I see guys getting packages that must weigh ten to fifteen pounds, so I'm guessing the one pound rule was a nasty rumor put out by some ... Post Office Pogue trying to make his job easier. Every one here shares their care packages with everyone else as a general rule, though inevitably there are a few "hoarders."

Each box of 12 MRE's comes with one vegetarian meal, which are usually the best to me, and include tortelleni, pasta in tomato sauce, pasta in white sauce, and some kind of "happy Mexican salsa with peas and stuff pasta" I forget it's real name but that's what we call it. All MRE's are eaten with a dash of sand, and we generally brush our teeth with a dash of sand as well. The Army coffee, like Marine Corps coffee, is ... quite foul. There is no such thing as Starbuck's, that's just a dream I had. Today I had chicken a la king, and yesterday I had the beef stew, which is helped out by McIlhenney's sauce, as is every MRE.

You'll never guess what I had in my hands today! A gold plated AK-47 that belonged to Saddam, as well as one of his bazillion pistols. [The AK-47 is] on its way back to the 5th SF HQ in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where they have a museum. I'll tell you the story of how and where they got it when I ... [am] allowed to tell.