Mixed Feelings
I've put off posting on this subject for a bit. I've been trying to come to terms with myself. You see my old unit, now called HHC 116th IBCT, left the armory for deployment on the 3rd of May 2007. I was sorry to see them go but glad I wasn't with them. My problem isn't that I'm relieved I didn't go. After all, I'm 53 years old. I think that's really too old for an infantryman even though they've been out there in the past and current conflict. I also feel that I gave God, the Fates, or whomever you care to blame/credit with running the world 27½ years of opportunity to put my butt in harm's way.
Oh, I know I might just be in more danger here. After all we've had a drive-by shooting right in front of the house (unsolved) and a fugitive hiding out on the front porch (caught now but he was armed as the chase began and the wife was in the backyard. The neighborhood seems to be going down hill with more trash thrown in the yard, and more frequent incidents such as those I just mentioned. But I've no desire to be constantly thinking that I need to watch out for having folks for whom I'm responsible.
After 27½ years one of the downsides is that you get more and more responsibility. Not just for things though, one is responsible for people, too. I'm not really excited about the need to write consolation letters home to family members. I understand that a Virginia Guard member was killed by an IED in Iraq recently. I'm glad I didn't have to write his family.
Labels: Military
