Interesting post from a Marine in Iraq. Here's a tidbit. Go read the whole thing.
Worst Case of Déjà Vu - I thought I was familiar with the feeling of déjà vu until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I stepped off of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just as I had left it ten months before - that was déjà vu. Kind of unnerving. It was as if I had never left. Same work area, same busted desk, same chair, same computer, same room, same creaky rack, same . . . everything. Same everything for the next year. It was like entering a parallel universe. Home wasn't 10,000 miles away, it was a different lifetime.
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Most Surreal Moment - Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. I had put the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I know that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the rest of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded up by the giant infidels.
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Most Profound Man in Iraq - an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines (searching for Syrians) if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied "Yes, you."
2 comments:
My comment just got dumped. To recap...
This was a compelling and wonderful post. I really got connected when he referred to contractors as mercenaries -- which I've done since I served in the first Iraq war.
The bit about VIP's struck a chord. When w put his "Mission Accomplished" bumper sticker on a great big aircraft carrier I wasn't struck by the inanity and arrogance of the banner itself. All I could think of was thousands of sailors who had been deployed for much too long having their homecoming postponed so they could "holystone the decks." Making a command or ship inspection/vip ready is one of the worst experiences for any service member. Most of the crew of the USS Lincoln still remembers that day with anger, a meaningless photo-op keeping them from their families (and costing taxpayers millions). Same story, same picture, a veteran's perspective...
It kind of makes you wish O'Reilly could read it with comprehension. While the former is statistically possible, the latter is ... well, incomprehensible.
O'Reilly & comprehension, boy, did you ever hit the nail on the head. & speaking of incomprehensible, rounding Iraqi midgets? Jesus, that's what made the post so real for me.
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