Hello everybody. How have you been? It is hard to believe the week I had. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Sunday, Father's Day - An interesting thought
occurred to me. On this special day I realized that I now have 3 fathers. My dad, Al, has been gone a long time but I still remember everything he meant to me. After my parents were promoted to glory, Jim
Knaggs became my fatherly influence and I believe I am a better man from the conversations we've had over the years. And it was he that married Katie and I, my beautiful wife whom we have now celebrated our first anniversary. We will celebrate said anniversary in style the next time I am stateside. Which brings me to my father-in-law. It will probably be a few years before I stop calling him sir, but during my time at home in April, it was nice spending time with him, getting to know him a little better. Even after a year, we have had some memorable moments, such as when I called to ask permission to marry Katie, our first Trivia Pursuit game in the dining room, and the last
Pinochle game. I wish you all Happy Father's Day and pray that someday, I will be as good as a father as you have been to me.
2. Katie's birthday - under pain of death I will not reveal my
beloved's age. Here's to 25 and holding sweetheart. You look marvelous. :)
3. Let's do the time warp again! - I am still not sure what this song means, but it certainly applies to my living conditions at Camp
Liebert. On Tuesday I was told to move, Wednesday I was told don't bother, then Wed. evening someone asked me why I hadn't moved (?).
Thursday, um nope not moving again, and 'I am sorry that you had to pack for a third time'. If I could have put my hands on my hips without fear of repercussions, I certainly would have. So, I still live in my little
pigeon hole with a picture of Katie and Studebaker on my foot locker, right next to my Beanie Baby
Camouflage Bear. Moving on.
4. Thank God it's Friday....oh wait that was yesterday. Right...
5. Finally, I come to the conclusion I am not as young as I once was. We went on a little stroll, and by little I mean 12 kilometers, uphill both ways, smack dab in the middle of the afternoon. Our mission was to check on the new road (which leads nowhere) and locate its most recent terminus (it starts and stops at 7 points along the river, so this was interesting). We knew where the nothern portion was but did not know how to get there from Daba. So, we do want comes naturally, follow the river (see previous blog entry). Four hours later, out of water, beat up and sore, we crashed midway up the mountain on the new road. That's when 2 soldiers decided to suffer from heat exhaustion. One recovered fairly quickly, the other not so much. My medic provided excellent treatment while I got a poleless litter ready. In all my years, I do not want to do what we did next: carry our casualty up the mountain side, roughly 2 kilometers through hill and dale back to our camp, rotating 4 guys on the litter every 3 minutes or so. Thankfully our camp had a rigid litter and a team ready to replace our litter bearers once we got in sight. In my four years in the Army, and seven as an EMT, I have never felt like I felt today. Rizzo the Rat said it perfectly in the Muppets Christmas Carol, "God bless my poor broken body."
I wish everybody well. Thanks to those who have sent letters, they are much appreciated. Until my next entry, take care and God speed.
PS. Congratulations to Andrew and Patti for updating their blog. I am
right behind yea. :)
