With Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team at Camp Striker on the Outskirts of Baghdad Just when I had decided that the United States military couldn’t organize a two-tank parade and that I would spend the rest of my unnatural life in that Garden Spot of the World — the passenger lounge at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany — voilà, I am in Iraq. It took five days to get here and … [Read more...] about Oct. 9, 2005: Iraq Column #2
Oct. 8, 2005: Iraq Column #1
Dear Folks: It has been the Week from Hell, but (famous last words) it may be over shortly. It is now midafternoon Saturday at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. After our aborted flight to Baghdad, there have been no planes to take troops or people like me to anywhere. That is about to change. Our plight has finally received the attention of State Adjutant General David … [Read more...] about Oct. 8, 2005: Iraq Column #1
Iraq Column: October 14, 2005: Mixed Emotions: Leaving the 48th Brigade Combat Team
I am coming home. As you read this, I should be on a C-5A headed for Dover, Del. and then to Home Sweet Home. I leave with mixed emotions. Taking the world’s longest shower and sleeping in a real bed with a real mattress will be a pleasure, but leaving behind the men and women of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team wasn’t easy. These are good folks and I wish that I had had the … [Read more...] about Iraq Column: October 14, 2005: Mixed Emotions: Leaving the 48th Brigade Combat Team
Oct. 7, 2005: Iraq — So Near and So Far Away
This isn’t the column I wanted to write. I am supposed to be in Iraq, embedded with Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team, but I am sitting in an Air Force Base in Ramstein, Germany, watching one of the biggest fiascoes imaginable. I’m not sure how many days I have been here; and that isn’t important. What is important is that there is a group of elite Marines who have been … [Read more...] about Oct. 7, 2005: Iraq — So Near and So Far Away
Sep. 19, 2005: Delta Retirees Pay Big Price For Company’s Bankruptcy
In a former life, I was entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with the public on behalf of my company, Southern Bell and later BellSouth. Getting the trust and confidence of my management was a long and arduous task. There were many stressful days, a lot of weekends in the office and bulging briefcases in between. I took my role in the company very seriously. BellSouth … [Read more...] about Sep. 19, 2005: Delta Retirees Pay Big Price For Company’s Bankruptcy