Spit your game
Talk your shit
Grab your gat
Call your cliques
Squeeze your clip
Hit the right one
-Notorious B.I.G., Notorious Thugs
::::::
In Berlin, when I told one of my aunts that my unit is deploying, she pushed a silver-dollar-sized, gold coin into my hands."I got this in Lourdes, when I went in 2003," she explained.
I'm not sure I believe in God I thought to myself, then I said, "I can't take this."
"No, no. Take it. It will protect you so that you can come back and visit us again!" she insisted.
The look on my face said it all, so she continued, "I'm not kidding. Take it. It's helped me in the past--cured sickness!--and I want you to have it. It's dangerous, the work you do."
"It's not that dangerous," I protested. "And I can't take this. I have my own good luck charms."
"I don't need it anymore. I'm going again this August, anyway," she said, pushing the coin back into my hands again. I looked her in the eyes, looked down at the coin, and put it in the tiny watch pocket of my jeans. She smiled warmly and sipped on some tea.
::::::
People like to ask me if I'll be doing this for career, as if someone who hasn't deployed yet can really make any long-term decisions about military service. I'm not enough of a dick to say that to people, though. Mostly, I tell them that it probably won't happen, so then they follow up, "Well, then, what are you planning on doing after the Army?"
Lately, I've been responding, "Probably work as an assassin for the CIA." And then I laugh heartily, and then they laugh. Sometimes uneasily because I can see in their eyes that though I may be laughing, they're afraid that I'm serious.
::::::
I remember a week before we got our actual dep(loyment) orders, our First Sergeant pulled the troop aside and said, "Look, guys, it's coming. I know we all thought the SCO (squadron commanding officer) was going to announce it today, and it didn't happen. But don't fool yourselves. It's coming. I don't need a degree to tell you that. Just pay attention to the news.... Be prepared. Do what you need to do to prepare yourselves.
"Listen, I know that some of you don't want to go. Some of you are afraid of going, but it doesn't matter. You signed the contract willingly. This ain't Vietnam where everyone got drafted. You volunteered for this. Be a man, and do what you promised you would do. I know some of you don't agree with this war, but hell, man, that's not our decision to make. Our politicians sent us to war, and this is our job.
"It's not about them; it's about us. It's about the guy to your left and to your right--you want him to come home to his kids, too. And it's also about your families back home. Listen, they attacked us, and whether or not you agree Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, the terrorists are there now. Because of us, they are concentrating on fighting us in Iraq. We are fighting over there because we don't want to be fighting them on our streets back home....
"Like I said, be a man, protect your home, 'cause lords knows, no one else is brave enough to do it."
No comments:
Post a Comment