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Dismounted Foot Patrol

Date: 7/19/2008 4:01:59 AM

Hello All, I’m still here at the same central Ramadi combat outpost going on Day 72 (July 19th). I was actually just supposed to be here on a 30-day rotation - the fact that I’m still here is partly my doing and partly the Army’s doing.

I can’t explain the particulars but it has to do with an important mission that is coming up. Consequently, I missed out on the scheduled rotation dates in June & July, but it looks like I’ll be returning to Camp Ramadi in about 3 weeks.

USS Franklin, The Ship That Wouldn't Die

As we move further and further away from World War 2 —there are fewer and fewer people who remember some of the tremendous sacrifices that were made at the time in the name of freedom.

WW2 soldiers at Grave

A few weeks back, I wrote a post that included the mention of a relative who was lost in the waning days of that war when he and over 700 others died following an attack on the aircraft carrier USS Franklin.

The piece struck a chord with Richard Don Simms—and he called me from Texas to talk about the Franklin.

The Recurring Connection to My Uncle, PFC Floyd Cheatham

Floyd Cheatham's grave in Luxemburg

It is to me strange how the connection to my Uncle Floyd Cheatham keeps recurring. I have often thought during my life of him buried there, and me being here and alive. My mom divorced when I was five years old and had custody of my brother and I. During my brother’s turmoils during our youth I often wondered how all of the chemistry might be different if Floyd were still around to help my mom stay on top of my brother and I.

In 2001 when my dad learned we had swapped homes with a Parisian family for six weeks, and were going to visit Floyd’s grave in Luxemburg while we were there, he told me a story. He had a neighbor directly across the street from them. She is a German who married an American. Helga and Bill had had company for several days.

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The SOT Web Team