An old friend of mine came back to work recently. I hadn't talked to her in a year or so and we caught up this morning. Her husband is in Iraq right now and her stepson is going to Afghanistan in January. Her husband recently got hit with a roadside bomb causing him many lacerations and the loss of hearing in one ear. Even with that, he was back on duty in a few days. He has 2 purple hearts already and apparently lots of pictures and stories to tell. This is the second soldier I know personally who's been wounded in action.

I've asked my friend to ask her husband if he wouldn't mind me reprinting some of his stories. The few I heard this morning are uplifting (as well as sad) and definitely tell a different side of the story than we get to hear back here in the States. My friend says she can't even bear to watch the news because she knows they're lying about the conditions. She said she'd get me a CD with some images and that she'd see about the stories.

So, stay tuned and hopefully I'll have some great stories for my readers (which would be a break from the common shtick I try to pull around here).

As Drudge would say : Developing!