The Candy Guy, Part II

Thanks to all of you who have helped Richard and his medics by sending candy for the Iraqi children they medically treat and see while on missions.

Here is another email from Richard.

Am back. I have time limit on these comps, esp in this new FOB.

But these kids are funny, running down the road, chasing the trucks, just like dogs would back in Mississippi: never been chased by a dog here, though, by the way. As we neared the corner, where it ran into the main road all the kids came running out toward us. And D. was throwing the candy out of the gunner hatch. R. hollered out, "Hey D., throw it to that little girl in the pink there, she don't never get anything. We come by here everyday and that little girl never has gotten anything yet." This little girl - about five or six - was standing on the side of the road by herself, with only a pair of pink shorts on. So D. threw her a load of candy.

This one time we were out by the river, out in the country, and I saw one of the funniest things. We were driving down the road in the late day when we passed through this village. And it was kids everywhere. It was like an entire village of nothing but children, running wild and crazy: but there was a couple of adults, every here and there, stuck someplace. We were riding down this dirt road way out there when all these kids saw us and took off running for the vehicles. Of course the gunners were throwing them stuff.

I looked out my window, and as we were riding slow, there was this wild haired boy running right next to me: if I could have opened the window I could have reached out and touched him. And he kept running and kept running, for a good mile down the road. We got going faster and I couldn't see him anymore, but the funniest thing: the sun was setting and I could see this wild haired shadow running right beside me, instead of the kid. Every time we would slow up some this kid would reappear, then disappear when we got going faster. But his shadow, somehow, kept up with the vehicle, for another mile, and every now and then the kid would pop up by the door of the hum-v. The last thing I saw of him was that wild haired shadow, and then he was gone. It was really funny, and no Mississippi dog chasing cars has anything on these younguns!

They were shooting out by the IP station today. But there is shooting all over the place in this entire country all the time. Here in this city there is Wedding/Funeral Thursday, and is the day they marry their wives and bury their mother-in laws. And they do this with celebratory fire, just like us shooting fireworks back in U.S.

They are running me off comp again, so, later, Richard...

If you would like to send some hard candy to Richard for him to hand out please email Sara.

Contributed by:
Sara of Soldiers' Angels USA and "her" soldier Richard from Iraq