Holiday Packages On The Way!!

Hey Curtis. Our scouts and their families have been busy gathering supplies for our holiday packages, including clothes for the Afghanistan children. They were shipped out last week so you should be receiving them very soon.

May God bless you during this holiday season. We are anxiously awaiting your return!

Merry Christmas and be safe,

Charlie

THANK YOU

As the only way I have of honoring you for providing my family and I with the life and freedoms we have here in America please accept these two simple words — THANK YOU!
We salute every one of our Veterans,
The noble and the brave,
The ones still with us here today,
And those who rest peace.

So here’s to our country’s heroes;
They’re a cut above the rest;
Let’s give the honor that is due
To our country’s very best

THANK YOU Curtis, all our military,and all our men and women who serve!

Veterans Day

It's hard to believe, but Veterans Day is already upon us. For some, it means a day off from work; but for all of us, it should mean a time to reflect on the brave, selfless men and women who serve and have served our nation each and every day.

To our brave local hero, Curtis Thaxton, his wonderful family, and all those currently serving at home and abroad, may God bless you for your sacrifice and dedication. Never forget that there are folks back here at home supporting your mission and praying for your safe return.

Sincerely,

Charlie

Support No Matter What...

Hey Curtis. Despite the politics around strategy decisions for Afghanistan, we know that you folks are on the ground in harms way doing what you have been asked to do for our nation. We thank God each and every day for you, your family, and other military families. Please know that there are folks back home who care very deeply about you and all the men and women serving with you.

God bless and be safe,

Charlie

Curt just stopping by to say hello,just wanted you know we are back here thinking about you and everyone out in Afghanistan! How are things there in Afghanistan? It's wet and cold here tonight.

I hold my breath everytime I watch the news and just want to say THANK YOU to YOU and all the men and women out there! I know you sent Charlie a list of things you all could use out there but is there anything else we can do for you from here or send ya?

I see Bailey's playing football and lovin it? Is he going to do basketball again this year? Matthew really love basketball and it was a great self esteem booster for him so we're going to have him play again at Gallup Hill Baptist and my little one Megan (5) is going to cheerlead. Deanna doesn't want to play at the church but with everyones schedules I can't be driving across town for a whole different league so she's passing on the basketball for this year!

Can you get on to the scouts Shutterfly account to view all our scouting pictures? Let me know ,if you can't I can share them with you through my shutter fly account . We had a really fun camping trip over columbus day weekend . We all went to Burlingame in RI. We enjoyed canoeing , Kickball and the kids just played.... Looking forward to doing it again in the spring!

Well, Keep safe and be well! Love and prayers are being sent your way!
good night, Denise and the whole Dittrich family!

Greetings from Melissa and Bailey

Hello Everyone ,

How are you all doing? We are well here just keeping really busy, between school and football I don think we ever stop! We are always on the go! I hope you are all well! Bailey is loving football and doing well when he plays, he really had a hard time starting out cause his dad was not coaching! But now is getting into the groove! I have to say thank you to you all for the web cams! You do not know how much we are enjoying them and getting to see Curt there is nothing better! On Baileys first day of school Curt was able to call us and tell Bailey via the web cam to have a great first day at school! THANK YOU TO YOU ALL ! You do not and never will know how much they mean to us!!!!!!!!! Well take care and we think of you all often! Hope to hear from you! !

Take care

Love Melissa & Bailey

Im back and ready for a new year!! together

Well being here is Farah, Afghanistan has been pretty interesting to say the least. I will have a lot of stories when I get home. I am excited about our next adventure together. Well jst wanted to let everyone know that I am thinking of them and will see you soon.

Hello Hello Hello

Hi ,Curt!
The whole Dittrich family sends thier hello's to you, your fellow troops with you in Afganistan ,and your family back here ! We think about you often and send our prayers your way . Can't wait to see you and your family when you get back.Hope all is well and your safe.
Love and Prayers,
Denise,Paul,Deanna,Matthew and Megan

The Scouts Are Coming...

Hey Curt. Hope things are OK in Afghanistan. Summer is winding down here in CT, even though the temperature seems to be winding up. Today we're looking at 90 degrees and very humid.

The 2009-2010 scout year kicks off in early September. We're all eager to get going again and this year we'll have 7 Webelos! Let us know some of the things we can do to help support you, your fellow troops, and Melissa/Bailey. We are eager to help!

Does your web cam work from Afghanistan?

God bless and be safe,

Charlie

Hello from a far

Well just wanted to say hello and to let everyone know that I am doing ok. I hope that everyone is doing ok and that I miss you all and cant wait ot come home. Well I hope that you like the pics and i will keep on sending them. Welll take care andhope ot hear from you soon.

your friend,
curt

Well this is the final stop.

Well I will have more pictures later. This is me in full battle rattle. I feel like I look like one of the transformers, but hey didnt they kick butt too.....

Well take care and talk to you soon.

well here we are boarding the aircraft for our final departure to our new home. We are eagerly awaiting to see were we are living and what the accomendation are like.

Well me an Ichihara decided to take this moment for a photo op. Two cool dudes along for the ride. Got a love it.

Well here is LT Baumann waiting for a Starbucks coffee or at least a Green Beans Coffee or something!!!!

Well ET1 Eddington is playing traffic cop and ensuring that all of us are going to make it to the plane safely.

Well here I am before boardng the Airplane. I thought that this was another picture perfect moment. The words are so true for so many people. I know that I have a good support group back home, but alot dont.

the never ending saga of living in an airport

Well here is one our Guam guys SPC Rafael trying to get a few winks of shut eye before our final flight.

Live a Life Worthy of Their Sacrifice

Many thanks to Curtis for his most recent updates and great pictures. He also sent me this picture that very makes a simple, but very important point. Remember our fallen heroes (and those who are risking their lives each day) and live a life worthy of their sacrifice.

Please keep Curtis, Melissa, and Bailey in your thoughts and prayers.

Curtis-may God bless you and keep you safe.

Sincerely,

Charlie

one more stop

Made it to our next stop. This is ABF1 Encinas. He was getting ready to go to a different base to be a support element but at the last minute decided to keep him.

Well here is some of the crew. Just happy that we are in country and getting ready to get to FOB Farah. It has been a long trip. Still have one more journey to take before our final destination.

Well here we are back at the airport awaiting to bet on out flight to the next destination

Here is the c130 the flew us into Afghanstan. Still have one more spot to go before hitting out final destination. You see HM1 Julien getting ready for the flight.

Well here is us checking in to the area and getting a place to sleep for he night, or as it turns out a couple of night here. The mountains were beautiful so it was worth it.

This was a church that the Air Force had built. I like how thay had there symbol on the side. It was made out of wood and as you can see it was quite large.

This is just a sign that I took a pictue of. Of course look is what in the sketch.

Next Stop

Will our next stop took us in to Manas Air Force Base, Kygerkistan (I know I spelled it wrong, Sorry) Very small and secluded. Look at the mountains in the back ground.

Beautiful country.

Here everyone is getting off of the plane. This is not our final stop, but we are here for a couple of days.

On our way

Well I got the pictures reversed. This was us flying into Shannon Ireland, we has about a 2 hr lay over here. Everyone was excited because we had a chance to get off of the plane after 6 - 7 hrs of flying. The people are nice and friendly. They where willing to help you if needed, like sending post cards and getting stamps.

at the airport

The back entrance to Indianapolis Airport. It is was an early morning for everyone. Just tired and wanting to get on the plane.

We are on our way.

Here we are loadingthe busy getting ready for a 3-4 hour stay at the airport. There is where we get the plane ready and staged with all of our gear.

combat lifesaver training

Here I am at Combat LifeSaver Training. This is where we teach non-medical personnel how to treat simple injuried and assist the corpsman if over whelmed with too many causualities.

This is our Medical Team. We consist of two doctors, one nurse practioner, five hospital corpsman, and one army medic. We come from all over the country to provide medical support for the provincial recontruction team. Here we are standing by to receive simulated causualities from the field during and excercise.

let us start from the beginning

Well this is where it all started in Texas. We reported into Fort Sam Houston for Army Medical Training.

Her we learned to treat simulated causualities and provide security. For Navy Corpsman this was common knowlwdge.

Updates from Ken and Matt

Hi everyone.  I've heard recently from Ken Metzger and Matt Hreben.  Both are back in Afghanistan after enjoying a much-deserved leave.  I'm working on getting some pictures and a post from them.  Please keep Curtis, Ken, Matt, and all of our brave troops in your thoughts and prayers.

Charlie

Hello, from Atterbury

Hello, everyone, just wanted to let you know that I am still in Camp Atterbury continuing my Army training prior to deployment. Melissa and Bailey are doing well. The cams and still in action and getting lots of use. Well just wanted to say hello and take care.

Curt

Update from HM1 Curt Thaxton

Hey there everyone. Well I am off and running again. I have reported into my new command in San Diego and completed Army medical training in Fort Sam Houston, TX. Now I am Camp Atterbury Indiana awaiting to start training for what we will be doing. I was lucky enough to get a week of leave and come home to see Melissa and Bailey. Just wanted to let you know that the web cameras are working awesome and have become a great source of communication between me and my famiily. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. I feel that I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends. This is why we like the area so much. Well just a few words to say hello and to keep in touch. Everyone take care and hope to hear from you soon.

Curt