A good friend and long time member of the Modern Arnis family was recently activated as part of the PA Army Reserve and is now a member of our peace keeping force in Kosovo. His name is Mike Antecki. He has close ties the guys at Cebu West and to Datu Hartman and looks foreword to getting back to training with us and sharing a few beers. Before he left he asked me to be his link to his friends and training partners back home. He also told me that he knew his training in Modern Arnis would help him during his tour of duty. Of this I have no doubt. Following is the beginning of his tales from Kosovo.
Sal Todaro (Cebu West-WMAA)
Sal,
Im in freakin KOSOVO. Camp Monteith on the edge of the city GNJILANE (yes its spelled right) Near the south eastern borders of Serbis, FYROM and Macedonia. Its been a long road till now but were transferring authority from The 1st ID this week "the Big red one". They get a month off then get to go to Baghdad. I feel bad for those guys, they are pretty burned out from their time here. Its not been that bad but we have had 12 UXO's (mines/grenades found in our area since we arrived 2 weeks ago, a couple of molatov cocktail arsons and a few shots fired. No injuries in any of the incidents. The people for the most part accept our presence but we find ourselves in the middle of their ethnic "battles". Were here to keep them from performing the violent acts but find ourselves in the middle all too often. The people a re pretty cool but its sad to see the way they live in some of the outer villiages. They live in the bombed out shells of homes and dont have the money to
rebuild them, often turning to criminal activities to make a few bucks. Most of them Farm the surrounding land just to survive. Overall the accomodations here arent all that bad. great food and alot of Gym time. I havent found much time to train Martial arts due to the fact that my shift starts at 2 am and goes to 10 am.(night shift guy). Its not that bad..I avoid all the Bull and whirlwind activities going on during the day and early evening and by the time I get on shift the drunk crowds are going home. They have the money to go out and drink their faces off nightly (no jobs) but dont have the money to fix their homes. Gofigure that one out. All in all Im settled in here now and hope for the best. Were well trained and we all believe that we are ready to conduct our mission here. Give my best to the gang. Will send a few pics when I get the chance and will check out the new website. I hope all is well and God bless. Mike antecki
Sal Todaro (Cebu West-WMAA)
Sal,
Im in freakin KOSOVO. Camp Monteith on the edge of the city GNJILANE (yes its spelled right) Near the south eastern borders of Serbis, FYROM and Macedonia. Its been a long road till now but were transferring authority from The 1st ID this week "the Big red one". They get a month off then get to go to Baghdad. I feel bad for those guys, they are pretty burned out from their time here. Its not been that bad but we have had 12 UXO's (mines/grenades found in our area since we arrived 2 weeks ago, a couple of molatov cocktail arsons and a few shots fired. No injuries in any of the incidents. The people for the most part accept our presence but we find ourselves in the middle of their ethnic "battles". Were here to keep them from performing the violent acts but find ourselves in the middle all too often. The people a re pretty cool but its sad to see the way they live in some of the outer villiages. They live in the bombed out shells of homes and dont have the money to
rebuild them, often turning to criminal activities to make a few bucks. Most of them Farm the surrounding land just to survive. Overall the accomodations here arent all that bad. great food and alot of Gym time. I havent found much time to train Martial arts due to the fact that my shift starts at 2 am and goes to 10 am.(night shift guy). Its not that bad..I avoid all the Bull and whirlwind activities going on during the day and early evening and by the time I get on shift the drunk crowds are going home. They have the money to go out and drink their faces off nightly (no jobs) but dont have the money to fix their homes. Gofigure that one out. All in all Im settled in here now and hope for the best. Were well trained and we all believe that we are ready to conduct our mission here. Give my best to the gang. Will send a few pics when I get the chance and will check out the new website. I hope all is well and God bless. Mike antecki
