Well, I'm a bit late, but I wanted to welcome Dean Fellabaum back to the States, and thank him for helping keep our servicemembers alive 'over there.'

Good on ya, Dean.

I'm with Doug--thanks for doing this for the team!

Thanks, all- obviously it is good to be back someplace where high explosives don't fall from the sky with any regularity. I was on a rather active FOB, and I only recently stopped jumping a bit at loud noises. My team didn't lose any Soldiers who got to us alive. A couple arrived without vital signs and couldn't be resuscitated, but I long ago learned to let it go when that happens- if you don't it'll grind you up.

I've been living it up a little since I got back- I was gone a full year after all, and I'm well into use-it-or-lose-it leave. First a trip to Hawaii with my family, because my daughter saw a volcano on Backyardigans and decided that she had to see one. (Luckily Kilauea actually is active right now, and we stayed in Kilauea Military Camp just a couple of hundred meters from the rim.) Then the Grand Canyon hike- see my trip report. I did a few dayhikes, too, including hitting Great Sand Dunes again, and another hiking over Music Pass into the Sand Creek drainage in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The Sangre's are probably going to be my favorite close hiking destination. Later this month it's back to Great Sand Dunes with my family- I promised my daughter "the biggest sandbox in the world" and I plan to deliver.

I've got at least until January before they can deploy me again and I'm going to use that time as well as my schedule will allow. Primarily this means just getting out for weekenders more often, so I'm open for suggestions within three hours drive time or so from Colorado Springs. I also have aspirations of hitting Flat Tops Wilderness sometime this summer.

It's good to feel the love,

Dean

Edited by acrosome on 05/08/2012 13:37:28 MDT.

Thanks Dean

I can't imagine what you guys have to go through

That's too bad you have to do repeated tours. It seems like we should have 2 or 3 times as many military people as we have.

I may have already said this on your Grand Canyon trip report thread, but it bears repeating!

Welcome back!

Thank you very, very much for your service to our country and to our military over there!

I don't think many in this country realize what a treasure this country has with our physicians in the military. I have a personal stake because one of my grandsons (whose dad, career Air Force, retired a couple of years ago) was born with a severe cleft palate but this month, thanks to US military surgeons, is graduating from college with perfect speech and with an unscarred face you'd never have guessed would be achievable from the pictures of him at a week old! The US Army hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, did the biggest surgery (grafts from hip bone to palate) back in early 2001 and I was so pleased with the skilled surgery and wonderful care he was given!

Just from this experience, I know that those risking their lives for our country are in excellent hands!

Good to have you back safe and sound and in one piece. Respect for all the hard work you do! Time to enjoy some of the great outdoors... but soon we'll be expecting lots of long, informative, and persuasive posts on BPL.

"Good to have you back safe and sound and in one piece. Respect for all the hard work you do! Time to enjoy some of the great outdoors... but soon we'll be expecting lots of long, informative, and persuasive posts on BPL."

A big +1

And Chaff will definitely be more interesting. ;)

Dean

Thanks for your service. I very much appreciate your sacrifice and commitment for my freedoms

Brad Fisher

Dean somehow I didn't know you'd deployed again. I'm very glad you're back and I'm very appreciative of what you guys do.
Glad you're getting in some cool trips with the family.

Welcome back, enjoy your much deserved time off! It's been awhile since anyone has posted a gun thread, so you haven't missed too many fireworks :)

Mike