Helpless.
I am a firm believer that everything in life is reciprocal; you'll eventually experience the opposite of every feeling you've had thus far. Everything prepares you for something; you just have to be open enough to see it. This isn't to be confused with karma or fate, but it is something that I hold to be true, although I didn't always feel this way. Read More »
[Note: I wrote this from Kuwait on Thanksgiving 2006. I was in Kuwait on my way home from a yearlong tour of Iraq; this is the story of the best Thanksgiving day of my life.]
Thirteen kernels of corn. Read More »
[Note: This was originally written just after I arrived back in the United States from Iraq December 5, 2006. I have added a little at the end, but the bulk of it remains what I wrote in my journal during that long flight almost a year ago. A lot has happened since then, but my mixed emotions remain.]
DJ Mixed Emotions Read More »
The Boots. Read More »
The Walk
It was a May day like any other as we pulled into the poorly fortified Traffic Police Headquarters compound. We parked in our usual spots and the squad leader rallied us around him. He had a BOLO (Be on the lookout) list in his hand, and we were to check license plates in the adjacent parking lot against it. He needed about half the squad; I was one of them. Read More »
This is a review of the Documentary "The Ground Truth" that I wrote for Iraq Veterans Against the War's upcoming newsletter.
The Ground Truth tells the story of seventeen Iraq War veterans, but it serves as more than that: these seventeen stories are a microcosm of the problems America's war veterans are facing everyday. The seventeen soldiers and Marines are an eclectic group. They represent all regions of the country; all races and colors. Their motivations for enlistment are diverse, as are the ways with which they have dealt with their war experiences. This is a melting pot; this is America. Read More »
"Why Should I Care?"
This weekend was drill weekend, the weekend I used to dread for three weeks out of the month. I'm not exactly in love with the idea of wearing the uniform now, but a part of me does look forward to this weekend. When else will I be able to see all of my comrades from Iraq? So, it was with that tempered anticipation that I couldn't wait to see my friend. Josh lives on the other side of the state and I convinced him to come stay at my house Friday so that we could go out, drink a few beers, and get caught up. Read More »
It never ends.
Ali was trying to tell me something about Achmed with a seriousness I had yet to see from him, and I took it to mean that Achmed had somehow been injured in an explosion, but I wasn't sure. With the language barrier, it was difficult to understand what was being said all the time, even with the seemingly obvious body language. One time, I thought that Achmed was telling me Ali had been hurt in a blast, but it turned out he was saying that Ali was working on his home, so it could have been anything. I told myself it was probably nothing and tried to forget about it; ignorance is bliss. Read More »
