Beyard Sends Christmas Greetings from Iraq

Westminster's Department of Planning, Zoning and Development Director Thomas Beyard, 56, departed for a 400-day rotation with the Maryland Army National Guard in late summer.

Beyard joined the Guard in 1997 after years with the Army Reserve. He has worked for the city of Westminster for close to 24 years.

Until his return, his position is being filled by interim Director Steve Horn.

Beyard sends occasional correspondence to Patch and we will post his letters and photos as we receive them.

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To all, I hope all of you had a very happy and nice Thanksgiving. I spent the day on the road to visit our Soldiers in a location other than Taji. I had the opportunity to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them, to promote one deserving Specialist to Sergeant, and to walk the flight line and just talk with Soldiers. They were all ready to work and couldn't wait to start. Morale was great and I returned to Taji with a good feeling and ready to get started the  next day.
 
We do visits we call Key Leader Exchanges. We visit with leaders and Soldiers of the Iraqi military. We did so near Thanksgiving and had the opportunity to meet and talk about America and things of importance to us. I spoke to one leader about Maryland and our history and he spoke about Iraqi history. Of course, when you talk about Iraqi history, you talk about topics such as the Code of Hammurabi, ancient Babylon, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and more. I showed one leader our Maryland flag and he provided me with a poster about ancient Iraqi historic sites.
 
You may remember a few weeks ago that I worte about attending a memorial for a fallen warrior in Baghdad. It was a very solemn experience, one that I will never remember.  I didn't know the Soldier nor his name, only his unit, but it didn't matter to me. He was a Soldier like me.  Well, I was reading Stars and Stripes the other day and noted an obituary from Iraq that said "SPC David E. Hickman, 23, of Greensboro, N.C., died November 14, in Baghdad of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device". He was an airborne trooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. I knew this was him, the 4,485th Soldier to give his life. I reflected a moment on this Soldier, whom I never knew, and then sent my thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones left behind. What a way to learn about a fallen hero!
 
Our mission continues in dangerous times. If you read the newspapers or watch the news, you know that there are still rocket attacks and attacks with improvised explosive devices. But our Soldiers deal with these threats each day and I admire their constant courage to keep going, doing their job, and dealing with adversity. The Soldiers of my unit give me energy and they are what keep me going each day.
 
I am attaching some photos for you to view. First, I include a photo of Normandy 7, which is me, returning from a mission. As the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, we are known as Task Force Normandy. Each leader has a number. The Command Sergeant Major is 7, hence Normandy 7. I also include a photo of me talking about the American flag. The next is Iraq from the air and you can see examples of the numerous water canals that exist. The last is me in the seat of a C5 cargo jet on the trip to the Middle East. Looks like it could be any civilian aircraft. Yes? Except the food and drinks are missing and no flight attendants, only helpful Air Force personnel.
 
Have a great week as each of you gets ready for Christmas. Already here in Iraq I am hearing Christmas music!  Best to all of you.
 
Regards, Tom