[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               KEITH KIDD

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, over the Thanksgiving weekend, I 
received a letter from a State Department employee from Dallas, Keith 
Kidd, who left his previous job to serve in Afghanistan in 2003 and 
then in Iraq early this year. As a representative from the U.S. Embassy 
to Iraq, he worked with military and civilian leaders from the Western 
Al Anbar Province. I want to share his Thanksgiving message to his 
friends and family because he represents the best of America and his 
letter reflects the positive spirit that is so representative of our 
country. He has volunteered for the mission to stabilize Iraq and help 
the Iraqi people have the freedom and democracy that every human being 
deserves. I hope this letter makes every American proud of the 
thousands of U.S. men and women, both military and civilian, serving 
bravely overseas during the holidays.
  His letter reads as follows:

       Greetings from Ramadi.
       As Thanksgiving draws near, I found it fitting to tally my 
     blessings. As it turns out, I have oodles of them.
       I'm thankful that I'm alive. All of the attempts on my life 
     have failed. I realize I'm wrecking some poor terrorist's 
     batting average, but that's just tough. I'm thankful for the 
     guys on my Personal Security Detail who help ensure those 
     attempts keep failing. I'm thankful for my health. The dust 
     storms are bad for my eyes, nose, throat and lungs so I cry, 
     sneeze and cough but it could be much worse. Much worse.
       I'm thankful for the Dining Facility. The grub is not all 
     that good but it sure beats MREs. The food is usually warm. 
     Sometimes it's even hot. We often go weeks without fresh 
     vegetables, but we enjoy them when we have them. I'm thankful 
     for Coke. I'm not a coffee consumer so that crimson-colored 
     can of carbonated cola contains the caffeine I crave when I 
     work to the wee hours all week.
       I'm thankful for the military postal system. It eventually 
     delivers the dusty, bashed, mangled boxes that contain the 
     vital vittles, the essential sundries and the other simple 
     pleasures of home that folks have sent my way.
       I'm thankful for fall. It has been over a month since the 
     mercury was measured in triple digits. I'm thankful for cool 
     evenings. I'm thankful for full moons, bright stars and 
     desert sunsets. I'm thankful that I get to see that big 
     orange orb drop below the horizon every day. The only thing 
     worse than having a bad day is not making it to the end.
       I'm thankful for the shipping container that acts as my 
     desert abode. It's modest but it's higher class than the 
     plywood box I called home in Afghanistan. I'm thankful for 
     showers. Standing under a gentle cascade of water with a bar 
     of soap in hand is far superior to baby-wipe style bathing.
       I'm thankful for electricity. It powers the window unit air 
     conditioner that keeps me from melting and the computer that 
     makes it possible for me to communicate with you. Sometimes 
     we don't have any of these things but it's nice when we do.
       I'm thankful for armored cars. They have saved my life more 
     than once. I'm thankful for ballistic vests. They protect me 
     from flying projectiles when I'm in town. I'm thankful for 
     sandbags. They protect me from flying projectiles when I'm at 
     home. I'm thankful for Mylar. It's a plastic coating on my 
     windows that prevents the glass from shattering into 
     thousands of pieces when flying projectiles break through it. 
     I'm thankful for dumb luck. I suspect it has saved my life 
     more times than I will ever know. I'm thankful I was not in 
     my tin home when the rocket exploded over it and blew a 3" x 
     5" hole in the roof right over my desk and chair where I 
     would ordinarily have been sitting. (No sandbags or Mylar on 
     the roof--a deficiency we have oft noted.) I'm thankful for 
     Mother Nature's sense of humor. I had not seen rain in six 
     months but it rained that night.
       I'm thankful for the soldiers and marines who fight our 
     enemies on the ground and I'm thankful for the airmen and the 
     sailors who fight them from the sky and sea. I'm thankful 
     there are people who would give their lives so that others 
     can live in freedom.
       I'm thankful for you. It is wonderful to have friends and 
     family back home who care for me and pray for me.
       I'm thankful for God above. I am here by His design and I 
     will only come home by his grace.
       All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.

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