I recently had a conversation with a fellow Sergeant and he mentioned that he had to go through some paperwork and change the verbiage. It turns out he keeps all the "official" records for my specific unit and, in turn, the Army itself.

What he had to change was the word "escort" to "patrol". My unit goes outside the wire daily and our duties vary sometimes, most of the time, we are escorting items from point A to point B. We are always ready and expecting hostile acts.

The problem was that "escorting" does not qualify for the same recognition and awards as "patrolling." So in order to get the added benefits for future awards the verbiage had to be changed.

We essentially are always patrolling so it's, in fact, true. All trips outside the wire are patrols. They don't meet the old standard of "patrols" but in today's Army, they do. How sad is that? That the Army is so concerned with awards and medals that we become obsessed with verbiage.

What I find really interesting about this is that the public, in general, wants it, the hero talk I mean. We seem to want to hear drastic terms before we will act.

Let's just look at what terms got us here in Iraq.(And for the record I will say our being here is a good thing.) And even more important is the politically correct verbiage. It's gotten to the point where we don't really want to hear the truth if it does not meet our politics. It's just not enough to say I did my duty, we've got to pretty it up and wrap for the politicians always. Remember this, the guy that pulls the trigger tells the story.

I had a chance to talk to more Iraqi soldiers, and as much as they hate war, they hated Saddam much worse. They were very pleased to have gotten that POW and were pretty upset when they heard we were thinking of taking him to Bagdad. We didn't do that, and the reason was that it is their country and their prisoner. I don't think the POW liked it too much but maybe he shouldn't have caused the Iraqis so much grief.

I have discovered that a lot of information I had thought was confidential really isn't. For example, I can say that we are near the town of Balad and operate out of LSA Anaconda. (Logistical Supply Area) My unit is based out of Hawaii, Samoa and Saipan. That's right, Pacific islanders in the Middle east fight for the mainland.

I am here because these units were critically short of Infantrymen, and since I was an Infantryman in the Army reserve, I was cross-leveled into the Hawaii unit. That's pulled out of my unit and forced into another. I'm not complaining because I believe in "Gods will" and, if nothing else, at least the readers are getting informed. I am seeing things I would never have imagined and will be a better person for it.

I can also say that roughly half the people I'm serving with now have just completed their first year here and asked to stay for a second. Their reasons are their own and I can only hope they don't regret it.

One more final note. I have talked to other soldiers about the shooting out of the truck drivers' window, and the guys that got here with me and witnessed the shooting don't feel it was justified. And agree that, like me, they wouldn't have pulled the trigger. The guys on their second term say "It's all they'll understand." Attitude is everything and verbiage reflects attitude.

Todays phrase - Teh Taj do wa, do you need medicine?