An email from a Returning Warrior

A letter by CSM Neil Ciotola
>>  Subject: Going Home
>>  Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:00:27 +0000
>>
>>  Family and Friends,
>>
>>  In less than 23 hours my tenure here in Iraq will
>> come to a close. In less
>> than a day I, and many others, shall board a
>> transport and head to Kuwait
>> and then ultimately back home to all of you.
>>
>>  To be honest it's almost surreal, all we've known
>> for the last 15 months
>> is this place called Iraq. We've experienced so many
>> highs and so many lows.
>> We've endured (regardless of locale) days on end of
>> mortar and rocket fire.
>> Countless days of "Big Voice" wailing "Incoming,
>> Incoming, Incoming".
>> Running for cover, waiting out the impacts, holding
>> one's breath; listening
>> for the sirens or yells of Medic. We've endured the
>> almost constant thunder
>> of IEDs, RPGs, Car and truck bombs, the staccato of
>> small arms fire. If
>> someone had asked me in June or July if th ere was
>> any hope of turning this
>> thing around I don't know what I'd have told them.
>>
>>  For those that traversed the roads, trails and
>> fields of Iraq there was
>> the constant threat of IEDs, RPGs, suicide bombers,
>> small arms fire, land
>> mines, Houses rigged to explode and all the
>> indigenous people looking for a
>> way to escape the violence, the sectarian murders,
>> the foreign fighters, and
>> the ever present criminal element.
>>
>>  Something happened in June, I (and many others)
>> don't know what it was,
>> cannot quite put our finger on it, but something
>> changed. Good people in
>> Iraq started to stand-up, good people began to join
>> with us. The back of Al
>> Qaida began to break. We achieved a tipping point of
>> sorts, the Iraqi
>> Security forces, long berated for a lack of ability
>> began to take a
>> pre-emptive role in security operations. Good people
>> starting coming forward
>> and telling coalition forces where the bad guys
>>  and their tools of war were hidden. We began to
>> roll-up mid and high level
>> AQI and Special Groups leadership, and the more we
>> did, the more the good
>> people of Iraq came forward with even more
>> information.
>>
>>  There are countless thousands of Iraqis on the
>> streets of the country from
>> Baghdad to points west and north. 24 hours a day,
>> seven days a week the
>> people of Iraq provide us the freedom of maneuver we
>> have been looking for
>> in our effort to hunt down and capture (or kill)
>> those that want nothing but
>> chaos for this country.
>>
>>  Along the way, the manner and method our troops
>> employed in the operating
>> environment evolved as well. Instead of standing for
>> anyone particular
>> person and or group we began standing for everyone.
>> We planted ourselves
>> squarely in the middle of those who would do one
>> another harm. We became the
>> arbitrators and the honest brokers. We (the
>> coalition), in the eyes of the
>> Iraqi people, became the "go to guys". In their
>> effort to end the violence
>> and create an environment conducive to rebuilding
>> and pursuing a "normal
>> life", t he Iraqi people began a grass roots
>> movement of running the evil
>> out and governing themselves. There is a litany of
>> things, large and small
>> that turned the tide in our favor last summer, far
>> too many for me to
>> elaborate on here. Suffice to say it was all
>> contingent on the efforts of
>> our youth and the quality and character of our
>> leadership.
>>
>>  Our men and women committed themselves to the
>> fight every day. When they
>> lost a comrade they mourned the same, donned their
>> armor and weaponry and
>> marched back out onto the streets and fields. While
>> small when compared to
>> previous conflicts, our losses where, in the end,
>> debilitating. Our
>> sacrifices took their toll on our soul(s); we will
>> never be the same.
>>
>>  In our fifteen months we have lost nearly 900
>> Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen
>> and Marines; we've endured over 10,000 wounded in
>> action. So many sent home
>> for the last time, so many others sent home less
>> than they left. And
>> countless others that will bear the emotional scares
>> of this war for many
>> years to come.
>>
>>  Great progress has been realized over the past
>> year. All attributable to
>> the sacrifice, courage, devotion, persistence and
>> spirit of the American
>> Soldier and Marine. Many of us questioned the
>> resolve, determination and
>> character of our youth. Many of us wondered if we
>> possessed the depth of
>> moral courage to close with evil. Heck, there was a
>> time when I wondered if
>> we could find it in ourselves to simply squeeze the
>> trigger. All those
>> doubts have been addressed, every
>>  question answered. I truly pity anyone foolish
>> enough to confront the
>> might of our military and the resolve of our men and
>> women in uniform.
>>
>>
>>  Everything we have accomplished has been made
>> possible by and through the
>> support we've received from all back home. In ways
>> too many to count, you
>> lifted us each day, you sustained us; you encouraged
>> us. You gave us
>> something to set our sights on; the prospect of once
>> again, coming home.
>>
>>  There is so much to say, so many people to thank,
>> so many to give thanks
>> for. To each of you who receives this you have
>> either inspired me, taught
>> me, led me, loved me, sustained me or thankfully
>> made me laugh when I needed
>> it. We, yes all of you included, have achieved a
>> great thing here in Iraq.
>> We shall talk of it for years to come and thank God
>> it appears there will be
>> time enough for it. For now suffice to say, I'm
>> coming home and I owe it all
>> to you.
>>
>>  With great love, respect and admiration,
>>
>>  Neil