Commenter Doc Bailey and I have been swapping emails about this and that. I was rather surprised to learn that we have some things in common even though shifted 40 years in time.<\/p>\n
But he mentioned a coupla things I couldn’t directly relate to so I asked him to expand on them.<\/p>\n
Here is the first, in his words. Thanks Doc.<\/p>\n
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Here is my account of 25 June 2007, and the events that happened to me that day. I have to put it out there because people have to know. please understand these events are painful for me to recount.<\/p>\n
It was a normal day like any other. We were all excited to be getting back, but i was exuasted having pulled a 6 hour gaurd shift right before getting off. We all sat around and joked. I could hear people laughing about the game “company of heroes” that Craig and WillieBo had played. They’d gone for 5 hours only to get their asses kickedby the germans. I was fretting over Jubi. I was a little upset, because he was supposed to have been evaced the night before for (what i would find out later) a slipped disk. I had given him morphine right before i thought he was going to go, he didn’t and i was bracing for the ass reeming i was going to get. I had spent all night fretting about a patient, and in the end i was pretty damm tired, everyone else on the otherhand were lively in a way only the loose cannons can be.
\nLike always we had details to do, and things that needed to get done. Clean the pisser, sweep and mop, make the “gym” look pretty, Mop the mats, sweep the sleeping bay, and of course pick up cigarette buts. we did these, with the usual amount of bitching complaining and griping. It came time to load up and off we went.<\/p>\n
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I am sorry to say that i was pretty tired. It is not unusual for me to sneak a short minute or two nap, but of course i never stay out long. I still try to watch for IEDs (but i have since learned that it is nearly impossible to spot them) but on this day, as we were nearing our old COP i was fully awake. I remember taking these same streets through our old AO many times and the street corner itself was well known. I saw a dirt mound on the right and “grandpa time” (he would later just be called “old balls”) as we call him, was pointing it out. Lewis called out a white chair just after the mound. Sgt Johnson the TC, and recently come down from 3 shop asked for an explination, and lewis was telling him about the intel brief put up on the common area board\u00a0 about white chairs being used to mark IEDs. and then . . . BOOOM<\/strong><\/em> the vehicle behind us got hit with an EFP. “SHIT<\/strong><\/em>” I heard someone say, while there were asking for confused reports on the radio, i screamed “SGT Johnson get me back there” and then we heard “Craig is dead” over the raidio “FUCK<\/strong><\/em>” i remeber screaming out the curse in pure frusteration. We continued to roll. for another hundred meters we rolled. HURRY UP!!!”<\/em><\/p>\n We pulled up to the aid station, litter barers ready. They came to my door, where my ass was, and i screamed “no the other side” they didn’t ask they just ran over there. I remeber they asked me if i gave anything, and i replied no time. i walked with them all the way to the doors of the aid station. Once he was out of my hands i made it three steps inside the aid station, it felt as if i had to catch my breath I took two deep breathes before I collapsed into tears in the corner. I really don’t want to talk about (here) some of the things that happened in the time he was at the aid station. But i knew the prognosis wasn’t good.<\/p>\n When the bird landed they took Jonny out. and asked the bird to wait for Craig. The Chaplin came over.\u00a0 Drew was sitting there to get checked out, and I was standing.\u00a0 He put his back to the door and started praying. There was this eery build up and i remeber a sense of dread comming upon me. when he rolled out, they were doing CPR on him. I would have collapsed right there if the chaplin had not caught me, he led me tightly as i buried my head in his shoulder and cried unmanly tears. I couldn’t face my platoon, because I felt that I had failed them.\u00a0 But SSG Davison gathered us up, in the Aid station’s rec room.\u00a0 The OIC came to give us a sitrep.\u00a0 He told them it was “very serous”, and part of me wanted to scream that it was a lie.\u00a0 Eventually we got ready to go. The ride back to Rusty was a quiet one. No one spoke.Well there had been an attempt at humor, but I snapped at him and from then on it was quiet.<\/p>\n When we got back to our barracks on Rusty, the LT was waiting for us. he toldus to gather around.<\/p>\n “I want to thank you for all your hard work, but unfortunatly Craig’s injuries were too severe, he didn’t make it”<\/p>\n Bishop screamed, March cried, LT barely got that sentance out. I couldn’t see anymore after that, because of the tears in my eyes. Everyone hugged me, many expressed that if ever they were hurt they wanted me working on them. I wanted not of that.\u00a0 still bloody, I went to into my room dropped my gear ans simply cried my eyes out.<\/p>\n we were told to gather round the CQ desk, told to get our heads right. It was at this point that the BC was ordering a ham sandwich on battalion net. It felt like a slap in the face, but then the whole day had. I couldn’t really deal with it all, but i had work to do. I went up to the hospital, blood still all over my ACUs, despite people telling me to take a shower. i gave my report on Jubi, and tried to stammer a report on Craig to my PA, before he told me to go back to my barracks and come back the next day.\u00a0 I walked away beaten and battered. I can not begin to describe how empty i felt. Right then i wished i had never re-enlisted, and wished Lisa (my GF) were there. I wished everything, simply if i could not be there. But eventually (2 hours later) i went and took a shower. You know it is truly amazing how a hot shower can make you feel.<\/p>\n Three days later, my platoon, battered bruised and now very aware of the danger, rolled out to continue our missions.\u00a0 July was going to be a bad month as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n“get doc back here”
\n“craig is KIA”<\/p>\n