Well, now that these last two weeks are done, I can take a minute and explain why I have been so silent. You see, over the last fourteen days, I have gone through a lot of changes and experiences. In chronological order, they are:
1. My section moved from one Battery to another;
2. We had to prepare for a field evaluation with minimal support from the new unit because they didn’t know what we needed;
3. We went through three (yes, THREE) broken radars last week, before the evaluation and one during it;
4. On Saturday I rode up to Augusta, Kansas to attend the funeral of CW2 Totten, a fallen soldier from Operation Enduring Freedom. It was the single longest ride I have done to date at 522 miles round trip;
5. On Sunday I rode up to El Reno, Oklahoma to ride in a fundraiser for the Gold Star Mothers and Rolling Thunder. They were passing through on their way to Washington D.C. for Memorial Day. This ride was 206 miles round trip;
6. You do the math, I put almost 750 miles on in two days;
7. We had to go to the field for two days and be evaluated;
8. We had to clean up the equipment (“recover it†in Army slang) in one day;
9. We had a “Safety Stand-Down†on Thursday that meant the only thing we did for the entire day was safety classes (I got to ride my motorcycle on the Ft. Sill “Freedom’s Thunder†Safety motorcycle rally in the morning);
10. Finally, all of this took place in 95+ degree heat every single day, so we had to worry about people possibly suffering from heat related injuries.
Needless to say, I have been a bit tired and miserable in the heat, and the stress hasn’t helped me AT ALL, however (comma), we are done with our deployment “train-up,†and we can get to the business of helping our new unit get prepared for their evaluations.
That has been my last pair of weeks, but that’s not what I wanted to write about. You see, the other night, I snapped at a dear friend of mine, and she didn’t deserve it. I wish I knew what got into me, but I truly hurt her feelings. I am sorry, Phoenix, I did not want to hurt you, I simply snapped.
This weekend is Memorial Day, and it is one of the holidays that I take seriously because I remember all the fallen military people, from the American Revolution to Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. I must say that THESE are the people that have protected and defended the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, in order for us to enjoy the rights and freedoms granted therein.
I hope that everyone has a good weekend, and please, take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made to protect our way of life. If you know a veteran, please thank them for their service. If you know a veteran’s family, please thank them for their sacrifices. The families do not get the recognition they deserve.
Carlo
