2006-07-21 - 8:16 p.m.
I'm a key caller for the Family Readiness Group (FRG) for the 37th Engineering Battalion. The FRG is made up of the spouses, parents, and relatives of the deployed soldiers. We are the phone tree: the FRG is how the battalion gets news out to spouses and parents.
I had the duty this evening of calling a dozen parents and loved ones to let them know that, while their particular soldier is just fine, another member of the battalion was killed in action yesterday. (A first sergeant, who leaves behind a wife and two kids. There was a mortar attack after midnight, no one else was hurt, but the first sergeant was killed by shrapnel.)
The reason we call is to allay the fears that people get when watching the news (imagine hearing "A soldier in the 37th Engineering Battalion was killed in action today..."). Also, when a soldier is injured or killed, the command cuts off communication at the bases until the next of kin is notified, so suddenly we get no email, no phone calls, nothing. It's easy to imagine the worst. So we called to let them know which soldier died, and also let them know that he was at a different base than their relative. As in, "your child is not in that particular dangerous place." He or she might be in an equally dangerous place elsewhere, but not that one.
I was careful to tell them the good news first, but damn. When I got the news, I felt terrible for the family of the guy who was killed (mortar attack on a base in Afghanistan), but immensely relieved that it wasn't my soldier. From the conversations I had, the feeling is pretty much unanimous.
This is the first time we've had any casualties in the battalion since I've known David. I'm so glad it wasn't him. (We did have a bad injury when he was in Afghanistan in 2002, but no deaths.)
Can we impeach him now? Will somebody please give that asshole a blowjob so we can impeach the motherfucker already?
I know one casualty is not a surprise in an ongoing war, but God damn it. Where does it end? Vietnam with sand, is what this is. Do we lose another 11,000 soldiers to this insanity? Two more years of this wackjob, and who knows what else he'll come up with. Nuke North Korea? Invade Iran? How about Syria? It's not that big. Make no mistake: George thinks he's on a mission from God, and he does not care if he brings about the Apocalypse. As long as it doesn't cut into Exxon's profits.
Oh, yeah, my 20th anniversary was Wednesday. I'm delighted to be sober, I really am. I don't want to minimize it. But right now, I'm just angry.
