blackhawk

Dear Friends;

I had my first helicopter ride yesterday. I showed up at the air terminal in Mosul about 7:00am and at 8:00 we were strapped into a Blackhawk helicopter. We rolled down the runway and suddenly just lifted off. the temperature was in the 90's so the door of our sircraft was left open! I was on an inside seat so felt fairly secure. We flew over Mosul which was comprized of many samll homes, Mosques and businesses. We soon rolled out over the countrside. What struck me abut the landscape was it seemed so biblical. the predominate feature we flew over was sheep and shepherds. Of course we flew so as to miss all cities, there are security concerns after all, but the rural flavor of the landscape was striking. As we neared FOB Speicher, which is where I am writing from now, there were even Center pivot irrigation sprinklers and i saw a few combines cutting what I guess to be barley. The landscape was very arrid but I observed a significant amount of agriculture. I am planning soon to take another flight back to Mosul. My commander has given me permisson to pursue a humanitarian project in nothern Iraq. I hope to begin work on this project as soon as I get back to Mosul. My dream here is to to establish a connection that will contiue even after I leave Iraq. I think connecting American compassion with Iraqi citizens is the royal road to peace. More later

Blessings !