A FOND FAREWELL U.S. NAVY!!

Update #2: It's over! As of 1 October 2008, I am a U.S. Navy Veteran after 5 years of active service. I received my second Navy Commendation Medal on my last day in uniform from CAPT Nelson, Commanding Officer of Naval Health Care New England. It's onward to a private practice orthopaedic surgery group in CT for now. It's been a slow and prolonged process transitioning to civilian life, but we believe it's the right choice for us and we couldn't be happier. I've been blessed to have met a lot of good people in the Navy and I can truly say I'm a better person today because of them. I wanted to thank LCDR Chad Deaton for all of his help during my transition process. I hope to post periodic updates on how things are going later.

Take care,

Doc Tally

UPDATE

Greetings to everyone. After browsing over my blog from last summer, I thought it might be a good idea to give you a quick update. Things are going well. The little guy you saw on my right shoulder in my last entry (Matteo) is walking, babbling and exploring every corner of the house. My little girl, Mia, is progressing so well in school, we can hardly believe it.

As of today, I'm getting out of the Navy and moving on the either private practice or a 1 yr fellowship and then practice. We'll see. We may stay in East Lyme or relocate, probably to the mid-Atlantic region.

I saw the link to the CNN article about Lex, the dog many of us featured in our blogs after his young Marine handler was killed. It's good to hear that they retired him and he could return home.

Well that's all for now. I hope to hear from some of my old TQ shipmates soon.

Take Care,
Doc Tally

COMING HOME!!!

DADDY & THE KIDS
I FINALLY KNOW I'M HOME

THE NEIGHBORHOOD DECORATIONS "THANKS"

RITUAL OF HANGING BOOTS AT CAMP LEJEUNE MEANING END OF DEPLOYMENT

OVER 70 IN OPEN BARRACKS IN KUWAIT
CDR PINELLA AND LCDR CARR FIND A JACK DANIEL'S AND COKE DRINK IN GERMANY
ENJOYING MY FIRST BEER IN GERMANY
HEADING HOME

LOADED C-17 HEADING HOME

HAPPY BUS RIDE FROM TQ

MUCH LOVE AND A BIG "BRAVO ZULU" TO TQ ORTHO CLINIC STAFF!

The long 8 month journey is finally over. We arrived home on Monday, September 17th, 2007, after 3 flights and a tremendous amount of waiting. We returned to a hero's welcome at Camp Lejeune at Michelangelo's Pizza place. After spending 3 days in Kuwait 70 deep in open barracks, we started out on what was a very long day getting to Ali Alasem Air Base to go through customs. This process took us roughly about 5 hours. I've never been through a customs check so thorough. They make you unpack all of your bags and empty your pockets, then you have to re-pack everything in front of the customs agent. You're also scanned several times and well as your bags. After customs, we were sent to a holding area on base that actually was quite nice. We stayed there for about 7 hours. Our flights back were great. We stopped in Germany where I had my first real beer in months. I slept most of the way home. We arrived at Cherry Point at about 10am local time and were joyfully reunited with family at Camp Lejeune about 5 hours later. I was met by my tired but happy family. After 3 days of check out we drove back home. Amazingly, we suffered a flat tire on the New Jersey Turnpike!! With the help of a kind driver, we changed the tire before roadside assistance arrived, but managed to run right into the heart of New York's evening rush hour traffic! We just chalked it up as part of my enriched deployment experience. To my wonderful surprise, all of my neighbors (some old, but many new ones) lined our street to greet us as we returned home! It was a wonderful homecoming complete with banners, presents, and even sparklers! We are blessed to have caring people so close to home. I also want to thank the nurses at the Same Day Surgery Center at Backus Hospital in Norwich, CT for sending me a great care package while I was gone. Everyone in our company enjoyed the homemade cookies.

I'm quite overwhelmed with how nice Tanika has decorated the house. She's truly made our house a home. It sure does beat 120 degree heat and dust storms. Well, I'll end my blog now that I'm back home. I'll send out some updates in the coming months to update my shipmates. I hope to get some updates back from them in the future. I want to give a final BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO CHAD AND LAURA DEATON FOR THE BIRTH OF THEIR BABY BOY BORN SEPTEMBER 7TH. TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE!!

DOC TALLY

FAREWELL TQ/BYE BYE IRAQ

Well, our time in Iraq is over. Today we left TQ for Kuwait. It's been a long and rewarding 7 months, but it's finally coming to an end. Reality finally sets in once you're boarding the plane heading out of country. We had a short flight returning us to Camp Virginia, Kuwait where we'll stage our return home. Our replacements came on August 31st and we've had several days for turnover including mass casualty drills and inservice presentations. My replacement is CDR Eric Pagenkopf. His presence here confirms that it's truly a 'small Navy' in that we were both partners for two years in Naples, Italy. Therefore, my turnover responsibilities were a breeze. Eric is a Orthopaedic Trauma Subspecialist so most of the injuries he'll see out here will be down his alley. I wish him all the best for a good tour and a safe return home. I also wish his wife, Mia, son, Chris and daughter, Skylar, all love and support during what I know will be a tough time.

Our last few days at TQ were interesting. I got to see the base as a tourist would for the first time in 7 months. After turning my duties over to Eric, I had the opportunity to travel around the outskirts of the large base to see Lake Habbinayah and the Lakeside support facilities. The support facilities include a separate dining facility and exchange. We also got to soak our feet in Lake Habbinayah. I got some great pictures from a gorgeous palm tree near the lake and three wooden crosses perched on a small ridge next to the lake. Every Easter the chapel has a sunrise service at the crosses.

Finally, we are naturally all very excited to be heading home. I can't wait to see my little guy, Matteo. I left him when he was just 2 weeks old and I can't believe how big he looks in his pictures. I also can't wait to see Tanika and Mia too. It's a little strange going back home after all this time, but I'm sure with alittle time, I'll adjust. Tanika is planning Mia's birthday (Sept. 28th) celebration along with my homecoming on September 29th in East Lyme. I'm excitingly looking forward to seeing many family members there. They may be alittle surprised at my appearance as I've lost about 30 lbs., but it's still the same ole' me.

I'll post another blog in the coming days. See ya soon.

Doc Tally