Are any of you paying attention to the temperature here? If you aren’t just take a look from time to time. We’re up to about 115 today and climbing. LSAA is only a couple of weeks away from the blast furnace highs of a normal Iraqi summer. That’s great because it’s just in time for missions to start again. It’s a beautiful feeling to enjoy these temperatures wearing a full compliment of body armor, weapons, basic load of ammo, and other gear. Now I push 155 soaking wet out of the shower. Add everything else and I’m up to about 240. Throw in 120 plus temps and I’m good to go. Seriously, when I see the soldiers carrying about their business in this heat I swell with pride. Joes are amazing. They work hard, understand teamwork, watch out for one another, and never skip a beat of humor while working in the worst of conditions. I don’t want to sound cliché but I have to point out something. Joes are forged through their experience into a brotherhood that simply can’t be understood by those who’ve never served. A platoon of Joes holds closer bonds than most families. Generation after generation has seen the forging of the warrior comradeship. Yet every generation has seen that it is a warrior elite. We’re not an elite because of money, race, beliefs, or religion. We are elite because there are so few of us. We accept the difficult tasks of being a soldier, of placing service to country above ourselves, of understanding that we may pay the ultimate price. We also went through the hardship together. In the Shakespeare play “Henry V”, King Henry delivers a speech to his army on the eve of battle at Agincourt. In his speech he speaks of “we few, we merry few”. Right before your eyes it’s happening again for a very small slice of a generation of Americans. I’m glad to be a part of this – and thankful. My father spent 23 years in the Marines. Often he would provide his mentorship to my officer development. His words were golden wisdom but for so long I just couldn’t quite grasp what he spoke of. I get it now. I’m very proud to be just another generation of my family that understands.
How did my day go? Uneventful is the best word. What was the highlight? The menu for supper included fried catfish and crab legs. The crab legs were fuckin’ mutant! They were as long as my dinner tray (I’m not kidding). When the TCN handed my plate to me he started laughing at the ridiculous sight. Here’s a regular plate that has normal portions of food except for two crab legs that extend at least six inches off the plate on either side. I’m glad the crab was dead. I can’t imagine tangling with this mutant crustacean. It just had to be the one time I don’t have my camera with me. None of you will believe this story. I was here, you weren’t. So there!
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