Subject: it's official
Saturday, January 8, 2005 3:02

as of a couple of days ago, i'm now the platoon sergant for second platoon.

 thirty eight new guys.

a lot of people have been asking me "what's it like ?"

patrol in an unarmored humvee is a little like this: imagine rolling down the street at sixty miles per hour in a twelve ton freight car, equipped with a device (the fifty cal) that spits hundreds of pointy metal bricks at a couple of thousand feet per second.

now imagine some yokel, taking pot shots at you with the nearest weapon of opportunity, or planting a bomb for you to run over, or planting one in a car that he tries to drive into the side of your humvee (killing himself in the process).

that's it. it's actually kind of a let down. these guys are cowards, and they fight like it. most of the time, we are careful about shooting back, because they hide behind women and children.

so does it feel like "combat"? no. i'm embarrased to call it such. it feels like driving through a really bad neighborhood.

what is tough, is every once and awhile, they get lucky (it's more luck than skill) and get us with a roadside bomb, or a lucky shot.

the annoying part is this: there's no honor in fighting (and killing) a coward.

Subject: Close call
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 5:31

Had a close one last night.

my patrol was out after dark. we were coming up to an intersection, and i swear, something just didn't feel right. i stopped the patrol and waited a second. something in my head just said: STOP!

i got on the radio to let my elements know why we were stopping. i got out of my vehicle, but remained behind the armored door, even though it was open. as i grabbed the handmike to make a radio call, a gigantic explosion went off to my front.

it was a planted 155mm arty round.

breakfast tasted great this morning

Subject: rough days
Thursday, March 3, 2006 3:12

we've had some more kia's up here. i can't believe nobody in my company's among them. while i'd like to attribute it to good leadership, i'm pretty sure luck has had more to do with it. 

anyway, that's war, i guess. i'm doing ok, though. there are frustrations, and this is an experience i'm looking forward to having behind me some day (although it's hard to imagine another life even existed before here--time passes in dog years here). all that being said, i don't regret volunteering to come here.

Subject: the river valley
Mon, 04 Apr 2005 14:54:42