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Edited on Mon Jul-24-06 03:28 PM by shadowknows69
About 3,000 just came back to our base this week and although I haven't been pushing too much for news from these guys I do have a couple small encounters to share with you.
Almost universally I hear the mantra "We have no idea how bad it actually is." I usually admit to soldiers that the media isn't showing us much of anything good or bad. There are apparently still constant albeit small attacks on the green zone. One soldier I picked up last night said that mortars were being fired at Baghdad airport as the C-130 he was in was taking off. He was coming off his first tour in Iraq and had done one in Afghanistan and was being redeployed to New Orleans to train new recruits headed to the theater. I expressed happiness at the fact that at least they were giving our boys training from vets. He told me quite a bit about our training. Said it's very intensive situational training including dozens of arabic speaking "extras" to interact with trainees. I was encouraged that maybe with advisers like this can give our boys and girls a leg up on dealing with the populace tactfully and with respect for their culture. He was obviously quite relieved to be home alive, had a new Harley waiting for him, and kept mentioning Iraq as "not my problem anymore".
We spoke in length about the two theatres of war we're in and he said that there are stark differences in the way the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq are. He expressed a warrior's respect for the Taliban saying that "They will give you a stand up fight. You back them into a corner and they'll fight to the last to get out." In contrast he claims the ones we are fighting in Iraq are definitely using city/guerrilla tactics to their advantage but also said they are "cowards" and most of the danger is from snipers and IED's not infantry fighting. I told him of one soldier's claim that we launched a 50,000 unit attack in Afghanistan recently and he said that was definitely an exaggeration. That 90% of operations are no more than battalion sized, 5,000 or so troops.
Without fail I welcome the troops home and a couple I've thanked for their service, although that phrase is hard for me to say sadly because I don't feel they are serving their country at all. Reactions run the gamut from sincere appreciation to vibes of "whatever". If you know the subtle things to look for you can tell these guys are tore up, different, pensive and experiencing culture shock. I've seen a very touching rapport between some returning soldiers clearly born of the "band of brothers" necessity that comes from soldiers fighting and dying together. Most still won't travel without a couple buddies tagging along where you might think some would want to distance themselves from the people and hell they just spent a year with.
This same soldier in fact did have some "good" stories from Iraq believe it or not. I've always maintained that many of our soldiers are in Iraq with the sincere desire to do good for the Iraqi people and I was fortunate to meet this man who seems to be one of them. He had a great hatred for the supposed "holy men" of the religious sects they were fighting. He said that one way the insurgents raise money for their weapons is to kidnap local females of affluent Iraqi families who then pay huge ransoms for their return. He says that despite the fact that many of these girls are returned when the ransom is paid, many times it is weeks later after the kidnappers have made good "use" of her. He claims we have liberated many such victims and says that he personally has found dozens of women raped and tortured nearly to death. He was clearly choked up thinking about this and for a moment I felt guilty for making him relive such horror. Then again maybe I was the only one he could dump that baggage on and if so I hope I did some good.
Needless to say I'm treading lightly in asking for stories, most of which I'm sure I don't want to hear anyway. Many are volunteering things even if they are as simple as offhand comments. I'm hearing a lot of resentment toward the Iraqi people. "They live like animals", "They have no respect for life or themselves". Needless to say I bite my tongue so I don't say something like "they probably are living like animals because we've made a good number of their cities rubble".
My last job of last night and the subject of the title of this essay is possibly the most disturbing experience I've had with a soldier. It was about 3AM and a soldier, still in fatigues approached my parked taxi and wanted a short ride to a local hotel. As soon as he got in my cab he made the comment: "I struck out", I assumed he was talking about a woman but I was wrong.
He said, "Mind if I ask you a question?"
I said "of course".
"do you know where to get any drugs?", I'm a fairly hippie looking guy and this is pretty much a standard question we hear a lot so I thought nothing of it thinking this solider wanted to smoke a joint or something. Despite my considerable connections I couldn't have helped him at that hour but again I was wrong in my assessment of the question.
"I've just been through a year of hell and I'd really like to smoke some crack"
I'm sure my jaw must have noticeably dropped to my knees.
"Sorry man that's a little beyond my scope of knowledge and in this town at this hour it's probably beyond anyone's"
My first thought, strangely enough was: Are there crack dealers in Iraq? I mean this guy obviously had a serious jones on and I just wondered how you go to Iraq with a crack habit, where presumably it would be hard to find, and make it through just to decide that your first act when you get home is to be to score some. Now I've been addicted or nearly addicted to a good number of substances in my life, crack included, but this astounded me. Anyway defeated he was going to have me take him to the hotel and as we started off he saw an african american man walking down the street and quickly said, "let me jump out and ask this guy", I complied thinking, great my passenger is going to accost a total stranger looking for crack, in fatigues, what a wonderful representation of our military.
Lo and behold the guy was a crack dealer so they both got in my cab before I could peel out, which was my great desire at that point, and directed me to take them to the "well-known by cabbies but apparently not police" local crack house.
The dealer, a little slow on the uptake finally realized this guy was a war veteran and started raving about how he has "mad respect" for our soldiers. Recognition of honor is hidden in strange corners I guess. The soldier was getting frantic and excited and started talking about the year of hell he just had.
"I had friends of mine blown up in front of me man", "I had to shoot a mother fucker in the face with a shotgun too, I'm not sure I'd be saying that if I weren't a little drunk but it's true."
Horrified by the situation I found myself in and the information I was just forced to process my only response to this soldier was "hey man, if it was you or him, then it had to be him"
He gave me a look of brief clarity in the midst of his madness and said to me "You're absolutely right brother, and I didn't even hesitate. You see in some movies where someone thinks about it but I didn't have time I just blew his head off."
Thankfully the job was over moments after that and I decided that was my last job of the night. I didn't want any chance of having to take this cracked out soldier back to base and possibly hear the rest of his story. I couldn't. I think that maybe I gave him a little absolution about actions which will clearly haunt this young man forever if he manages not to kill himself trying to forget it. I hope at least. I feel so helpless seeing these men and women who do try to make us proud and are being used up by the government they trust. Always tip your cabbie. Shadow out.
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