More Love and Support from the 6-4 FAMILY

Our son is part of 6-4 CAV.

I wanted to let you know that to date we have sent 33 pair of size large socks to Keating and asked that they be shared. This way you can update your numbers.

We would also like to tell you and Tankerbabe "THANK YOU" for all that you have and will do for our soldiers.

Please let us know if there is anything that we can do for you.

Proud Parents and Sister

Thank you and your family for your service to our country. We appreciate you and your family. It has been wonderful to see how all the 6-4 CAV families, no only support their trooper, but go the extra mile for their comrades. You are all an inspiration.

For you and the other military families, please accept our Thanksgiving prayers.

http://www.cpmsglife.org/tg/2006tdm1.html

Staff Sgt. Daniel Krause, calling in adjustments to practice mortat fire, is one of four soldiers in the reconnaissance platoon who has served previous dedeployments.
Michael Gisick


http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57881




Friday, October 3, 2008

Recon soldiers carve out life at Hatchet

By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, October 4, 2008


NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan — A few of the soldiers in the reconnaissance platoon say they can see the image of a wolf in the rocks on the mountainside across the ravine. But Pfc. Byron Norris isn’t one of them.

"I don’t know," the 19-year-old says. "Sergeant Leach says he can see it."

"I can’t see it," Pfc. Jonathan Wilson, a baby-faced, cigar smoking Californian, chimes in from his vantage point a few feet away. "I cannot see that wolf rock."

Over the past three months, Wilson and Norris estimate that they’ve spent an average of about eight hours a day staring out from a fortified position on their mountainside, watching the other mountainside. They look for movement, change, anything that hasn’t always been part of a landscape they’ve all but memorized, wolf rocks or not.

And inevitably, in all those hours, they daydream about seeing something else on the mountainside: their enemy.

"I just want the experience, to know what it’s like," Norris says. Wilson adds that maybe it would be good to get attacked, but preferably only once.

It’s one of the great cliches of a war zone — the young soldiers hoping to see action, while the troops who have tell them it’s nothing to hope for, but say it in such a way that it sounds like they’re keeping a secret.

"Being still a wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant, I’m anxious like a lot of these guys to see what it’s all about," says 2nd Lt. Damien Kuhn, a 23-year-old West Point grad.

"I’m not," says Staff Sgt. Daniel Krause, the platoon sergeant, sitting nearby as he and Kuhn share the overlapping hours of their respective day and night shifts in the outpost’s command shack. If this were one of his two prior tours in Iraq, Krause adds, he "probably would have gotten blown up like 10 times by now."

The reconnaissance platoon, part of 4th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, arrived at Combat Outpost Hatchet in July. Another U.S. outpost a few miles away was attacked several times in early September. But despite Hatchet’s location a few miles from the Pakistani border, all has been quiet. With the other outpost set to close, and a nearby U.S. checkpoint turning over to the Afghans, Krause says that could change, though he thinks Hatchet would be a tough place to attack.

And it’s not going to get any easier. Besides their guard shifts, the soldiers spend hours a day improving the base, which was set up just a few months before they arrived.

They’ve filled hundreds of sandbags and dozens of Hesco barriers, sometimes using duffel bags. They’ve cleared brush, leveled ground and dug paths out of the mountain. Helicopters are their only source of supply, bringing everything from food and water to lumber and generators. Helicopter day tends to be an especially long one.

"We don’t get a lot of sleep, but I guess that’s the usual side effect of a deployment," says Spc. Brandon Koellecker, 22, of Hiawatha, Kan.

All the work has led the soldiers to jokingly refer to their outpost as "the slave camp," though some say they aren’t really joking.

At any rate, it’s certainly no Club Med. Though an engineer unit that arrived recently has built a few latrines and the beginnings of some barracks huts, most of the soldiers are still living not so much on the mountain, as in it. Dwellings go by such descriptions as "the small cave over there," "the larger cave next to the small cave" and "the cave with the blue tarp."

There is a sort of shower, but they have to hike down to the river to bring water, so most stick to baby wipes. There’s no television and little electricity, though a satellite phone allows them to call home every week or so.

"It’s an extra challenge to motivate them to do all the work when we don’t have the looming prospect of getting attacked," Kuhn says. "I mean, we know it’s there, but that sense of reality hasn’t really sunk in."

And Krause, for one, says he hopes it doesn’t have to.

"They don’t know what it’s like to get hit," he says. "They all wish for it, but they don’t really know. And they don’t really want to."


© 2008 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved

Photo Gallery: http://www.stripes.com/08/oct08/hatchet_gallery/

Patrick Mancuso - Marrow Transplant Recipient

Patrick's parents. 1SGT Mike Mancuso Senior NCO Crazy Horse Co 6-4 CAV, 3-1 ID

Simone Mancuso Great mother, and warrior on the home front.



What the press release does not say is that Patrick's Dad, 1SGT Mike Mancuso, deployed to Afghanistan as the Senior NCO of Crazy Horse Company 6-4 CAV, 3-1 ID; as his parents were waiting to hear if the transplant was successful.








The Scott & White Marrow Donor Program is pleased to honor Patrick Mancuso at the Lone Star Circle of Life Bike tour for his efforts in educating the central Texas community about the need for people to join the registry.

Patrick, his friends and his family, worked very hard to add hundreds of people to the registry during the time Patrick needed a transplant.

Patrick continues his support of the National Marrow Donor Program by agreeing to be the Honorary Race Director for the 2008 Miracle Match Marathon to further educate the public as well as raise funds to tissue type people for the registry.


Here is Patrick's story:

"Hello, my name is Patrick Mancuso and I am the first Honorary Race Director for the 2008 Miracle Match Marathon.

I would like to tell you about the race I have been running for the last few months -the race against cancer.

In November of 2007, I began to become very ill. After several doctors' visits, I was told that I was simply suffering from inflammation or growing pains.

After much persistence from my mother that it was something more serious, more tests were done and on December 4, 2007, I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia knows as Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).

I was immediately transferred to a hospital in San Antonio where my doctors started me on chemotherapy treatment. After my first round, it was clear that chemo alone did not work and I needed a transplant soon.

My doctors searched for a life-saving marrow donor, while I had to continue to undergo three more treatments of chemo as well as cranial and full body radiations.

As a result, I became very ill and had hard time dealing with the side and after effects. Throwing up and hardly eating became a routine.

My match was found and after all the preparations I received my life-saving marrow transplant at the Methodist Children's Hospital in San Antonio in March of 2008.

Since then, I have been on the rocky road to recovery and it's been very had at times.

I am still dealing with the after effects of chemo and radiation, which is normal, since recovery can take up to a year.

The good news is that I am recovering better than any one could have imagined and my last count on August 22nd was 100%donor cells!

I was able to start school again and am still trying to be a normal 14 year old, playing XBOX and my favorite sport - football!!!

Recovery has been very frustrating for my family and friends, but I am very lucky to have their love and support.

I am also very anxiously waiting to meet my marrow match. She sent me a card before my transplant, but it has only made me more excited to meet the person who has given me another chance at life.

Check out the Lone Star Circle of Life Bike tour site: http://www.sw.org/web/patientsAndVisitors/iwcontent/public/biketour/en_us/html/biketour_localevents_temple.html

And Patrick's careingBridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/patrickmancuso Where you can leave a message for Patrick, his brother and his parents (1SGT Mike and Simone Mancuso)

Afghanistan Video

We cannot imbed the video, because the owner of the YouTube will not allow it. But here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF8oxIA-htc

You will probably recognize some parts of it. It is a very good compilation of video and stills.

Requests and Happy Birthday

An angel in desert camo tells how some special cakes were prepared for July birthdays.

". . . Let me tell you how the cook decorated. He took some zip lock bags, we made red frosting (we only have black/red/green food coloring, the liquid, which makes the frosting a runny consistency). So, he filled a zip, cut the corner of a second zip, stuck in the giant tip (very limited tips - most of them are toooooooo big) then squeezed the first bag into the tip of the second . . ."

Clever cook.

I know what you're thinking, but we've already got the supplies covered. Some of us got to clean out our closets of decorating supplies from lives long past (and best forgotten) .

Angel in Desert Camo" WILL have cake decorating supplies for AUGUST.

These requests are the usual type that come in early in deployments. Let’s see what we can do to help these troopers set up house keeping for the LONG HAUL.

Send what you can to the address on sidebar, and we’ll get these things boxed up and off to these warriors. More will be listed as the rest of the 6-4 Trooper contacts check in. It’s going to take some time for me to get used to calling their units Troops.

• Small paint brushes 1” and 3"
• Bed Sheets
• Shower Curtains

The brushes are used for cleaning weapons and “dusting areas”. Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to request pictures of 1SG Johnson “dusting areas”. That I need to see.

The Flat bed sheets are not only used for beds, but seem to come in handy for all kinds things.

Clear shower curtains just are not the best for these guys. For the length of the deployment, it is very important that the guys have some place to go for some personal time. Personal space is hard to come by, but helps recharge. If we can get enough bed sheets, this is one of those “unexpected uses”.

This picture sent from a previous blogger to give you some idea of the uses for the shower curtains and sheets. This was for officers, so don’t expect such luxury for the majority of the troops.

There is a special request for spices to SPICE up the meals that are prepared for these warriors. If possible, large containers of one kind of spice will better serve the purpose, but we’ll send on the regular sized bottles of spices. These people are serious about doing their very best for their people.

Let’s get these warriors settled in and then get down to the support they will need for the long haul. Everything we do helps make day to day living a little more bearable, and reassures these warriors that there are AMERICANS that support them in every way possible.

• Lemon Pepper
• Lawery Seasoning Salt
• Garlic Powder
• O’Bay Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning
• Kosher Salt
• White Pepper
• Onion Pepper
• Gumbo Powder
• Curry Powder
• Cumin
• All Spice
• Paprika
• Chili Powder
• Thyme
• Chinese Five Spice
• Tarragon
• Nutmeg
• Powdered Ginger
• Dill Weed
• Bay Leaves
• Whole Cloves
• Cayenne Pepper

From previous deployments, we've been told to please try not send those face shredding disposable razors.

For our warriors, as always,
Gratitude and Prayers.