I let the month of November go by without a post to commemorate the month's heartache and tragedy. I thought about it everyday, but was, at times, too enthralled with it all to verbalize the feelings. The month has passed now, and we are in December.
This means, the five-year anniversary of Phantom Fury has passed with it. It's ironic, my husband seems better than ever, but I am still consumed with some of it. However, now concluding his last deployment to the region, I am much better than before he left. Before he left, I was on the edge of my nerves all the time -- regardless of the rational fact that violence in Iraq and the region in Iraq with which he was returning to had been largely curbed since Phantom Fury ended. It still felt like he was returning to hell. I was still petrified, even though I knew he would be fine.
From Casey, 25 November 2004 via USPS:
Hey sweetie, it is Thanksgiving today. We got a Thanksgiving meal brought out to us.
Casey would later tell me that this was the best meal of his life. One of these days, I'll scan the pictures from that time into my computer and upload them. His smile is from ear-to-ear with a plateful of food, mashed potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, the whole nine.
From Casey, 26 November 2004 via USPS:
It's been cold here, but at least we have some things to deal with the cold weather. We sent some Marines from our platoon into downtown Fallujah to "liberate" some blankets from abandoned houses to help.
With the passing of November passed the five-year anniversary of Sgt. Rafael Peralta's selfless sacrifice for his brothers on 15 November 2004. Hopefully, those that know of Sgt. Peralta's sacrifice did not let the day go by blindly. And hopefully they are not giving up the fight for his most well-deserved Congressional Medal of Honor. Write your congressional men and women, they are supposed to be representing our concerns, but yet seem to fail to do so on a grand scale. I have been rebuffed by many, and ignored, yet I will persevere, and I hope those that care about the cause and Sgt. Peralta's memory will do the same.
We cannot forget all that was sacrificed, all that they did for us.
