Happy Holidays from the Hunt's. 

Tyson, Nalonie and Tristan, I still can't spell her name right. 

Mom cooked at dinner of prime rib and shrimp. We had a total feast.  

Grammy and Kenadey 

Someone loves the Packers. 

Cassidy and her new doll. 

Jake and Kenadey. 

Christmas at Poppas. We had a super Christmas at both our parents houses. The kids got to open lots and lots of presents. 

Catcher Cuts The Rope .....One of my Heroes

Montanan hurt in Fallujah describes fighting

By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff

The split seconds are still frozen in Catcher Cuts The Rope's memory.
An enemy soldier in a burned-out house in Fallujah, Iraq. The pinless grenades dangling off his vest. Five bullets fired. A pause. A deafening explosion.

The shrapnel dug deep into his arms and legs.

Bleeding and scared and in searing pain, Cuts The Rope, a Marine corporal from Fort Belknap, pushed the button on his radio and yelled.

" 'Come get us. We're hit bad. We're hit bad,' " he said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon from Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. "That's all I could say."

He pulled himself to a couch, listening to his men cry in pain and hoping he wouldn't bleed to death.

"It was unbelievable," Cuts The Rope said. "I've never hurt that bad in my life."

Cuts The Rope and his squad had been in Fallujah since early November, when the U.S. military launched its attack on insurgents in the city. Members of Alpha Company had been under heavy fire every day as they fought from block to block, house to house, room to room.

Two days before Thanksgiving, two squads took fire. One of his good friends was killed and, later, Cuts The Rope and a handful of fellow Marines were seriously injured when a man blew himself up 6 feet away in a war-torn house.

"It was terrible," Cuts The Rope said. "I think a lot of people that have never experienced combat before expect something out of a movie. I'm not going to lie. It was rough."

Cuts The Rope, 32, grew up in Hays, spent five years in the Army and then got out in 1997. He joined the Marines after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"I knew there was going to be a war. I thought I'd give a hand," he said.

After training at Camp Pendleton, Cuts The Rope was stationed in Hawaii three years ago. As the fighting in Iraq grew more severe, his battalion moved from Kuwait to Iraq in early October.

On Nov. 8, Cuts The Rope was part of a major offensive into Fallujah meant to drive out or kill insurgents in the city of 300,000. The main job was to secure the city and cut off supply routes.

Cuts The Rope said he'd seen combat before, but the urban warfare in Fallujah was a beast of its own kind. Eating, sleeping and fighting in the city, the Marines faced a daily barrage of grenades, homemade rockets and AK-47 rifle fire from rooftops, balconies and windows.

Last Tuesday, his eight-man squad was clearing a building when word came over the radio that another nearby squad was taking fire from a rooftop. A Marine from Pennsylvania, Mike Cohen, had been fatally wounded.

"He was just really kind-hearted, one of those guys that gave a damn," Cuts The Rope said.

The Marines called in extra fire support, began treating the wounded and tried to push forward.

They cleared three more buildings on that block before running into trouble on the fourth, a two-story house that had been hit by tanks. When Cuts The Rope and his Marines arrived, the rooms were aglow with furniture burning from early strikes.

By then it was dark and night-vision goggles weren't effective in the dust and smoke, Cuts The Rope said. The soldiers moved through the house with flashlights and guns drawn, searching each room for enemy combatants.

Just when they thought the house was safe, the Marines saw blood on the wall near a small room beneath the stairwell.

One of the Marines threw open the door and sprayed the corner with gunfire, killing one man inside, Cuts The Rope said. Then seconds later, another insurgent ran out of the room with grenades on his vest.

"I shot him five times and he didn't go down," Cuts The Rope said. "And then he explodes."

Metal shrapnel peppered the Marines.

When other Marines arrived, they made sure there were no other insurgents in the house and then began evacuating the wounded. Cuts The Rope remembered how his lieutenant picked him up beneath the arms and dragged him to a vehicle outside.

"All I can remember saying to the lieutenant is 'please don't drop me sir, please don't drop me.' And he said 'I won't,' " Cuts The Rope said. "Marines take care of each other."

Cuts The Rope underwent surgery at Camp Fallujah and was then taken by helicopter to Baghdad, where he received further treatment. Within 24 hours, he was in a hospital in Germany, where he underwent surgery again. By then, it was Thanksgiving. Cuts The Rope ate with fellow soldiers from the Army, Air Force and Marines.

"It was the best damn Thanksgiving I've ever had," he said. "I was just thankful to be alive."

Cuts The Rope arrived at Bethesda on Monday night and soon found out that one of the medics treating him was from Kalispell.

"That just made it extra special," he said.

He's scheduled to fly to Camp Pendleton on Thursday and later back to Hawaii, where he'll be able to spend Christmas with his wife and son, who turns 1 on Christmas Eve. He expects a full round of physical therapy to repair damage to his arms and legs.

His son's traditional name, The Rainbow After The Storm, has become particularly meaningful, he said.

"I can't believe what I went through and what all those young men went through," he said. "There's got to be a better way for countries to settle their differences."

One last picture. 

Here is one of the basement rooms. I hope they leave the pool-table, haha. This is gonna be so fun to do finish. I think I will make this romm the TV/gaming room. 

Here is the entrance to our sub division. Our house is just like the model home with the flag. Get off exit 335 on I-15 and make a left at the 5th stoplight. Easy easy easy. 

Here is Matthew and Kenadey in the family room. I am taking the picture from the loft. I wonder how long it will take Jakeb to climb the rock on the firplace to get up here. 

Here is the awesome fireplace. It is a gas one, don't know if will heat much but I think it is mostly for looks. Will will keep the TV out of this room for sure. You can see the loft a little on the top right. There are two bedrooms, a big loft and a full bathroom upstairs. The kids will be staying up there until we get Matthew and Cassidy's rooms done in the basement. We have 3400 square feet to junk up now, lol. I just can't wait to cuddle by the fireplace with Mindy. 

We just did a home inspection today. Mindy, Matthew and Kenadey came down last night and stayed in a hotel. Click on a picture for a full screen view of the house. We are all approved and just waiting for the VA appraisal. We will move in before Jan 12. The Realitor is gonna have someone come in a clean it before we move in as a housewarming gift. She is so sweet. This weekend we are gonna spend Christmas with both families, I actually feel the X-mas spirit. Mindy and I have been in the dumps lately, I guess we shouldn't let a little thing like being homeless bother us, haha. I am just thankful that we both have such good parents to help us out when we need it. I will publish a few more pictures of our soon to be house. Keep in mind in needs a serious cleaning. There are 3 bedrooms and 3 other rooms of sort in the basement that are sheetrocked and ready to be finished. Only three bedrooms in the top two levels and a cool assed loft that could have been a bedroom. The loft and the fireplace are my favorites along with the square pillar thingy's on the frontdoor. I forgot to mention the kick ass ceiling in the family room. 

Schneider cars off the rail, hope no one got fired like I did. This truckrail job is super, I can say that I enjoy it. I love being around trains and I love driving my own truck. The railyard is a semi-cool place, never thought I would see a derailment there. I have seen 4 derailments since I left Union Pacific. Sad that I lost my job over one but I believe it when the inspector during the sleepless night of mine said, " It happens all the time." I still feel bad but not as much. 

Here is a picture of the house we are "hopefully" closing on by Jan 12. I will have better pictures this weekend. This is one I gleamed from the realestate website. It has 3400 square feet. 1300 in the basesment that is sheetrocked and needs to be finished. The picture is discolored, the stucco isn't that bright and matches the rock much better up close. Just wait till I post a picture of the fireplace, it will be a awesome home for the family to grow in. It is off exit 335 on I-25 in Clearfield Utah.  

Here is my truck and a Schneider container on a Union Pacific Chasis. My Truck pulling equipment for the only two corporations that I have ever worked for, lol. Freaking weird. Today was a long day. Started at 0400 and went till 1945. It doesn't seem that long though, since I can nap and take breaks throughout the day while getting loaded. Hopefully we will be househunting this weekend.  

I am pulling a genuine Schneider Container. WoW. Got snow on the lense but that just adds a bit to the picture.  

I am actually gonna write something

This is the new home for www.brandonhunt.com until we get a house and have a new ISP. We are homeless right now. Sold our house in Pocatello, did a little worse than breaking even. Mindy and the kids are staying in Preston and I am spending the weekdays down in Salt Lake working the local truckrail with my truck. It is a pretty cool job with long hours but the days just fly by. Daisy is staying in the truck with me, keeping me company. People can email me at brandonjhunt@gmail.com

The new job is going great, making some good money. It is alot better than straight driving. I am only driving about 200 miles a day for the most part. Somedays are only 75 miles. The kids started school in Preston till we move down here. Well I have a headache and these truckstop people are getting to me.