from Iraq with no combat deaths.
535th Combat Engineers
Grafenwöhr Germany
Deployed 367 days
Alot of these guys and gals are regulars at my local watering hole and were seriously missed while they were gone.
I decided to stop in and have a beer on Saturday and instead of the nearly empty bar I walked in to see alot of faces I consider if not friends then close acquaintances.
They had pulled in about 4 hours before and had a Midnight curfew to drink a few before starting an FX on the next day.
Of the few hundred soliders that went down range only 3 where injured in combat, and only one of those seriously (he is currently in Walter Reed recovering from a gunshot to the head).
The company did lose one man due to a heart attack while doing PT
(Always said PT was a killer).
But it was really uplifting to see friends and acquaintances, that I hadn't seen in over a year and knowing that for at least a year they are out of harms way.
I had my 5 finger cigar case with me (I always take more smokes than I plan on smoking so I can make a choice on the spur of the moment and so that I have a few to give out in case I run into a BOTL in need). Well I knew at least one of the guys was a BOTL, so I offered him and the rest of the fellows at his table all of my cigars and bought them a round.
I didn't smoke any cigars that night but still had a hell of a good time in the reflection of joy these men and women put out because they were so damn happy to be home.
:thumbs:
535th Combat Engineers
Grafenwöhr Germany
Deployed 367 days
Alot of these guys and gals are regulars at my local watering hole and were seriously missed while they were gone.
I decided to stop in and have a beer on Saturday and instead of the nearly empty bar I walked in to see alot of faces I consider if not friends then close acquaintances.
They had pulled in about 4 hours before and had a Midnight curfew to drink a few before starting an FX on the next day.
Of the few hundred soliders that went down range only 3 where injured in combat, and only one of those seriously (he is currently in Walter Reed recovering from a gunshot to the head).
The company did lose one man due to a heart attack while doing PT
(Always said PT was a killer).But it was really uplifting to see friends and acquaintances, that I hadn't seen in over a year and knowing that for at least a year they are out of harms way.
I had my 5 finger cigar case with me (I always take more smokes than I plan on smoking so I can make a choice on the spur of the moment and so that I have a few to give out in case I run into a BOTL in need). Well I knew at least one of the guys was a BOTL, so I offered him and the rest of the fellows at his table all of my cigars and bought them a round.
I didn't smoke any cigars that night but still had a hell of a good time in the reflection of joy these men and women put out because they were so damn happy to be home.
:thumbs:
