I love knowing that the moon shines on me AND my son in Afghanistan thanks for the photos and giving this Marine Mama a slice of life on the front lines.

Surprised you got that good of a shot with the dust here! We could use just a little more rain to knock it down. Stay safe!

I am really happy that so many people read all the dispatches and make such supportive comments....
BUT, I am CHALLENGING all of the regular readers and the occasional browsers to STOP RIGHT HERE, and commit to click the link at the bottom of my message, and give up on their Starbucks tomorrow and take that same $5 and PayPal it to Michael !!!
He runs this show on his own and relies upon private support to fund the FIRST-HAND news we are able to read! He is not a part of the MSM, so help him out!! One donation of $5 or $10 can supply him with the batteries he needs!!
It's time to stop the lip-service and REALLY show how much we REALLY appreciate him!
Click the link; I'll pony up, and you do same! Hoo-Aaaah!
"To the greatest ~correspondent since Ernie Pyle~ that has crapped between two boots!!" (paraphrase from, "The Great Santini", even though he was just a marine
trb

https://www.michaelyon-online.com/support-the-next-dispatch.htm

I am really happy that so many people read all the dispatches and make such supportive comments.... - yup... you have a noble idea and will gladly support your cause

I can get all the hype free from the military's PR Web site. why should I pay someone to generate even more of it?

To really, you must be new here. Michael is anything but the military's PR. Read back aways and you'll see where he gets kicked out when he declares "the baby is ugly" in front of the parents, and not just on one occasion. If anything, donate because he ISN'T the PR moutpiece you get nearly everywhere else in the US. I've sat in US Senate Armed Service Committee meetings and I can promise you the next day's news pieces are almost complete fiction. They get the topic right, but all else, whether their readers are far Left or far Right, smack of a very large bias. I don't know what your profession is, but Google it, read what you PERSONALLY know about, and then gauge the accuracy. News today, at least in the US, fails miserably.

Which brings us full circle to the point at hand. If you have an interest in foreign policy, the world's events, or even a loved one, who is a professional in the Armed Services of any country, you can get straight shooting from Michael. Does he have his own bias? Sure. Everyone does. But, he puts all facts out there (even those that don't necessarily support his views) and then allows the reader to decide. You can't really ask for much more...but in his case you get more. He has access to places most jounalists can't seem to go (for whatever reason), and the respect of many who wear the uniform. This last fact alone means he's going to be privy to things upper officers and some Senior NCOs will never hear about, unless of course they read his dispatches and can read between the lines.

Long-winded, but it's how I see things. I'm now in the places that Michael is writing about and I still read his dispatches to catch things I don't necessarily hear about, even when they're on the same base I'm on. That said, it's sorta funny being a San Diego guy here, and previously in Belgium for a couple weeks (at NATO - SHAPE, near Monz). I think I've only seen a clear, sunny sky maybe 5-7 days out of the last 2 months. I seem to be in the exact opposites of SoCal, although I hear they're getting pounded with rain lately too. I'm not sure which is worse, the choking dust and crap in the air, or slogging around in mud. Either way, I've given up on running outside and hit the treadmill in the gym.