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| Thursday, March 10th, 2005 | | 7:33 pm |
Rouge Bouquet
Every memorial service we have, the batalion commander reads the poem Rouge Bouquet by Joyce Kilmer. Kilmer was a sergeant in teh 69th during WWII. This poem was written after an artillery round struck and embankment and buried a squad of men alive. In a wood they call Rouge Bouquet There is a new-made grave today, Built by never a spade nor pick Yet covered with earth 10 meters thick. There lie many fighting men, Dead in their youthful prime, Never to laugh nor love again Nor taste the Summertime. For Death came flying through the air And stopped his flight at the dugout stair, Touched his prey and left them there, Clay to clay. He hid their bodies stealthily In the soil of the land they fought to free And fled away. Now over the grave abrupt and clear Three volleys ring; And perhaps their brave young spirits hear The bugles sing: "Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Slumber well where the shell screamed and fell. Let your rifles rest on the muddy floor, You will not need them any more. Danger's past; Now at last, Go to sleep!" There is on earth no worthier grave To hold the bodies of the brave Than this place of pain and pride Where they nobly fought and nobly died. Never fear but in the skies Saints and angels stand Smiling with their holy eyes On this new-come band. St. Michael's sword darts through the air and touches the aureole on his hair As he sees them stand saluting there, His stalwart sons: And Patrick, Brigid, Columkill Rejoice that in veins of warriors still The Gael's blood runs. And up to Heaven's doorway floats, From the wood called Rouge Bouquet, A delicate cloud of bugle notes That softly say: "Farewell! Farewell! Comrades true, born anew, peace to you! Your souls shall be where the heroes are And your memory shine like the morning-star. Brave and dear, Shield us here. Farewell!" R.I.P. SPC Lwin and SPC Ali. | | Friday, February 11th, 2005 | | 4:25 pm |
Lonely I will walk alone
I got to the PX today for the first time in over a month. Now, one would think you'd have alot of stuff to get after going a month without resupply. I thought so too, but all I ended up getting was some sew-on sergeant rank, four 1st Cav combat patches, two bottles of shampoo, a flashlight, and some underwear. The flashlight was one of those head-lamp things, a really bright LED lamp that was way overpriced, but it'll be useful for reading and what not. My Mag-Lite is an absolute peice of shit, and the bulbs last an average of three days. I had a bulb burn out within three hours of replacement the other day. Much to my dismay, I'm almost out of books again. My parents sent a whole bunch of them, and theres only two left to read. My grandmother also sent two, and I gatered up a few more from a buddy. I only have about three weeks of reading material left. The tally so far since 06 October 2004 is twenty-two books read. I don't read them all at the same pace. For example, I finished Mother Night in one day (it was only 200 pages, but still), and Sirens of Titan in tow, but it took nearl a week for me to finish Pelican Brief. I've read two toehr books by Grisham, and enjoyed them both immensly, but I didn't enjoy Pelican Brief as much. I'm not sure what I'll start next. Want to know what was cool about my promotion? I was pinned on the roof of one of Saddams palaces. Thew view was great, overlooking BIAP and a good chunk of Radwaniyah. I was able to get a good look at the spot where Ellis and I go into that firefight the other night (it was a quick one, two Americans, one armed with an M249 and the other with an M4A1 w/ an M203, vs. an idiot with an AK-47 makes for a fairly unbalanced fight). It's alot different looking in the daytime. Want to know what wasn't cool about my promotion? The First Sergeant, my Platoon Leader, and my squad leader all decided to pound my new rank into my chest. I got some pretty bruises. And, I officially declare cookies the Junk Food of the Year. Current Mood:  tiredCurrent Music: Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun | | Thursday, February 10th, 2005 | | 4:50 am |
Angely i demony kruzhili nado mnoj
Attention to orders... SPC Christopher Dawson, having demonstrated the highest levels of competence in your current duties, and having proved yourself in combat as a soldier,a warrior, and a leader, have earned the respect of your peers, your leadership, and the Army of the United States. You ae hearby promoted to the rank of Sergeant as pf 29 September 2004, entitled to all the respect of a U.S. Army non-commisioned officer and duty bound to your men and the keaders appointed above you to execute the missions given to you for the betterment of the people of the United States of America. Signed Colonel Paul A. Steves, Assistant Adjutant General, New York Army National Guard. I couldn't have asked for a better promotion speech. Current Mood:  happyCurrent Music: Porno Graffiti - Lion | | Saturday, February 5th, 2005 | | 4:03 pm |
I'm to sexy for my car, too sexy by far
Solitaire is racist! Let me explain. Today I was enjoying a "recovery day", which is the "in" thing to call a day off around here, and I was playing solitaire on my laptop. I flipped over the cards, and there was three kings in a row. KKK. To make things worse, both red kings were covering up a black one! I always had a feeling about solitaire not being right, but I never thought it was a supporter of the klan. Haha, now I'm thinking about Blazing Saddles and the part where they try to sneak in the sheriff disguised in a KKK outfit. What a good movie. We finally organized and packed Sgt. McNally's immesnse amount of stuff tonight. He had over six duffel bags of junk. That's three times more than anbody else! Among this amazing amount of stuff was four Hawaian shirts, three web vests(I had to steal one to get mine), a four foot steel cable with locks on it, five(!) pairs of boots, and roughly thirty keys, some of which were for the locks on the cable, all sorts of medicine, some of which was ancient, and so many socks we didn't even bother to count them. The man hoarded anything and everything. I've never really payed attention to what iTunes classifies the various music in my library as until recently. For the most part it's pretty accurate, however there are some real discrepancies. For example: Pearl Jam- I have two instances of Even Flow in my library, one classified as Rock, the other as Alternative. Which is it? Savage Garden- classified as Rock, but is anything but Rock Nine Inch Nails- Everything is Electronica/Dance, except for the Broken Album, which is Alternative....whatever KMFDM- classified as Electronica/Dance, Industrial, and Rock...please, make up your mind Alabama- classified as Rock...nope, sorry, most definatley Country But my favorite is Johnny Dowd. Poor iTunes has no idea what to think of Johnny, so he is relegated to the "Unclassifiable" category. If I ever make music, I want it to be considered Unclassifiable by iTunes. Then again, my music talent is limited to the air guitar and really bad karaoke. Current Mood:  amusedCurrent Music: White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65 | | Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005 | | 4:38 pm |
She dreams in color because it's beautiful
There's a bunch of otions uner the "Current Mood" menu, and I'm having a hard time picking one lately. "Blank" was a good one, but not quite on target. I decided on "Lonely", becuase quite frankly, I'm lonely. I have a bunch of friends here, but I'm still lonely. I miss home, I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss the cats, I miss the dog, I miss the fat hamster. I often have pleasant dreams that I'm home, and then I'll wake up, and I'm still in Iraq. Leave dates for March still haven't been announced yet, so I have no idea if I'm going to be home anytime soon. I do know we'll be out of Iraq by August, which is great; I can deal with seven more months, but not much more. So far, we've been in Iraq for four months, and overseas a total of five. I've been activated and away from home for over half a year, with only two weeks of leave between NTC and Kuwait. With any luck at all, I'll be home by the end of October. But enough of my whining. One thing I want to touch on real quick is the sounds bullets make. A bulet is an interesting thing, as it makes a variety of noise in just a few short seconds. First, there is the bang of the power being set off. The next sound is a whoosh sounds as it cuts through the air. This sound is actually heard first if the bullet is coming toawrds you, as it travels faster than sound. The next noise depends on the surface of impact. If it strikes the ground and riccochets, you get a cool "Whee" sound (actually, its kind of scary if you are the one being shot at). If it strikes body armor, or at least the one we wear, you get a loud "Thwack!" sound (this sound is even scarier, but aside from feeling the impact, theres no injury whatsoever). The next sound is hardly heard, but its a dull, wet "Thud" is it impacts flesh. You will only hear this sound if the shooter is some distance away so as the noise from the weapon being fired doesn't cover it up (I've never had to hear this particular sound, but it's been described to me by those who have). If I never have to hear any of these sounds again, I'll be a happy man (except if I'm at the range). The Army is currently offereing some enticing re-enlistment bonuses. If I was to re-up(you're crazy) right now, I could bank $15000, tax free, provided I re-enlisted for another six years. I'm not sure I want to do that, but I will likely re-enlist for anotehr two at least. After my initial enlistment of six years ends, I will be on Inactive Ready Reserve(IRR) for two years. When on IRR, I don't have to do anything, but I can be called up for deployments and stuff. I don't care for deployments; after two, you kind of get sick of them. If I re-enlist I can still get deployed, but I won't feel so used if I do. Plus I can go to drill and AT and get some extra money. I'm also still considering WOCS and Flight School, but I need to talk to some people about that before I make any decisions. Maybe when I get home I'll try my hand at learning to play the guitar again. At one point, I could play "When the Saints Go Marching In" decently, but that was about it. I quit before I even got to chords. I can air guitar pretty well. I know a guy who is really, really good at air bass. Here's a few things to remember when in combat: 1.) Try to look unimportant, the enemy may be low on ammo 2.) Tracers work both ways 3.) The easy way is mined 4.) Once the pin is pulled, Mr. Handgrenade is not your friend Current Mood:  lonelyCurrent Music: KMFDM - Unfit | | 4:38 pm |
Skipping rocks at the end of time / The truth as I see it
Well, it's been quite a while since I've updated. I've been busy, and I am embarrased to admit that I haven't been in the mood to write for some time now. I've had a billion toughts I've wanted tp put into written word, but I just haven't been able to do it. I'm in a beter mood now, so hopefully the updates will be coming along at a more expediant rate. I ahve a great many things to talk about, some important, some trivial. I guess I'll start with the cat. We've adopted, in a way, a cat at the building we live at. Basically we leave her food, and she keeps the rats away. I'm not sure what brought her to hang around the house, meowing uncontrolably in the first place, but now shes here regularly, and she doesn't meow so much anymore. Shes a cute cat, white and orange, with dark orange spots all over. All the cats I've seen so far here in Iraq are spotted; I haven't seen a single striped cat. The Iraqis seem to like cats, as they run rampant everywhere. The don't care for dogs, however, as I haev been informed by many an Iraqi guard. There was a littler of puppies near an Iraqi barraks once, and I think the only thing that stopped the Iraqis from killing or driving the dogs away was the fact that we fed them. Don't want to piss the Americans off. We are trying to name the cat, and so far the only two suggested names are Cat and Landmine(don't ask, I have no idea). If anyone has a suggstion, leave it in the comments. As of now, we are leaning towards Cat. One of the teamn leaders in fourth squad had a heart attack a few days ago. Came rather suddenly, but then again, nobody really expects a heart attack. It wasn't major, but they medevaced him to Germany for an angiogram and observation. He won't be coming back to Iraq, though they won't kick him out of the Army. Likely, they'll ship him home and give him a cushy job so he can ride out his enlistment (the Army is exceptionally kind to heart attack victims; fuck you if you break a leg get shot). I'm glad he's ok, at least, and even a bit jealous. I ant to go home too. The other team leader in fourth squad may be going home on hardship as well. He simply isn't making enough money to support his family. Basically, he was making good money before he was deployed, and now he's making shit. When you make good money, you buy expensive things, like a big new house and a brand new pickup truck. When the money stops, you lose these thins, which he is in danger of doing. The Army is sympathetic to this as well (fuck you if you want an education), and will send someone home if the circumstances meet certain criteria. If he leaves, that'll leave two team leader spots open. Guess who's second in line. :) The Iraqi elections are finally over. The week or so leading up to it was an absolute nightmare. We had a suicde bomber kill some people at the gate with a car bomb, daily gunfights, and a few rocket attacks. We worked almost constantly, and at the end I was at about my last wind. Fortunatley, the elections went swimmingly, and now things have reverted to normal. There was reportedly a 70% voter turnout, which is outstanding. I personally am pleased with the whole thing, and I can hope it brings some stability to this place. I've got much more to write but I'm getting tired. I'll write more later. -D out Current Mood: relievedCurrent Music: The Clash - Rock the Casbah | | Sunday, December 19th, 2004 | | 7:40 pm |
World of Warcraft
Let me express my dislike for this game.Install went well. Update didn't. Update went horridly. Took a day and a half. Get in game. Bored. All my fineds are 20 some levels ahead of me. Fuck them. Uninstall went easy. Cacel account....well still working on that BECAUSE THE FUCKING WEBPAGE WONT LOAD. | | Friday, October 29th, 2004 | | 3:37 am |
Alert, status red, but the son comes up instead
27 Oct 04 Let me go on, like a blister in the sun We got issued ammo today; I was given eight hundred rounds for my SAW. I figured out that between all the shit I wear, it weighed well over ninety pounds. Mobility isn’t too much of a problem, but if I go down for some reason, I’m going to have a hell of a time getting up. The only thing that really bothers me while carrying everything is my shoulder, and, of course, the extra heat. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do when I get back home from this deployment. Two things have been really enticing me. First of all is immediately finishing college. Get a job and go back to school, get a degree, go to OCS, and become an officer. Barring any future deployments, I’ll still be plenty young enough to go. I could either go active or stay guard at that point. My other option is to take another year off from school and see if Uncle Mark will rent me a room on Nantucket, and get a job there. While I worked, I would spend some time writing. I have a few ideas I think would make great books, and I would think that would be a great environment to write in. I’ll have to mull these ideas over a bit, but ultimately, I have a year to decide. I’ve only been in theatre for a month and already thinking of what I want to do when I get home. I do want to get a car, and I know just what I want to get, though it could change. As of right now, I want a 2005 Ford Mustang GT. The new one’s look fucking awesome, and, more importantly, it’s got some balls. I’d have to get better at driving standard, however, as it would be a shame to waste that engine driving it automatic. My other option would be a newer Dodge Ram, the one with that big Hemi fucker. That things a gas hog though, and I don’t know if I want to have to pay for the gas. I do like trucks, though, and having a pickup is extremely convenient. Maybe I’ll even get a shotgun rack, you know, for all those shotguns I don’t own. Speaking of weapons, I also want to get a high-powered rifle when I get home, then waste it’s potential shooting targets. I like shooting; something about it just relaxes me. I get immense satisfaction when the target down, and even better when the tower announces the scores. “Lane 8, forty out of forty” was my last range. Fucking awesome. Usually I try and keep my journal entries fairly expletive free, but hanging around with the guys kind of gets me out of that habit. Part of the reason I like the military is the freedom of language at work. I came to third platoon fairly late in the game. They had been together for over three months when I arrived, and I didn’t feel quite like I fit in at first. They were a friendly bunch of guys, though, and I soon warmed up to them. The first guy I really became friends with was my team leader, Sgt. Mike Ellis. We hung around a bunch at Irwin, and soon became good buddies. He was married, but got divorced, and is seeing someone whom he wishes to marry. He has a daughter with this woman, and both have a few from previous marriages. When I first met him, I though he was in his late twenties, early thirties at most. Turns out he’s thirty-six, though he doesn’t look it. I’m pretty friendly with the rest of the squad, but I’ve become good friends with Deleo over the past few months, such that we could hang out once this deployment was over. Same thing with Ellis. Well that’s all for now, I’ve prattled on for far too long. 29 Oct 04 I’m the salt in your wound Things are pointing to an easy day today. We have the morning off, and we have a motor pool detail in the afternoon. All in all, it shouldn’t be too hard of a day. Gives me time to relax and do some things I want to do. I’m a bit nervous about the upcoming days, as would anyone. It may sound kind of strange, I hope we get shot at, and hope an IED goes off. These things are all but guaranteed anyways, so I shouldn’t have to worry. Now I’m not saying this because I want to get shot at, or I want Hajji to try and blow me up. Quite the contrary, I want to come back alive and well. I jut want to get these things out of the way so to speak. Nothing is worse than your first contact, and I want to get it out of the way so I can relax a bit more. I’ve been thinking more about what kind of vehicle I want to buy when I get back home. I know I said earlier I wanted a Mustang, but that’s not a good winter car, unfortunately. I don’t really plan n leaving Buffalo anytime soon, and since we get long, snowy winters, I’m not sure a Mustang would be a good buy. I’m thinking about getting another truck, probably a Dodge Ram. If I don’t drive it like an idiot, I can probably squeeze some decent gas mileage out of it. Plus, I’ll have all the engine power available to me just in case I need it for some reason. Just the idea of sitting behind and eight-cylinder 5.7-liter hemi engine makes me smile. I’ve owned nothing but four cylinders my life, now I want some muscle. I’m probably going to order through AAFES; I can save about $3000 on a Ram. Speaking of trucks with big engines, the new up-armored HMMWV’s are a work of art. They have a ton of armor, armored turrets, and AC. The windows are doors on these things are over five inches thick. Naturally all this armor adds a ton of weight, so they compensated by putting a bigger engine with a turbocharger in it. The thing can fucking haul ass, but at the cost of gas mileage. Traveling at convoy speed, an 1114(the nomenclature) gets about eight miles a gallon. All this means is more fueling stops on our trip to Baghdad, plus it can survive some nasty shit. All that plus my ninety pounds of shit mean an alive Chris Dawson returning home triumphantly after a year in Iraq. One of the mottos of West Point is “Duty, Honor, and Country”. It’s plastered all over the place so the cadets never forget it. It’s a good motto for anyone who loves his or her nation, but it holds a deeper meaning for me. A while back, a platoon sergeant and a lieutenant held an Iraqi civilian's head underwater until he drowned. They were arrested and recently court martialed. Both are going to serve time in jail, in addition to dishonorable discharges and loss of benefits. There are a lot of things wrong with what they did beside it being illegal. Their actions violated the three simple principles of “Duty, Honor, and Country”. Same thing with what happened over at Abu-Ghraib. Their actions we dishonorable, brought shame to their nation, and fell outside their normal line of duty. There is no glory in killing non-combatants, or combatants that have been captured and rendered harmless. There is no honor is shaming your country that looks up to you to do the right thing is times of turmoil and strife. I am proud to be an American soldier, and mighty proud to defend this nation where I can say what I want to say, do what I want to do. I fight for my friends, family, fellow soldiers, and for my fellow Americans back at home, whether they support this war or not. I will not let you down, and I will not dishonor you. -D out Current Mood:  calmCurrent Music: Hatebreed- I Will Be | | Friday, October 15th, 2004 | | 3:18 am |
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Here are a few select entries from my journal. Enjoy. 08 Oct 04 There sits Wonderboy, sitting oh so proudly The nosebleeds have started again. Deleo and I pulled a shift guarding our pallets from 1000-0100. It was a whole lot of nothing, and nothing really happened, except that I got a major bloody nose. I had gotten one earlier that day, but I attributed that one to the cold I had thought I had developed (turned out I was just feeling shitty). But the one I got during my shift was awful. And to make matter worse, I only had three napkins on me, and by the time I was done, there were soaked in blood, and my DCU’s had a gigantic bloodstain on the front. It blended in real nice in the dark, kind of looked like another brown spot, but in the light, it looks ridiculous. I got another one before PT this morning, even worse than the one the night before. This one as bleeding out of both nostrils, and I killed an entire pocket pack of Kleenex on it. I had this problem at Irwin too, but it got better after a few weeks, and I can only hope it is like that here. A while ago, BD posted in his Live Journal a quote about everyone writing for an audience. I don’t remember whom that was attributed to, but it was a good quote. While nobody else but me may ever read certain things I have written in here, I plan to post the majority of it onto my Live Journal. I’m not sure how interested someone will be reading about my bloody nose, but I’ll put it up there anyways. Something about reading what goes on in another’s persons life intrigues people. Perhaps it’s the natural curiosity of humans. The old saying goes “Curiosity killed the cat”, and we aren’t unlike a cat investigating the same paper bag for the fortieth time, because something may be different this time. I’ll try to put something new in this paper bag as often as time and freedom allows; after all, I don’t want to disappoint the cats. J I bought this really neat pillow at the PX made by the Al-Baghli Sponge Mfg. Co. yesterday. It was entirely flat, but when the package was opened, it inflated rather quickly to a full sized, extra comfy pillow. Before I was just using my NBC bag stuffed full of random soft shit I won’t use, like winter clothing. I had brought some cold weather stuff, because I thought this place would get cold at night like Irwin did. Sure it cools off, but it’s still 90 fucking degrees. I will have no use whatsoever for a lot of shit I brought. Worse, the pot office wont let you ship military gear home. Well, at least if there’s a freak snowstorm in Baghdad, I will be ready. I have three full duffel bags of crap, and I only anticipate using less than half of it. It’s better to be over prepared, I guess, so I shouldn’t complain. I’ll find a use for that wool scarf yet. 10 Oct 04 There’ll be swinging, swaying, records playing, dancing in the streets Traditionally, Sunday is a day of rest, a day off from the rigors of everyday life. For many people, it is also a day to religious worship, and one can attend church at just about any time of the day. I have never willingly gone to church in my life except for funerals, but today I was forced to go to church. Yes, in my days in the Army I have dealt with hurry up and wait, mandatory fun, and other bullshit, but I have never, ever heard of “mandatory mass”. What a fucking joke! Sure, there is a good amount of people of the Christian faith in the battalion, but some of us don’t follow religious practices. And what about those who are Muslims, Hindus, Jews, or of another belief, such as one for the varieties of Paganism. To force these people to attend a Christian mass is extremely rude in my eyes. I went despite my beliefs, and at least it was short. I’m going to talk a little about my beliefs here. I was raised in a non-religious family, and growing up I never attended church or believed in god. Later on in life, when I was old enough to form opinions and beliefs of my own, I started to read various religious publications, main one being the bible, and a little bit of the Qu’ran. After a good amount of research, I came to my own decision to not follow any religion. Religion is men telling other men how to think. One does not have to subscribe to religion to believe in the existence of god. I have been told that I am wrong by some, and if I am, then one day I will find out. But for now, I’ll do it my way. I start a four-day Combat Lifesaver course tomorrow. Deleo and I asked to go as soon as we heard it was being offered, and they gave us the slots. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now and I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity. I’ll write more about it tomorrow. -D out 11 Oct 04 I tell you something…I painted my teeth Today was day one of my CLS class. It started at 0800, so I figured I’d have plenty of time to shower and eat after PT. I should learn to stop trying to plan ahead for anything. We woke up this morning about 0545, as always, but something was different. It felt muggy and humid, which is odd for the desert, and I went outside it was foggy. The fog was so thick; it felt like you were breathing in water. To make matters worse, we had a platoon run to do. Now, very recently I have gotten decent at running, so the idea of a run didn’t bother me, just the fact I knew it was going to take forever. We started the run at a decent pace I could get a good stride with, but soon enough Tabales fell out. Normally, one other person would fall back with a person who fell out and we might make an attempt to bring him back into the formation, but more often than not, we’d just continue at our pace. Today, though, we doubled-back and made him run at the front of the formation. This slowed the pace down incredibly, and he fell out about a dozen times more. All in all, a run that should have taken no more than 25-30 minutes took over 45 minutes. The slow pace killed my shins, and I was hurting afterwards, though the pain lasted only an hour much to my surprise and excitement. I think I may have finally beaten the shin splints that have plagued me for years. Also, my foot has been bothering me less and less since West Point, and I think the tendons down there have finally recovered. It felt really good to be able to run again, and I should be able to take a normal PT test the next one I take. But I digress, and now back to the main story. By the time I got in from PT it was almost 0700, that gave me only an hour to shower and eat, provided there was even any water at the showers. Luck was with me today as I was able to get into the showers quickly, and there was still some water left. Deleo and I made it to class just in time, and the fun began. On the way to class, Deleo told me there were two things he hated about military class: often the instructor was under qualified, or they didn’t have to proper supplies. We got there, and the class was being taught by the medics, so that was a plus, but right of the bat Cpt. Ortiz announced that today would be a short day, as we didn’t have the supplies for the class. Deleo and I just looked at each other and laughed. Class ended at about noon with us learning almost nothing new, as all we did was basic first aid today, which is part of a soldier’s common tasks. The real fun starts tomorrow, as we start to go into some more advanced stuff. After class was over, we went to lunch then o the PX. I got myself some CDs and a new pair of headphones. These new headphones are a beautiful thing, as they have a good bass sound unlike my former pair. At the register I paid with my debit card, which was an adventure in itself. I swiped the thing a good 20 times, both ways, fast and slow, and the machine refused to read it. The lady at the register grabbed and got it to take in one swipe. She gave me this bizarre look, and handed the card back to me as Deleo made some wise remarks. It was really embarrassing. There was an awards ceremony today, where a bunch of people got promoted. Neither myself of my team leader got promoted, but that’s cool. Neither of us particularly have any need for more rank at the moment, and I’m perfectly happy doing an E-4 job for E-5 pay. You won’t hear me complain one bit about that, at least until I get home, then I will want my stripes. -D out 14 Oct 04 This is counter-culture from the underground As of today, I’m officially qualified as an Army Combat Lifesaver. We went over one and two man carries today, then got to the part everyone was waiting for: intravenous infusions. I was teamed up with Deleo, who had veins like its cool. I let him stick me first, and it went pretty smooth. It feels kind of strange, but it’s not painful. Next I stuck him, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. After that was all over we went lunch and to the phone center. I called home again, and I also called Renee, Mark, Jeff, and Jon. We’ve been kind of avoiding the tent today to avoid going out to he range. The platoon comes home tomorrow, and likely us who went to CLS will go out with first platoon later this to zero our weapons. That’s fine with me…I’m really enjoying not having a lot of people in the tent. It’s very relaxing. Tomorrow morning I can get up at my leisure, at a decent time, of course, and do PT according to how it works best for me. I think I’ll get up around 0600 and go for a nice run then shower and eat. Then I can come back to the tent and hopefully relax until the platoon arrives in. That would be ideal. Right now I think I’m going to watch the Simpsons a bit then play some Diablo II. I love feeling relaxed. -D out Current Mood:  frustratedCurrent Music: Old 97s- Won't Be Home Again | | Wednesday, October 6th, 2004 | | 5:00 pm |
...and that sonofabitch Van Owen blew off Rolands head
Christopher Scot Dawson made his triumphant arrival in the country of Kuwait today. Actually it was more like a severely jet-lagged arrival, but I arrived nonetheless. We were informed that the bus ride to our destination was about an hours drive, so we all crammed assholes to elbows on the bus. About 15 minutes into the drive, the bus broke down in the middle of the road. We sat there for an hour waiting for another bus, then waited another two hours because we thought we had lost two soldiers. And don’t even get me stared on force protection, what a fucking joke that was. One guy with ammo and three Kuwait soldiers in a truck with a machine gun. We did all the don’t of convoy movement, but made it to Camp Buering safely. The total trip took about seven hours; it was the longest hour of my life. Let me tell you a bit about my first day in Kuwait. The chow hall is absolutely amazing. Food is hot, drinks are plentiful, deserts and others things are abound. I’ve had three satisfying meals thus so far, and they serve four a day. Camp Buering has a lot along the lines of recreation, including a gym, internet café, PX, free DSN phone time, and free postal service. I will be writing a lot of letters, and the last one excites me, as I don’t have to spend a fortune in stamps. The only thing that is bad is that we’re going to be leaving here in not too long. It’s ok though, because I hear that Camp Victory is even better, but I also hear that Camp Victory gets mortared and attacked a fair amount. Somebody has stolen my helmet, sleeping bag outer shell, and camelback. Helmet is no skin off my back, I’m due a new one anyways, but I paid $65 for that fucking camelback. Now I got to go get a new one. It’s bullshit, but it’s kind of my fault because I didn’t lock my bags. Lessoned learned, albeit the hard way. -D out | | Friday, October 1st, 2004 | | 10:24 am |
| | Tuesday, September 28th, 2004 | | 4:19 am |
Walking tall, machinegun man
Mood says Quixotic, becuase its a cool looking word. My real mood is a complex vortex of emotions. I'm excited, scared, and so much more right now. Leave has been entirely too short, and soon I will be gone for a long time. I'll be off in a foriegn land, fighting other people. I do this because I signed up for this 4 years ago. It's my obligation, my duty, and I wil preform this duty with honor and pride for myself, the Army, and the United States of America. What does this all mean? It means I will be shot at by various weapons from a standard AK to an RPG. It means that the enemy will try to blow me up with hidden bombs. It means I will be hated by people who don't really know why they hate me. This last attack comes from both ends. So far, the support for soldiers has beengood, and not too many people blame us for what happens. But as this conflict stales, this sentiment may change. Instead coming home to a nation that loves me for the sacrifices I have made for it these past years, I may come home to a nation that hates me because some fucking assholes decided to aim their anger at the tool and not the hand that weilds it. I am at the mercy of my command, which is ultimatley at the mercy of politics. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind people, that although the killing of innocents is unfortunate, this is war and it happens. It may not be a war in the literal sense, but when you are out there and the bullets start flying, its a fucking war. Kill or be killed. I don't care who is pulling that trigger. And what about that guy who deliberatly using a crowd to fire at us from. I can't stand there as my budies and I get cut down one by one just because someone won't get out of the way. This sounds cold, and indeed it is, but my goal is to come back alive with everyone I left with. If the choice comes down to a court martial or a body bag, I think you know which way I'm gonna go. There is no honor in dying like that. None. And we all know the amount of BS surrounding this conflict. If you know me, you know how I feel. But, I have a job to do, duty to preform. And I will preform that duty to my fullest ability, even if it leads me to my death. If you don't want to support me, then I don't want to fucking hear it. Current Mood: quixoticCurrent Music: Toby Keith- American Soldier | | Saturday, July 24th, 2004 | | 11:30 pm |
no topicc
RANDOM UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!! Current Mood:  jubilantCurrent Music: Leningrad Cowboys- Yellow Submarine | | Friday, July 23rd, 2004 | | 6:36 pm |
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
One liikes to believe in the freedom of music, but gliitering prizes and endless comprimises shatter the illusion of integrity. Today was my first day of active duty. Went well, all we had to do was update our PRF files and do a "showdown" inspection. We got the weekend off, which is good. I'm gonna get totally fucking hammered on Saturday. We leave for Fort Hood on Monday morning. I'll try to keep this updated best I can, let you know how I am doing. Well dinner time, adios. Current Mood: peacefulCurrent Music: Rush- Spirit of the Radio | | Friday, July 16th, 2004 | | 2:14 am |
Bargain
I'd gladly lose me to find you I'd gladly give up all I had To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad I'd pay any price just to get you I'd work all my life and I will To win you I'd stand naked, stoned and stabbed I'd call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had I'd gladly lose me to find you I'd gladly give up all I got To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop I'd pay any price just to win you Surrender my good life for bad To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man I'd call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had I sit looking 'round I look at my face inm the mirror I know I'm worth nothing without you And like one and one don't make two One and one make one And I'm looking for that free ride to me I'm looking for you I'd gladly lose me to find you I'd gladly give up all I got To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop I'd pay any price just to win you Surrender my good life for bad To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man I'd call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had Lyrics for Bargain by The Who. I'm on a The Who thing, can you tell? Current Mood:  sickCurrent Music: Porno Graffit- Lion | | 2:07 am |
Got em
Got my orders. Got a cold. Life is good. Current Mood: sickCurrent Music: The Who- Behind Blue Eyes | | Wednesday, July 14th, 2004 | | 12:03 pm |
| | 12:02 pm |
Behind Blue Eyes
No one knows what it's like To be the bad man To be the sad man Behind blue eyes No one knows what it's like To be hated To be fated To telling only lies But my dreams They aren't as empty As my conscience seems to be I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance That's never free No one knows what it's like To feel these feelings Like I do And I blame you No one bites back as hard On their anger None of my pain and woe Can show through But my dreams They aren't as empty As my conscience seems to be I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance That's never free When my fist clenches, crack it open Before I use it and lose my cool When I smile, tell me some bad news Before I laugh and act like a fool If I swallow anything evil Put your finger down my throat If I shiver, please give me a blanket Keep me warm, let me wear your coat No one knows what it's like To be the bad man To be the sad man Behind blue eyes These are the lyrics from Behind Blue Eyes by The Who. It's a really cool song, I would suggest a listen to everyone. Actaully, a listen to The Who in general would do a person good. Who's Next is one of the finest albums ever recorded, falling behind, in my opinion, Abbey Road and Led Zepplin II. All these albums are older, yes, but still retain their greatness. I took a trip to Cape Cod this past weekend, and just got home yesterday. It was a great trip.....probably one of the best I've ever been on. My dad and I drove down Sunday morning and arrived at my grandfathers house about 1400. We went to lunch, did some yard work for him, went to dinner, and then went to bed probably around 2200. It was a perfect visit. The next morning we caught the 0800 fast ferry to Nantucket Island. Jordan met us down at the wharf and we all walked to my uncles restaurant. We had breakfast there and went to rent bikes for the day. We ended up renting mopeds, which was awesome. We spent the afternoon riding around the island with my uncle and cousin. I haven't seen any of these relative in about 3 years or more, so it was a great visit. Both my cousins have grown alot. My dad had rented a two seater scooter so Sabrina could ride around wioth us. She was apprehensive at first, but after she finally got on, she wouldnt get off. After our trip around the island, we went back to my uncles house to relax a bit. Jordan and I talked for an hour while dad was outside with my cousins. I got the tour of my uncles house.....its fucking huge. Three floors and a widows walk, in a nice kinda secluded area. The employye house where he houses his emplyess is neaby, and all in all, its a nice peice of property. around 1600 or so myself, Jordan, and Dad went to dinner. We settled on a palce called the Border House. The menu was quite expensive, but goddamn, it was the BEST food I have ever eaten. After dinner we went back to the house and watched TV until we all kinda fell asleep. We left early the next day. It was sad to leave....I'm not going to see my sister for almost two years. But it was a great trip. Now I'm home and still awaiting orders. One of these days they'll come. Soon hopefully. Current Mood:  melancholy | | Saturday, July 3rd, 2004 | | 2:10 pm |
Today in the inbox:
Today in the inbox: ::BE:: ::H:U: :N:G4: : :WO:M:A: :N tuba player 9 alchemists ruckus intersperse boot indisputable thunderflower reflector ductile mimetic revoke what she wrong else wanton party detergent jill light bulb labyrinths near 44 People, I can't make this shit up. In other news, I'm leaving for Iraw July 23. Current Mood:  indifferentCurrent Music: Metallica- Sad But True | | Monday, May 31st, 2004 | | 10:55 pm |
AT 2004 pictures
Here are some of the pictures I promised from AT. http://www.geocities.com/uberman242/AT2004Pic 1: Rowh with an AK Pic 2: Me with the suicide vest Pic 3: Me with the suicide vest and AK Pic 4: Sgt. Buscaglia taking down Capt. Bousquet (taken at night, so its a bit off colored) Pic 5: Myself and Somer at the MOUT site Pic 6: Myself and one of the 105th medics carrying away a prisoner during the looting scenario Pic 7: Racquel hog tied :) Pic 8: Me yelling at the HHC fuckers to get out of my village (in the backround is the tank thats about to get killed) Pic 9: Even more yelling Pic 10: Two OC's (left is the CSM, right I can't identify), and a tank thats been killed Pic 11: SFC Colburn being dragged away |
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