Marines in Fallujah
Today I went to Fox News' website to find out when the State of the Union Address would air. While there, I caught this article about the troop levels in Fallujah having decreased from 3,000 at the end of 2006 to around 250 today. It's gone down 90% since I was there. I can't even imagine that massive base having only two or so companies on it. The point is, evidently things are pretty much cleaned up in Fallujah, and the Iraqi Police are nearly ready to take over (or whatever you want to call it...I wouldn't trust those bastards with a butter knife).
I mentioned this to my friend Karnolt, who was my best bud there, in an email after talking to him tonight. His response was "Wow, I'm very proud to say that I served in [Iraq] out of Camp Fallujah and it is practically a success." I hadn't even thought of it like that, I'd just thought it was an interesting news item. But indeed, the impending success of the Fallujah Marines' mission is in part my own success, and my efforts there helped to make this happen. And that feels pretty damn good.
I mentioned this to my friend Karnolt, who was my best bud there, in an email after talking to him tonight. His response was "Wow, I'm very proud to say that I served in [Iraq] out of Camp Fallujah and it is practically a success." I hadn't even thought of it like that, I'd just thought it was an interesting news item. But indeed, the impending success of the Fallujah Marines' mission is in part my own success, and my efforts there helped to make this happen. And that feels pretty damn good.
posted by Roger W. at 6:38 PM
4 Comments:
Roger,
I saw this post soon after you put it up, and wrote a long comment about it then. Unfortunately, I must have done something wrong when I tried to publish it, because it disappeared! That pissed me off, and I'm not going to try and duplicate it. It is enough to say that you, Karnolt, and all your fellow Marines have a lot to be proud of. Most people stand idly by, but you and those like you took action! Congratulations!
Dad
Hey Roger,
Sounds like i may be working along side of some marines in afghanistan now. I'm hoping there won't be much conflict between us so we can accomplish a common goal and make afghanistan more like what fallujah is now.
Ryan,
I think you'll find that there's always at least a friendly rivalry between Army dogs and jarheads, but the closer you work alongside the other team, the more you come to appreciate each others' abilities. I've found that the biggest reason I've ever disparaged the Army at its root is that soldiers are treated more personably than Marines; i.e., I would be happy to have the tables turned, because it seems like there's less b.s. in the Army, fewer egos to be fed and things like that. On the whole, I doubt there's much difference in the two at all, and on the individual level, I'd say we're (common soldiers and common Marines) made of the same stuff. I'd let a soldier have my back any day over a randomly selected civilian.
While I was in Iraq, one of my sergeants, Sgt. Braswell, had an uncle or something who was I think a lt. colonel in the Army, stationed in Ramadi. We had tried to get the bulletproof glass cases for humvee turrets through our command the whole time we were over there, but they repeatedly declined the funding for it. So Sgt. Braswell contacted his uncle, who had a bunch of them lying around, and after a mission to Ramadi, about six other Marines and I stayed there for a day to meet his unit, weld them up and put them on our turrets, then went back to Fallujah. While I was in Ramadi, I was working with this incredibly capable specialist who busted his ass all day long to show us what we needed to do and help us put them together. The soldiers I worked with were great guys, extremely generous in letting us use their equipment and tools and by the time I left, most of my notions of superiority were gone, and I was left with a large amount of respect for and brotherhood with your average soldier. We're all risking the same things and giving our all to a common cause, and the mission is better off for our ability to cooperate and appreciate our brother warfighters' strengths.
Roger,
Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to see that despite the differences, marines and soldiers are still able to work along side and respect each other. As far as the b.s. is concerned, there is still a large share of that in the army that goes around. But in regards to the treatment and ego's i'd have to agree with you. I've found that since i've joined my unit i can easily talk and joke with platoon sgts, officers, and even the first sgt. It's almost like a family where you still show respect to the elders, but they don't feel they have to be impersonable because of rank. this isn't to say that i just say whatever i want to the first sgt or troop commander.
I think i may be one of only a handful of people who actually look foward to working with the marines. I do have to say that this is partially because i have family in the marines. But i also want to work along side because i like learning about the other branches of the military from somebody who is in that branch. Regardless of what branch they are, they wear the uniform of the united states military and that right there is something to show respect for.
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