Letters from Ronald Reagan Elementary School

Jack received a great surprise this week. The last time Jack was in Afghanistan he received a group of letters from Carrie Kimichik's class at Ronald Reagan Elementary School in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Once again Jack received a set of letters from her class. Jack's connection with this class happens to be a pair of our best friends, Karen and Kevin Ranta. They have three beautiful daughters two of which were in Carrie's class when the letters were sent.

Anyway, the kids are out of school now so Jack couldn't respond by letter, but I found these letters amusing and the questions NEEDED answers (especially since they are about Jack). I'll have to split up the blog entries, but that should take Jack to the end of his tour (barring any other brilliant moves by the local nationals). So here we go........

1. How is the weather in Afghanistan?
Jack is impervious to weather, but, if you must know, it’s much like the weather in central to southern Texas. It gets into the upper 90s, but there is very little humidity. In the winter it can get down into the 30s. Other parts of the country have very different weather depending on elevation.
2. How big are your tanks?
Jack’s tanks are about 18 inches around. Oh wait, those are Jack’s biceps. You’re talking about Army tanks. None here. Don’t need ‘em with Jack around.
3. Do you carry a weapon? What kind?
Jack is a one-man weapon, but as backups he carries a Beretta M9 (92FS) semi-automatic handgun (9 mm) and an M4 rifle (5.56 mm).
4. Have you ever gotten hurt in the war?
Bullets bounce right off of Jack, so no, Jack has never been hurt—thankfully.
5. When are you coming home?
Jack is at home wherever bullets are flying and bad guys are dying, but he’s due for a little vacation in late July. He’ll be going home to Texas then.
6. Are there cracks in the ground?
Only where Jack has blasted a few bad guys-- otherwise no.
7. Did you make any friends?
Jack doesn’t need friends and certainly not in a hostile environment such as Afghanistan. Jack’s best friends are his 9mm and M4. He has made a few local friends, though, who work with the engineering team.
8. What does your base look like?
It’s flat with lots of dust and gravel—a regular paradise!
9. Are you a bomber?
That all depends. Jack is an expert with explosives, but he usually just leaves it up to his trainees here (that would be the guys in Explosive Ordinance Disposal). So far, all they’ve had to blow up is stuff they’ve found that the bad guys try to use to blow us up. They do that about once a week.
10. Do you have a pet?
Here in Afghanistan Jack likes to keep pets just as dangerous as himself—a cobra, poisonous scorpion, poisonous centipede, and lots of spiders. At home, though, he has six dogs and a cat.

More questions answered next week--Jack out!