Ok hi. Yeah, I don't write here much anymore.  Today I felt compelled to write here, though.  March 21.  This day is historically significant to me. 

In 2000, I...uh...gave a "love" letter to some girl and that's all I'm saying about that.  In 2003, war protests in campus town and all over campus stopped bus traffic for most of the afternoon.  Some other Marines and myself tried to convince one of the students that flying the American flag upside down with graffiti on it was NOT supporting troops and that it was an insult to all who died for that flag.  Some of the protesters yelled at us and told us if we wanted war, why don't we volunteer and go.  We snapped back with our names and ranks followed by "UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!" They shut their mouths.  We didn't want war. But it was too late; we were already in it.  The President took us to war and I believed that the right thing to do was to support it, to show my brothers and sisters that we support them.  Protesting against the war that we/they had no choice to fight, in my opinion, was not the right thing to do; especially, flying the American flag upside down.  I look at that flag and I don't see fabric waving in the wind; I see the blood shed for our freedom; I see the lives of men and women who laid down their lives for this country.

On March 21, 2006, I had the privilege of joining my brothers and sisters in Kuwait/Iraq.  I admit I would have rather stayed at home with my family and friends.  But I knew God's plan for me was to go to Iraq for some reason that I may or may not ever fully understand.  I left the United States this day last year fully prepared to die if God so wished to take my life.  In a way, things were simpler over there.  Although I thought about my family and friends and what they were up to and was even able to keep in touch with many through email, IM, motomail, and phone calls, I felt like I only had one purpose: to perform my duties in Iraq to the best of my ability so that I could fulfill God's will in my life.

I remember the night our base was attacked; I remember standing in the prison with all my gear, with my rifle loaded, ready to go.  Gunfire came from outside but all I could hear was my own heart pounding away. I was scared.  Being the most junior NCO on shift at the time, I was left to watch the prisoners first while the others gathered more ammo and took post on the exterior wall.  As I was pacing down the cell block, my heart was moved and I began to pray.  I asked God why I was scared of those who can only take my physical body.  Then I remembered what Chris Sotelo told me, that I'm invincible until the will of God is complete in my life.  And I remembered Isaiah 43:1-4. I prayed that God's will be done and not my own.  I asked God to fill my heart with complete faith and trust in Him and to remind me that He is always with me.  When I opened my eyes, my heart had no fear. 

Ps 27:1-3
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

I couldn't remember which Psalms this was, but I remembered the words, even though I had not recited them since December 2005.  The words were buried in my heart, waiting to be called upon, waiting for that moment to be used as the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17) .  I was confident and focused and ready to command my team on the east wall.  I'll stop my story here.  I could go on for pages.

Thank God that I came home safely.
-Ed

On my quest for a new computer, I discovered something incredibly awesome. A physics card for the computer. I heard about this before I left for Iraq, and I remember thinking no big deal; it's just a card that helps out with physics. Boy, was I wrong!  It takes video games to a whole new level because of the incredible amount of physics calculations it can do which frees up CPU time to do other things.  If you have NO idea what I'm talking about, you need to check out the video clips of games that use the physics card.

http://www.ageia.com/physx/videos.html

here are just some of the things the card does:

• Explosions that cause dust and collateral debris
• Characters with complex, jointed geometries for more life-like motion and interaction
• Spectacular new weapons with incredible effects
• Cloth that drapes and tears the way you would expect it to
• Dense smoke & fog that billow around objects in motion

Seriously, don't just read this, click on the link.

-Ed

It's great to be back in America.  We landed in California on Sunday and we've been running around since then trying to get things done before we can go home.  I'll be home in a couple days.  I can't wait!  All I have to say is this:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

peace out,
ed