Thursday, May 22, 2008

Two Months

It has been almost two months since I wrote anything here. I have just been living in Saudi Arabia and getting by and have not really put much thought to the war the last couple of months. I am insulated from the war, news of the war and being around the military. I see the guys everyday that were up North with me but we all find that we don't talk about it much. There is a guy here who was with me in Taji for a couple of years. He and I are with different companies but we are very close to each other already. After all, no one else here has laid beside me in a an open field while rockets fell around us and Iraqis ran in circles like Turkeys cornered at a fence line.

I guess all of us know that it is still there looming across the horizon like a bad thunderstorm or even a horse mounted group of Huns, Mongols, or the like. We talk about a lot of different things, mostly what a bunch of dumb asses the locals are but we do congregate and clan up when others are around. They are my brothers.

I dream about it though. I don't have those sweat filled nightmares that some people say they do. Actually I dream about unsettled business and people I miss. I dream about walking in Baghdad with no weapons and no troops around, looking at what we erected from the outside, almost as if I had a different view I could get a different perspective.

I keep getting offers to go back. Some of the money offers are just obscene. I think about it and I think about all the close calls I had. How long does your luck run? How long do you stay bulletproof? How many mortars do they have left with my name on them?

I think about that and I also think about the fact that I am bored silly here. I make great money and work with a great group of guys but it just does not have the same reward as being there, close to the troops, part of the end game. I was there at the beginning, I won't be there at the end.

4 Comments:

Blogger MathewK said...

Good to hear from you, keep us posted on life in the magic kingdom eh.

Not hearing much about Iraq these days, i take that to be good, since the media are only interested in bringing us the bad news, wouldn't want the masses thinking it might actually work out, would they.

7:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can only tell you that it is like when I quit smoking,the urgency gets less and less but the urge never goes away!!Fritz??
Biglou

4:20 PM  
Blogger David M said...

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 05/27/2008 News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.

6:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You got it Lou. From the time I started working overseas everytime I came back stateside I always caught myself looking up at a jet wondering who was on it and where they were going and when will it be me again. These days with SOCOM near where I live I see a lot of soldiers in uniform and never pass the chance to talk to them and when I can buy them a meal. Same for police officers. I will ask the waiter to give me their tickets but not to tell them who bought it but to simply say "from someone who wants to say thank you". The waiters always come back and say how pleased the soldier or policeman looked. Makes me feel like I am still helping out somewhat.
Are we going fishing soon???

1:56 AM  

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