.The Captain
"I was home on leave for two weeks. So much color everywhere. It was overwhelming
I stood in line at the local hardware store to purchase some items for my wife. My head was on a swivel as I scanned everywhere, looking directly at people like I had learned to do in country. It wouldn’t do to just see Arabs as the enemy. Arabs were everywhere. You had to look for the guy with intent. A freshly shaven beard. Fear in the face. Eyes darting around. Perhaps wearing a large jacket too warm for the weather. Obviously there were no Arabs here let alone ones with lethal intentions. I was in the snow-white agricultural belt.
But I couldn’t help it. I looked out the large windows of the storefront into the parking lot beyond. From there I could see cars driving about. That’s when I saw him. Staring right at me. Bagging items.
It was my former Captain. He commanded the rear detachment of the Infantry unit I was in prior to my deployment to Iraq. He personally saw to the training of the 30-40 soldiers there. Getting them ready for deployment overseas. He had been to Iraq twice himself including the initial invasion. It was obvious in his behavior.
He was a good-looking guy. Short but with light sandy hair, blue eyes, and handsome tan features. He could have just as easily sold Porsches in Hollywood. It wasn’t lost on me that he was bagging purchases at a hardware store.
And he was looking right at me.
We made small talk. He asked how I was and where I was stationed. I could see genuine concern in his eyes. He asked me about Highway One. It took me a moment to realize he was referring to what was now named MSR Tampa. The road so many US soldiers had died on.
And there I left him. A man with a commission in the Armed Forces. A man with a Masters degree. Bagging groceries.
What would happen to me?"
Chapter: War
I stood in line at the local hardware store to purchase some items for my wife. My head was on a swivel as I scanned everywhere, looking directly at people like I had learned to do in country. It wouldn’t do to just see Arabs as the enemy. Arabs were everywhere. You had to look for the guy with intent. A freshly shaven beard. Fear in the face. Eyes darting around. Perhaps wearing a large jacket too warm for the weather. Obviously there were no Arabs here let alone ones with lethal intentions. I was in the snow-white agricultural belt.
But I couldn’t help it. I looked out the large windows of the storefront into the parking lot beyond. From there I could see cars driving about. That’s when I saw him. Staring right at me. Bagging items.
It was my former Captain. He commanded the rear detachment of the Infantry unit I was in prior to my deployment to Iraq. He personally saw to the training of the 30-40 soldiers there. Getting them ready for deployment overseas. He had been to Iraq twice himself including the initial invasion. It was obvious in his behavior.
He was a good-looking guy. Short but with light sandy hair, blue eyes, and handsome tan features. He could have just as easily sold Porsches in Hollywood. It wasn’t lost on me that he was bagging purchases at a hardware store.
And he was looking right at me.
We made small talk. He asked how I was and where I was stationed. I could see genuine concern in his eyes. He asked me about Highway One. It took me a moment to realize he was referring to what was now named MSR Tampa. The road so many US soldiers had died on.
And there I left him. A man with a commission in the Armed Forces. A man with a Masters degree. Bagging groceries.
What would happen to me?"
Chapter: War
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