THURSDAY, MAY 4th

Alright, so I’ve been thinking about writing on this topic for awhile. And though I will start writing about it now, I doubt I’ll finish.

Tonight our drill sergeants did something spectacular: they showed us the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Why? For motivation. If you haven’t seen the first 15 minutes, you probably should. If you have seen it, you should understand how impacting it is. It puts things into perspective, especially our M16 marksmanship training.

But for the first time, that scene really freaked me out. The weapons and their effects, hand signals, chain of command, radio communication, troop breakdown, fortified defenses, formations and first aid treatment were all similar to what I’ve seen in training.

It’s hard to explain my shock. Imagine your average high school student going to “Army” camp. They shoot weapons, learn how to march, and basically play soldier for a few months. Then confront them with the news that their training is supposed to prepare them for situations like Omaha Beach. Suddenly the silhouette targets that we shoot with M16s take on a whole new meaning.

You should see some of the kids I’m training with that are set to be deployed to Iraq right after training. Personally, I wouldn’t trust them with a butter knife. “Immaturity” doesn’t quite cover it. More like retarded monkeys that are obsessed with candy, female monkeys, and bodily functions. I know this describes most males, but you get the picture. I also want to make clear that I’m not talking about everybody. Some men here are true family men looking to find a way to support their families. And, from what I’ve seen, the Army takes care of them.

All of these guys, from all different types of life, came to the Army. In my opinion, most came to escape something, either in the present or near future. Dead end job. No money. Parents kicked them out. Money for college. I know I did.

Of course, all of us have a common thread of love for our country (though I doubt many understand how that common thread has kept adding stars to our flag). But soon, very soon, too soon, we’ll be going to “the sandbox” (Middle East) to do our part and fight as fiercely as we saw today. And when we get there, we won’t know each other because we will have trained at different locations, at different times, in different specialties.

But we only have each other to trust, to fight with, to support us.

How will I know the guy watching my back or running beside me won’t leave me and run for cover? Because he graduated from this training. How do I know he can provide suppressing fire when I move forward? Because he qualified with an M16 during training. Because he never quit running. Because he didn’t panic when he couldn’t breathe in the gas chamber. Or because he has patches, medals, and rank that represent accomplishments like these.

Anyway, I continue to be amazed with the type of people here. It’s amazing to think of what kids like these have faced in the past and what these kids will face in the future.