11. Are They Not Coming Back?

Written: February 24, 2003

Monday, February 24th
Today was a day off. I woke up at 8:30am and went to breakfast with Sam and CPT Hester. Got back from chow and relaxed for a while. Used the early afternoon for laundry. The weather was great in the morning. It was sunny and bright but by the time I went outside to do my laundry the wind had kicked up and the sand was starting to blow. I borrowed a plastic tub to wash my clothes and set up my laundry operations next to Sam. I washed and rinsed all my clothes then hung them up between the tents to dry. We did not have any clothes pins so Sam came up with the idea to use a stapler and staple to clothes so they would not get blown off the line. Great idea! I got a stapler and there we were, stapling our t-shirts and underwear to the line!

I came back inside and sat down with Fred to watch some movies. We had a South Park marathon and watched 4 episodes from the 4th grade season. They were all funny but it is hard to believe the stuff that they get away with on television. During one of the episodes we heard rain falling. Within seconds, the sound of rain was so loud that we could barely hear our own hearts beating. I got my camera and recorded a video of people trying to get their laundry inside before they got wet. They had no luck!

After South Park, we watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Extremely funny yet mindless show.

Fred and I ate some ramen for dinner. We sat outside and ate under the stars. After dinner I began cleaning up my area. I dumped out all of my clothes and gear and sorted out the stuff that I will need when the War starts. I have three bags (2 duffle bags and 1 rucksack) full of clothing. I plan on taking whatever I can fit in my rucksack.

Heard we are going to get issued desert uniforms tomorrow then desert flight suits on Thursday! Once that happens, I will pack away all my woodland camouflaged uniforms.

Shawn came in to the tent at 12:30am and told me about a Chinook crew that just went inadvertent IMC (flew into the clouds on accident). They recovered here to Udairi with no problem. Shawn told me that a phone was installed in our planning area so I got up to go use it but Javier came in and said that the pre-accident plan was just activated. The pre-accident plan is activated when an aircraft is overdue or suspected to have encountered problems. It is a series of step by step instructions to make sure all the right people are notified in such a situation. As it turned out, 2 more aircraft when into the clouds. These were Alpha company birds. One aircraft came back and the other aircraft did not. No one has had radio contact with this aircraft since they entered the clouds. Hope they come back.

I was talking to Fred about it and it would be very easy to fly right into a cloud without realizing it at night. When we fly NVG flights, it is nearly impossible to see the ground and even more difficult to see what is coming up in front of you. I can foresee this happening to more crews if the weather were worse. The only thing we have going for us is that the weather is typically not cloudy like it is in Germany. However, today, we had so much rain that it is now evaporating and forming low clouds.

Found out SGT Hester’s wife is pregnant. He is excited.

I got 3 letters today. They were all dated on or about the 14th. Read some funny stories from Stefanie. Today was a good day. This was the first relaxing day I have had here. Up until today (and it seems like it has been this way since January 6th) we all have been putting in very long hours. We work from the time we get up until the time we go to bed then do it all again the next day. So, today was a well deserved and long awaited break.

No word on the lost aircraft yet. The commander just came in the tent and grabbed his cell phone then walked back out. Now the speculation starts: if they had contact with the aircraft, the commander would have come back by now, but he hasn’t so it would seem that there is a problem. I heard that they sent a ground convoy out to their last known location which was the south checkpoint here at Udairi.

By the way, the weather seems to be exactly the same as it was 12 years ago. Low ceilings and cool.

While I was writing a letter to Stef, the commander walked into the tent to wake up the 1SG. The 1SG quickly got out of bed and they both walked out of the tent. Not a good sign. I imagine things did not get any better concerning the lost aircraft. Javier said that Mike Swisher and Alan Christenson were flying one aircraft and Tim Moehling and J.D. Smith were flying the other. Not sure who encountered troubles.

Sam just came in and stood next to me. He did not look good. I could tell that the worst had happened and asked him, “Are they not coming back?” He said no. They found the aircraft not far from here. Sam walked back out with the Commander and the 1SG. More information to follow. About an hour later, the 1SG and Commander walked in and started waking everyone up. He officially told us the facts as they knew them at the time: 2 CH-47’s went IIMC, they recovered. 2 UH-60’s went IIMC and only one recovered. CPT Gibbons and 1SG Webb left in a Humvee and came upon the burning wreckage. There were no survivors. Tim Moehling, J.D. Smith, Will Tracey and Rodrigo Gonzales were all killed. There families are being notified.

It was about 2 a.m. Everyone was upset and some people were crying. It was a very hard time. Most people went outside and mourned in their own way. Many of the Alpha company people were outside as well but no one was mingling with them. They lost their own. There was nothing that we could say to make it better. Nothing to change what happened or make any sense of it. The Alpha Company 1SG and Commander arrived while it was still on fire and actually extinguished the bodies. The 1SG removed the bodies from the wreckage and put them on stretchers and covered them with wool blankets and brought them back.

I went to be at 4:50a.m.