A bad apple amongst us

One thing I can never understand with our Government is the credentialing they have when they hire Iraqi interpreters. The Interpreter they hired for us won our hearts as a kind Iraqi person. He says the right things and smiles in a kind way…….He was in our Aid Station as the radios are on and phone numbers of Units on the wall. Who would have thought he was actually a Bad apple puppeteering us for info. It turned out that they caught this guys brother who was a terrorist and found the numbers of Units on him…..How did he get…..You get the picture….This guy, the Iraqi interpreter that we all befriended, betrayed us. I even treated him with a little Electrical Stimulation for his Low back pain….Rumors also lingered on info leaked as one of our convoys got a minefield blast. Negative one on the US side….

The experience of a Lifetime

Our Unit had finally completed it’s right seat ride with the outgoing deployed Unit. We wanted them to leave so we can finally get our job done. I don’t know this area since this is my first time here even though I have been to Iraq before. So here it goes……..Language here is offensive….this is me from what I went through and felt in me…

We received word already of our First casulties. IED blast. This was happening more than often but the job still must go on.. One of my missions was to fly to one of the FOBS every month with the Physical Therapist. At first, it was good because of the experience. We flew in the UH 60 Blackhawk. During the stay in FOB Mchenry, we get a mascal..IED, IED. The Medic even was treated with schrapnel. I recall seeing that shit all over him to include his face. Bloodsoaked ACU’s. Oh my God. What the Hell. They brought in the Gunner all bloodied up too. We cut off his ACU’s to scrub him down. Fuck, Fuck is what all I can say.  We stayed in that FOB for 3 days before flying back home to our FOB. We even treated the Iraqi interpreter as a kind gesture. I will bring up this Bastard later……You will want to know.

Next month, we are back there again. Of course, Mascal, Mascal……this mascal was bad…….They brought in this Samoan kid. He is big and huge with a big hole in his left side knee. I am scrubbing his leg down and already getting fucking pissed of what has happened. You know this Soldier went out on mission and didn’t wear his ID Tags or ID Card. He left it back at his camp. I remember the 1SG telling this kid to come see him when he gets fixed up. Could you believe this. This guy just got blown up………

Next casulty was brought in to the Aid Station…..this was the Artillery CO. I was going to cut of his gear when the DOC calls out KIA….What the hell….This dead Soldier right in front of me..He was right in front of me…I freaked out, really freaked out……I kinda frozed….the other Medics carried him out and I walked outside where they put his gear….His kevlar was still smokin and I could smell death from this……..I was mad……at this point…..They had a RAMP ceremony and his Unit members had tears as the Blackhawk takes his body….Their CO had died this day in 2007.          to be continued

OIF VI, Jul 06 to Oct 08—Iraq, when will this end

This deployment will be my most memorable memory for the incidents that happend to me and I survived because I am ME. Strong willed, arrogant, don’t take shit, experienced, and the one most thing I will never do is to lay down to stupidity. I don’t care if your a General to a Private. Kissing ass is what I don’t tolerate and I will never tolerate it.

So here it is, July 31, 2006.

We are all in formation in Schofield Barracks, HI. Family’s are all here as our BC speaks to us and talks about all the Dog and Pony Bull-shit families and Soldiers want to here. I may seem harsh, but I have been in this situation before. This is my 3rd Deployment. He tells us We are deploying to win the Hearts and Minds of these people. Are you kidding me. How the Hell you want to win the hearts and minds of people that hates us……So we finally board up on the bus and head out to Hickam AFB. We fly out and finally land in Iraq, don’t ask me how long this was cause I forgot.

I remember being happy and sad at the same time. Leaving behind family you Love cause I volunteered to serve in this ARMY. Yup, this is my JOB and I will do it. We are in Iraq during the Ramadan season. All we hear in the city is this speaker voice of the Arab chant. OMG. I’m in Iraq again. I will give my experience of what happend overhere. Some are good and some are bad……..to be continued

Warzone continuation

So it’s been like 3 months already deployed here in this Land called Iraq. We have endured and escaped death too many times here. We have treated many casualties  of our own to include the ones (the Iraqi’s) I didn’t care to treat. Was this a ethical for me to feel this way? I hated this place. We all had to shit in a can and smell the poop from the person and person’s before us. Flies would land on our ass as we crapped. Sweat would come down us. I was sick of this…Even the Iraqis would use the makeshift toilets and of course they don’t use toilet paper. You would see water bottles all over the ground cause they use their bare hands to wipe their ass.  And again…the Sand Storms..Who would not want to be here.

Days go by with no word on when we are leaving. Phone lines sometime work and sometimes don’t. There was only one phone line in our company for the rest of us…….Other options are to walk on the other side of the FOB where the AirForce was. It just sucked because of the heat, but then Sand Storms would come unannounced. We all walked to this statue of Saddam and was graffiting it. We got spray cans from the company.  We even pissed on the statue and took turns. On the outside, we see wild dogs just looking at us. I could just shoot them with no care.  Further on in the outskirts was the home of Abraham. There was actually a tour over there but I didn’t go. Scared or not, I didn’t want to take any chances.

By June, we got our redeployment Op-Orders. We were all happy. The 86th CSH is being sent home back to Fort Campbell, KY. You know what, even though alcohol was unauthorized, I drank some. It came out of nowhere. Believe that or not but I had some in my hand. I won’t tell the source but alcohol is alive and well downrange. Everyone was just happy to get that word. We finally left Iraq in July 2003. The Unit that we supported, the 101st, were ordered to stay for a year………………

OIF, Survival: Part II continuation

So here we go, back on the road again. I’m the TC in the Deuce 1/2.  I forgot how many vehicles  were in the convoy. I remember seeing the border as we cross into Iraq. As we drive along the village, the crowds of people were coming towards us. I said oh SHIT. I told my Driver to not stop at any cost. I remember even telling him I will shoot you if you stop…We already had the vehicle in front stop real fast and a Iraqi kid hit the back of the Deuce. We didn’t stop but kept on going. We didn’t know who was in that crowd. We just threw water bottles, candy, MRE’s at them. I mean projectile throws at these people. We didn’t care. We were at War with them…..

The first group had left 1 week prior than us. They told us what happened on their Convoy. It was ugly. They still had to travel in Mopp Level 4. From what they told us, there was a Unit ahead of them that was ambushed. Our Unit was the Second Convoy and made it through that MSR. I know you all heard of the Jessica Lynch Story. Her Convoy was the Last one. You all know the rest of the Story……….

So as we go along, it is still HOT as a Giraffes Butt here. We got a flat in one of the vehicles. From this point on, we did the most stupidest thing that we were trained not to do but did it. I guess the Heat caused us Craziness. Anyways, we tried to jack up the Deuce but the road melted from under us. We didn’t have nothing to put underneath so a couple of us knuckleheads went off the road to find a piece of wood or something. No thought of us caring if there was a minefield. We joked about it later……..Couple hours later, an IceCream Van came by and offered us icecream. We did the no no and took and ate it. The heat made us crazy I guess. What if we died that day from poor judgement.  I survived that horrible day, vehicle broked down, and hot as hell here…….          to be continued……..

Military Deployments: Operation Enduring Freedom Part 2

So it is now 2003. I got that call again in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. We were dropped in the middle of nowhere desert in Kuwait with only Burms as our Barriers on all 4 sides. Kuwait was a different  area. We had Sand Storms off the ying yang. We didn’t know when it was coming. It just happened. I was wide eyed alert cause we were told Saddam will use gas in the missiles. I carried my Gas Mask everywhere I went. It was so Damn hot in which a heat I can’t describe.

So anyway, our CSH Hospital was set up. We had the first bubble hospital setup(supposedly it was top secret back then). It was hard work and I did not shower for like 3 weeks. We had Baby Wipes Showers till they put showers up. Even in our Tents, it was over 120 degrees. We were all miserable. When we went to the chow hall, we had to wear our full battle rattle which included our Flak vest, LVE, Kevlar, and our Pro-Mask. I was already pissed off not because the weather but because our Food Servers where not Americans but of Arab descent. I was not prepared for this. Anyways, our mission finally changed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The War in Iraq had finally started.  We were all scared shitless.

I remember the sounds of Alarm Red, Alarm Red, Alarm Red. I rushed to put on my MOPP Suit and Mask as I ran to the nearest Bunker. Missiles were heading our way. This occasion happened 3-4 times every day since the War started in Mar 03. We would spend hours in the Bunker, all  in MOPP level 4. I remember just sweating profusely and hyperventilating. None of us knew if SADDAM had gas in those missiles. We almost had a missile drop 50 feet from our ER Hospital. The Patriot blew it up. I would not be here writing if it wasn’t for that. Days go by and we here the incident of a terrorist in one of the Camps in Kuwait. Someone threw a grenade in the tent and it turned out to be a US Soldier who did it. He of course is now on Death row in a Fort Leavenworth Prison.

Other incidence in our Camp was when the US hire these 3 Arabs to put 220 electric in our tents. It turned out that 2 of the three were terrorist. Two of them ran over 20 Soldiers standing in the PX line. Someone finally shot them in their car. I remember them coming in to our ER and blood was just dripping from the litter. I swear there was a pause. We have to save this idiot….We ended up getting lots of EPW’s. They were blind folded when they came to us. I know I am in the Medical Field. The honest truth I did not want to give 100 % of care to these people. I hated being here and I called all Arabs terrorists……..So time went by with all these missiles coming, putting on our Gas Mask, seeing these Arabs in the Chow Hall, the heat so Damn hot, casualties from the downed CH 47 Chinnook, when will this stop?…..Saddam was trying to find our Camp since we had the CIA Bldg there……The good thing was to see the Apache helicopters fly in the sky………..Weeks later, we get the call to pack up our Hospital…We are moving forward into Iraq….No one wanted to go forward……                 to be continued

Military Deployment: Part 1

Eight years ago is when I would actually consider myself earning my pay in the Army. This is the day my Life started with a Bang. All I knew about the Army when I joined back in 1993 was not for the GI Bill or for the money. When I was a Private, some Staff Sergeant in Korea told me you all Privates join to go to War. Being stationed in Korea, we all knew we did not want our 2nd ID Unit Patches on our right side. He acutually put fear in us. Eight years later it is now 2001. I finally got the call to deploy on the KFOR Rotation in Kosovo. It was actually an un-expected at the last minute decision. And so I went on a 7 month Deployment. We of course were LOCK and LOADED once we go out on our Convoys. Weekly trips to the Albanian Hospital is what we did. We saw the destruction of all the bombings from the Bosnian War. My job along with the others was Security. I was on Guard at all times with fright because this was not my extreme. I was not on the Camp but about 20 miles out in the City. We dealt with waves from the little kids to some of the kids throwing rocks at our HUMVEES when we convoyed to Macedonia. I know I was ready to shoot if that time would come. Going through the Serb Village was wierd because there were no waves from anyone. The Albanians didn’t like Serbs and vice versa. We even met the Family that a US Army Soldier raped and killed their daughter. The family was not mad at us, Really. We treated the whole family in Medical and Dental at our Hospital. We actually picked them up in the mountains and drove them back. The Town they lived in rejected them because they still supported the US military.  This deployment was a Peacekeeping mission in which our mission was to be the Big Brother to the Albanians and the Serbs so they will not kill each other. Thank goodness no evil happened to us in this deployment. We even almost got replaced because the Afganistan War came out in Jan 2002 and they wanted our CSH Unit to go. So we finally went back home……..Seven months later……….cont…..

Unknown Support for a Group of People with the common likes

On Saturday the 31st of January was like no other bike ride. A group ride was put together in support of a fellow biker that went down that was in real bad shape. All riders showed who could make it showed up. Some came from different areas even on the other side of town. The weather was so co-operative with warm air. It felt good to ride down the highway and see all my fellow bikers. We did’nt even belong to no club and didn’t even no everyone. But one thing that we knew, we were sportbike riders with the same common likes. We are like a family even though we don’t spend a day together. We ride down the road and see our riders and give them our bike signal. This day, we supported our fellow biker that was involved in an accident. It felt good. We ended the day with a group photo in which will be given to our fellow biker engraved in a helmet. God Speed to her….We support you….

My Soldier’s Creed

I was that which others did not want to be. I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing from those who gave nothing and reluctantly accepted the thought of eternal loneliness……should I fail, I have seen the face of terror deep in the eyes that stared back at me. I felt the stinging cold of fear for almost my whole career. I have cried, pained, and hoped, but most of all, I have lived and survived the times others would say it was a wasted of time or time that wants to be forgotten. At least someday, I will be able to say that I was proud of what I was and I what I did for the price that is most prescious to us all. Freedom for All.

SOLDIER OUT>>