Tuesday, January 1, 2008

31 December 2007: Goodbye 2007!

The final day, the last act, the setting sun, and in mortar lingo - "rounds complete!" Yes, 2007 has come to a close. It's New Year's Eve in Iraq. I can only speak for the microcosm of Camp Liberty. Today was like any other day. If it weren't for the calendar, I'd never know.

I kept my eyes open for signs of celebration. The decorations in the DFAC are still leftovers from Christmas. There were no flyers at the MWR advertising festivities. Perhaps one in ten Joes even said "Happy New Year!" I guess they are saving up for tomorrow.

I spent a good portion of the day finishing up the latest round of awards. My team also conducted a couple of HAZMAT container inspections. Work went on as usual. As dusk started to fall, the Cajun engineers were gearing up as usual. New Year's Eve or not, they were doing their normal night route recon. All their RG31's, Huskies, Buffaloes, and MRAP's were loaded, armed, and ready to rumble.

My last gasp on any celebration came as the clock approached midnight. I stepped out into the very chilly night to look, listen, and wait. At midnight it was almost whisper quiet. In the distance I heard a car horn honking. I shivered for about ten minutes past. As I turned to walk back inside I noticed a helicopter popping flares on the western horizon. Happy New Year! I had to go look at the calendar again just to be certain.

At least AFN carried the bowl games. I watched the Armed Forces Bowl and pulled for Air Force Academy. I was too tired to stay up for the other games.

That pretty much sums up the entire day. Goodbye 2007!

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