will agree. A couple of interesting and quite frankly disturbing incidents happened this week that will give you just a glimpse of what we are up against.
Just a couple of days ago we had a platoon operating in a small village where we can always expect contact with the enemy. On this particular day while most of the Marines from Alpha 1/24 and I were there we took very accurate mortar, sniper and machine gun fire throughout the day. It was no coincidence that this came after the imam from the local mosque was heard screaming feverishly, in Arabic of course, over the loudspeaker, “The time is now! The time is now that we use weapons and bullets! The time is now that we fight this infidel! The time is now that you will be excused by Allah if you take up this task! You will be excused because Allah wills it! You must not cooperate with the infidel!” Now what would you do if you heard this coming from a mosque and you were in a city that you had previously taken mortar, sniper and machinegun fire? Run? Hide? Wait? Take action against the mosque? A bit of a dilemma isn’t it?
Well our Marines did exactly what all good combat Marines do – they went on patrol to go find the enemy and just dare anyone who would take the imams advice and encouragement to come out and play. There were a few who took the imams fanatical and hysterical words and tried to put those words into action. The Marines received some very accurate fire from some distance and they immediately located and closed with the enemy. We don’t know for sure if any insurgents were killed during this action but this small patrol of Marines definitely fought an unseen enemy with ferocity and fearlessness. Now I would hasten to say that not every mosque is preaching this message every time we go into a different village but I began to think about how this would work in the reverse? What if our preachers spoke out from the pulpits about others the way this imam did? What would our news media do with that? What would the liberal lawyers do with that? What if our preachers and pastors spoke about the Islamic religion and those who follow it with the hatred, intensity, and rage that this imam expressed about the American infidel? This makes our job very difficult indeed.
All the Marines have arrived in Iraq safe and sound. I haven’t seen them for nearly three weeks and it was very different operating without them. Now that they are here and we begin operating in the area as a unit it will be amazing to be with them and watch them fight an insurgency that unfortunately is alive and kicking in this area. Our mission in front of us is to get our hands and feet around the throat of this insurgency and start to choke the life out of it. That is no small task as I’m sure you all will agree. A couple of interesting and quite frankly disturbing incidents happened this week that will give you just a glimpse of what we are up against.
Just a couple of days ago we had a platoon operating in a small village where we can always expect contact with the enemy. On this particular day while most of the Marines from Alpha 1/24 and I were there we took very accurate mortar, sniper and machine gun fire throughout the day. It was no coincidence that this came after the imam from the local mosque was heard screaming feverishly, in Arabic of course, over the loudspeaker, “The time is now! The time is now that we use weapons and bullets! The time is now that we fight this infidel! The time is now that you will be excused by Allah if you take up this task! You will be excused because Allah wills it! You must not cooperate with the infidel!” Now what would you do if you heard this coming from a mosque and you were in a city that you had previously taken mortar, sniper and machinegun fire? Run? Hide? Wait? Take action against the mosque? A bit of a dilemma isn’t it?
Well our Marines did exactly what all good combat Marines do – they went on patrol to go find the enemy and just dare anyone who would take the imams advice and encouragement to come out and play. There were a few who took the imams fanatical and hysterical words and tried to put those words into action. The Marines received some very accurate fire from some distance and they immediately located and closed with the enemy. We don’t know for sure if any insurgents were killed during this action but this small patrol of Marines definitely fought an unseen enemy with ferocity and fearlessness. Now I would hasten to say that not every mosque is preaching this message every time we go into a different village but I began to think about how this would work in the reverse? What if our preachers spoke out from the pulpits about others the way this imam did? What would our news media do with that? What would the liberal lawyers do with that? What if our preachers and pastors spoke about the Islamic religion and those who follow it with the hatred, intensity, and rage that this imam expressed about the American infidel? This makes our job very difficult indeed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
