"Tu me manques" he whispers in French. Even when speaking another language his voice is laced with a southern drawl. Not like I'm going to complain. I won't have the chance to hear his voice for a few weeks.
When he returns he'll tell me all about it. It's all very real to him. For me, on the other hand, it's a whole other world. He'll point out every dent, every hole and I'll reach up and caress it. I can only imagine the roadside bombs that leave the damage, the same ones that he describes vividly.
He's one of the fortunate ones. Some that I've talked to have scars or nightmares. Or both. He doesn't. I hope it stays that way.
They asked for volunteers, so I volunteered. I deployed and spent a year in the sandbox. I came home. The Army decided I was too broken to serve any longer and gave me temporary medical retirement. I'm a civilian again and married right back in. My husband is gearing to deploy. In the meantime, I have a strange love-hate relationship with the Army. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it doesn't.
About Me
- Techno
- I'm a contradiction all by myself. Soldier and student. Stargazer and computer geek. Boots and music. Paper pusher and globetrotter. It all works out in the end.
Contact
A bit of history...
There was a call for volunteers to deploy in Spring of 2006. I volunteered, was selected, passed the screening process, and was sent to reclassification training to go from being a bandsman to a human resource specialist. After graduation, I was home for roughly a month. I met the rest of my new unit right before we were sent to mobilization training. Once validated, we were sent overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I left university, quit my job, dumped my foreign boyfriend, and said a few very painful goodbyes. But I don't regret it one bit.
In early August, I was MEDEVAC'd out of the desert. My unit was just a few weeks away from going home. Now my only job is to get better. The irony is that they returned to their homes before I did.The Army has offered me disability and temporary retirement pay. I'm taking it. Bye bye combat boots.
No comments:
Post a Comment