One Soldier Leaves Iraq - Welcome Home!!

I received some excellent news Friday about the mess in Iraq - one of the many friends I have serving there is coming home. Travis' experiences were shared with the world of readers via his blog Travis In Iraq (see the link over on the right). Like many soldiers, some days were very dangerous and some were spent safely. His unfailing humor and wit, his friendships, and the often surreal nature of military service are evident in his blog. The picture above has Travis in the center surrounded by some kids - many of his posts are about the good the soldiers provide and some are about the constant danger all our troops endure.

Here are a few excerpts from his posts of March 30th and 31st:

"Oh how the anticipation builds.... This is to be my last night in the great city of Mosul. Tomorrow I fly out for the final time, hopefully to never return, but I am wise enough in my years to never say never!"

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"I am going to miss a lot of the guys I have had the pleasure of working with, some more than others, and some not at all, haha, that's just the truth of things. I will really miss my interpreter Bob, he was the coolest and I owe him a lot. He just got married, so I want to wish him the best, hopefully he'll get out of the Interpreter business and do something a little less dangerous so he can spend more time with his new wife and get a family started.

I have had a tremendous experience in Iraq, some you have read about on this blog, some only a select few have heard from me in person, and some I'll probably never speak of again, but that is how things go in this business. I feel I have grown a lot as a person and have a better perspective on life, especially on just how precious it is. I have learned we have it made in America. Our only problem is we like to bitch and moan and cry a lot!!! Myself included, but after seeing what I have seen, I think I will cut down on most of that. I have realized when our biggest dissappointment of the day is when the drive thru at McDonalds screws up our order or the waitress doesn't fill up our drink exactly when we would have liked for her too, then things really aren't that bad."

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"Quite a few of you have asked me what I am going to do with my blog once this is over. Will I keep it going with the regular day to day happenings of my life or will I shut it down? I have decided that after the coming home party my Mom throws me that I am going to discontinue updating "Travis in Iraq", cause that book will be complete. I am not going to delete it, I will leave it up for anyone who wants to go back and read or re-read my tales or look at the various pics I have posted over the last ten months. Don't worry though, I plan on starting a new blog chronicling the next adventure of my life and you will all be invited to visit there as well.

Well I have to get going and pack up some boxes I want to mail home so I don't have to drag them around with me. Take care and keep reading, the next few weeks should be quite interesting.

Peace to All,

Travis C. Stuart

I imagine his mom and the rest of his family and close friends must feel enormous relief. And since he plans on leaving his blog in place, I urge you to read through it - there are some amazing tales there and some of his unique humor too. It may take you some time to read through it all, but you can learn much about him and his brothers-in-arms.

Welcome home, Soldier. And as you said, Peace to All