Memoirs written in prose of Sergeant Robertson, Damon M. USMC while in Iraq | ...with frequent appearances of King Hammurabi.
If you are new to this journal, make sure to start reading in chronological order by scrolling down to the bottom of the oldest post in October 2004. Damon's letters from August 20th, 2004 - October 23rd, 2004 were all added to this blog on Oct. 23rd, 2004. All subsequent letters are posted in real time.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
"The Dastardly Duo" My friend, Super Marine, and I are both from the same California drill center, and as such a definite minority having joined a unit entirely based in Ft. Lewis, WA. We work together on the same shift, get greasy and messed up fixing the same broken, worn out gear, have similar ambitions, etc. We've been tactfully requesting (whining) to get out off the flight line and do some "real Marine" stuff for a while, whether it be convoys or medical evacuation training or ANYTHING other than working the flight line 24/7. [remember, this is the USMC, "Unlawful Slavery Made Constitutional," so they *can* work us 24/7 and seldom hesitate :p ] Yesterday my Commanding Officer "hand picked" me to join him as a security element on a convoy. I don't know when we're leaving (nor would I say if I did). It was one of those "Get your S* ready" moments. So I went back to the barracks and did what any self-respecing Marine would do: borrowed as many fully loaded magazines from the other non-convoy bound guys as I can conceivably carry. I'm up to 15. That's 450 rounds. Take a minute to breathe that in. Smells nice, huh? The long and the short of the situation here is something I can only describe in terms of a frat party where the drunken frat boys are the insurgents and every conoy in the area akin to the freshman girls who come to the party trying to be cool. Everything gets hit. At least nowadays. As always, your prayers make all the difference. I may be gone for awhile. Love you all, may the Grace of the Lord be with you. :D
# posted by chevas @ 7:41 PM 