Flashback: Lebanon vs Israel
June 21, 2009
View of Beirut, Lebanon from the ship.
The 2006 Lebanon War, known as the July War, was my first exposure physical warfare. Hizballah paramilitary and Israeli military had engaged over their border and the bombing in the area had become a great threat to Americans living/traveling in the region. The USS Iwo Jima was pulled away from training with the Jordanians to be the American presence off of the coast of Beirut, Lebanon as the U.S. citizens were evacuated to safety.
What surprised me was that you could tell what a beautiful, Mediterranean city Beirut was. Thousands of beautiful little houses covered the nearby mountain and continued off into the distance. The classic look became a memory, however, as building after building was bombed. Soon a cloud of dust had engulfed the city, leaving it with a bleak look.
Although I was unable to capture the bombing on film, watching the conflict from the hanger bay of the ship just boggled my mind. In the past, I had only seen this kind of situation on the news. I could not believe that I was again able to be a part of something historical and meaningful. We were assigned to the area for a little over a month before departing and heading back through the Suez Canal toward Kuwait.
Stay Classy, San Diego!
June 18, 2009
The time has come for me to bid farewell to the Land of Fake Boobs and move on to cleaner skies.
A lot has happened during the two years that I’ve been living in Los Angeles. I’ve developed to many wonderful friendships and have had unforgettable experiences. This is the busy city that had always made me feel like I was “at home.” A place where I’d go on leave and feel like I never wanted to go back. I think that actually being there made “the dream” of living in L.A. a little bit hazy. After a while the traffic and smog seemed to make me feel very enclosed. But that’s also my nature…I start to feel trapped after living almost anywhere for very long. However, Los Angeles will always hold a place in my heart. I mean, this is where the Dodgers play!
I’m VERY excited to move to San Diego. I look forward to the fresh air and open skies. People always seem to be outside running and taking advantage of the beautiful weather. You can smell the ocean from anywhere in the city. I love the ocean so much. I can’t wait to see it everyday.
I found a decently priced condo space for rent in Point Loma. It’s a pretty centralized location to wherever I may end up working, and just a couple minutes from the beach.
The time has come to start anew, and I’m happy that this is the place for me to do it.
Destination Tokyo!
June 16, 2009
Ready to take Tokyo by storm!
For the sake of spontaneity, I decided to head to Japan in a couple days to visit a great friend that I haven’t seen in over four years.
This will be my first experience traveling to this region and I’m not exactly sure what to expect. For the last few weeks I have been researching the country’s culture and heritage…trying to figure out where to start once I get there. I think that not knowing all the details is the greatest part of the adventure.
Be sure to look for my Tokyo trip follow-up post and gallery.
Wish me luck! Hopefully I make it back in one piece.
Flashback: Deployment Aboard USS Iwo Jima
June 12, 2009
USS Iwo Jima LHD-7 in the Fog.
My deployment in 2006 was a very difficult time for me. A lot of emotions flying in every direction. I’d like to think that it was so hard because it was my first time. I’d like to think that I would be able to handle it now with an optimistic attitude and with more focus on the bigger picture.
We departed in June 2006 (on 6/6/06 actually…foreshadow much?), with the mission of taking the 24 MEU to Jordan to conduct training and then to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia. On the way to Jordan, we had port visits in Marseilles, France and Rome, Italy. We did the most we could to enjoy the stops since we didn’t know when we’d have another opportunity to get off the ship.
We never made it to Somalia. Soon after we dropped off our marines in Jordan, Hizballah paramilitary forces engaged the Israeli military. The President assigned the USS Iwo Jima to be the military presence off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon as the Americans were evacuated from the area. We did make a couple trips to the island of Cyprus where the American evacuees had been taken. After a little more than a month, our mission in the region ended and we headed back through the Suez Canal toward Kuwait.
We spent most of the remainder of deployment in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Kuwait. We made a couple trips to Dubai, which is one of the most incredible and interesting cities. Aside from the obvious stress from being in enemy waters, this period of time wasn’t too bad because we were given a break from the marines. There was more space aboard the ship, and less territorial issues.
After completing our mission, we started to head back home. We stopped again in Rome, and then in Toulon, France…but those port calls were basically lost because we all just wanted to get back to Norfolk so badly.
Looking back, I can’t really say that deploying on a ship is my favorite activity…but it’s really not that bad. You just have to make the most of your situation and look for any way to keep yourself sane.
