I am at Anaconda and doing fine. Well, I am doing as best as can be expected. I was hooking my air lines up the other day and slipped and hit my left knee on the frame rail. I have a cut on the knee cap and have bruised it pretty good. I am restricted from driving for 2/3 days. So I am sitting here at Anaconda. I can still CC missions as long as I have a driver. All CC’s are supposed to have drivers anyway. Reefers are the last hold outs for doing that. My boss isn’t giving me any hassle about it. He is being vary good and so are all the guys. I really hate being babied as much as they are trying to do. But it is nice to know that my guys will take care of me like I take care of them.
I was so glad to hear that Tommy was alive and well and back with us. Several of us had heard that his headless body had been strapped to a hood and drive all around town. This bit of news about him escaping helps everyone sprits. You should have heard the hoops and hollers that came across the radio and all round when it came across our qualcoms and someone radioed it out to all.
I have so much to tell and not much time right now. I finally got my computer set up so that I can use it in the MWR instead of having to wait in line for the company computers. I will get an email out about the mission so far later today, I hope. We are not going any where. Things are shut down again.
For now, I want everyone to know that I am ok and getting bored of sitting.
This is memo that was sent out by KBR in Houston.
TO: All Halliburton employees
FROM: Dave Lesar, chairman, president and CEO
SUBJECT: KBR casualties in Iraq
Our KBR colleagues in Iraq have suffered casualties in the renewed fighting over the past week. Several of our truck convoys were attacked during their work delivering fuel, food and supplies for the U.S. Army and the Iraqi people.
I am sorry to report that two members of the Halliburton family were killed. At this time there are six more employees missing, and one, Thomas (Tommy) Hamill, was captured and is being held hostage. Eighteen others were wounded. This is a grueling and difficult development, and we are working diligently to assist the families and the military in any way we can. KBR employees and subcontractors have all made courageous decisions to work in Iraq. Daily, they risk their personal security to serve the troops and deliver much-needed services to the Iraqi people.
We are in constant communication with the authorities in Iraq and the families of the lost, missing and captured employees. Out of concern for the safety of these individuals and the privacy of their families, we are not releasing their names at this time. I am sure you all join me in expressing our condolences to the families of those who were lost and in praying for the safety of Tommy Hamill and the six missing individuals, and for the recovery of the wounded. We are grateful and supportive of everyone who continues to assist with this effort.
This is a very trying time for them and for all our fellow employees in Iraq. We are working with the coalition authorities to provide for their safety and security. And we are firm in our resolve to stay and complete our mission to provide logistical support to the coalition troops, humanitarian and reconstruction aid to the Iraqi people, and help with rebuilding Iraq’s oil industry.
I am proud of the work KBR is doing in the Middle East. It is essential work, and KBR is the right group for the job. The KBR employees and subcontractors working there are showing great courage, as well as skill and professionalism. All of us stand behind them, and we send them our heartfelt thanks along with our concern for their safety.
I will keep you informed as we learn more about the seven missing and captured employees. Until then, let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
I just wanted to let everyone know what we are being told here. We are back at start up status. That means that we are at the same status that they were when all this started. We are at war again and are treating as such. I am not getting all the information that we, the drivers, want at this time. I can say that as most of you know, there has been a KBR tanker driver kidnapped. There have been some KBR drivers killed and some are still missing. I have not heard from several of my friends that I know were up north. You would think with us sitting right here in the middle of it all that we would know more than the news, but it is not always that way. Drivers are quitting and going home at a very rapid pace. I can not and will not condemn them for doing that. I just know that I am going to stay. I can’t tell you how I will react or what I will do if one of my convoys is ever hit. That may be enough for me to come home and then it may not. I ask of everyone there in the states to just pray for our guys and gals over here. We have lots of new people over here that are not familiar with he area and we have lots of people that were supposed to be going home in the next few days that are not going to be. My friend Keith is one of them. He was due to fly out on the 14th. They recalled his unit and now after being here a year, he doesn’t know how much longer he will have to stay.
Now as for our convoy security, we are supposed to be getting more escorts and several other things. Because of the possible chance that this email could be seen by the “bad guys” I can not tell you what that is. Just trust me that they are doing everything in their power to keep us as safe as possible. I have a couple of friends that are former military and are helping me in knowing what to do if attacked. They are big help and I thank God that I am lucky to have them in my life at this time. They help me keep my mind in check on all this. I know everyone over there is going to worry about me and all the others that are here, I wish you wouldn’t. What we are doing here is a really good thing and we are doing good here. I know ya’ll may not be seeing that in the news. The news has a thing for only reporting the bad things.
Now, just so you know that it is not all bad stuff here, I am adding a few pictures to the group site, that a friend took of me on the beach here at the villa the day I took off from work. I know that it is not of what I am doing in Iraq, but I want ya’ll to see that I am doing great and a picture says a thousand words.
I need to get to bed now, I have to go in early tomorrow. I have now idea when I will be going back out. But as soon as I know I will let ya’ll know. Ya’ll take care and don’t worry!
