hello to all ...

ive taken a step back from life and looked at what has happened to put me in the positions that vie been in and well i had a grin on my face noticing how familly means so much ... back in nov of 05 was a turning point with my life when my uncle lonnie past away i took steps i felt i had no control over .. i was a stupid dumb teenage at the age of 16 that was destine for greater things .. not knowing that my uncle had been a tanker in the us army or stationed at ft stewart where im currently residing . looking back it went so fast .. i had a lot of problems with my parents as most teenagers do and i dropped out of high school and promised my father wade wardrip that if i dropped out and got my ged id go into the armed forces .. being that that was what i had originally planned wanting to follow my dads footsteps .. but the army took me in and before i had known any thing about my uncle lonnies career in the army i was set to be a m1a1 abrams armored crewman (19K) and went off to basic in july of 06 graduated in nov of 06 and then got stationed at fort stewart Georgia home of the 3rd Infantry division that had became mechanized. i soo found out that my uncle was stationed here and that i was too .. how awkward and then to find out we had the same jobs .. really awkward or was it a calling i have no idea i just know that hes always looking out for me making sure i dont go down the wring roads .. in july of 07 i had gotten married and then deployed to support the global war on terrorism in Iraq for OIF 07-09 a 15 month tour .. well i had a lot of close encounters and a few encounters and was injured in april of 08 but stayed in the fight with my brothers right there beside me .. shortly or not to return in late dec of 08 just shy of a 15 month deployment i had found alot of changes in me and alot of relationship problem along with my injuries both mental and physical.. so on feb 15 my wife and i split and were divorced in april of 09 ... i was then shortly reassigned to the most valorous armor unit in the army. 1-64 AR battalion and have served as an Intel analyst while my unit most recently deployed in oct of 09 . soon to be getting out in hope that the surgeries that i might receive depending on the doctors and technology provided .. waiting for my retirement from the army in hoping to have an actual family one day ! but im sitting here writing this out and it happened so fast just like the lord will decide when its our time to go just when we have everything sorted out in life he calls our number . but i wanted to just tell every one that lonnie is still up there kicking us in our asses when we want to quit ! thanks lonnie ill always have you on my shoulder ... TANKERS Hoohaaaa! SPC WARDRIP Benjamin D.