http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox Military Times Staff Writer Kelly Kennedy was embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq in July-August 2007. Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:59:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I keep hearing support soldiers, sailors and Marines say, “I wish I could go outside the wire.” And I think to myself, “You have no idea.” When I go out, I hear guys say, “If I could, I would never go outside the wire again.” They mean it. They’ve seen friends die; they’ve ... http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox/2007/08/01/outside-the-wire/ We’re in Mosul now. Our first day here, we found dead pigeons every few feet. I thought maybe somebody was poisoning them, but one of the interpreters told me it was heat exhaustion. It’s hot. 122 degrees today. But dead pigeons falling out of the sky? Yeesh. Watched a couple more surgeries ... http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox/2007/07/27/surgery-old-town-and-the-first-ied/ I’m a vegetarian. I know, I know — the most-feared words in the military. Whatevah, meathead. I’m perfectly fine with being an egghead. Except in Iraq. I’d pretty much reconciled myself to the idea of eating meat while I’m here if that was the way for me to stay healthy. I didn’t stop eating chickens ... http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox/2007/07/05/wait-is-that-bacon-it-is/ Another day in Taji. As we wait to roll into Baqubah with the 4th Brigade, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, we’ve done some garrison-type interviews with medics, soldiers and psychologists, as well as some writing more stories and editing more photos from Apache. It’s the down time that gets you. Down ... http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox/2007/06/26/another-day-in-taji/ The day started out calmly enough. But it wouldn’t stay that way long. At 6 a.m. Thursday, June 21, Military Times photographer Rick Kozak and I went out on patrol in Adhamiyah, Iraq, a town near Baghdad, with 2nd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry. Four Bradley Fighting Vehicles rolled ... http://www.militarytimes.com/blogs/sandbox/2007/06/22/patrolling-adhamiyah/