Archive for September 7th, 2007

I don’t usually post petition solicitations and the like, but in this case I feel it is warranted.  Cyril Richard “Rick” Rescorla is one of those few true heroes you rarely hear about anymore.  I think his actions, heck his entire life, deserve the Medal of Freedom.  I have followed his particular story for a little while, but go read it for yourself and make your own decision.  If you would like, here is the petition.

Sorry its been a bit since I left a post, but life here just kind of seems to drag on.  The days seem to be getting longer now that our redeployment date is nearing.  The days themselves are slightly cooler, but thats only because the sun can’t sear the desert for as many hours during the day.  Its still mostly a miserable event to be stuck in a humvee all day, especially when the air goes out, but I guess in the end a balmy 100 degrees is a fair bit better than 122 degrees. 

We went out to an area that was once a coalition outpost yesterday.  Before that it was one of Saddam’s many ammunition dumps.  The place was a huge, many miled, wasteland scattered with debris from the bunkers and structures that used to be there.  There were rusted shell casings and vehicle parts every few feet, and I couldn’t help but imagine just how big that place was before we bombed it out of existence. We drove through the old outpost to get out there.  High earthen barriers and rotten HESCO barriers topped with the green shreds of old sandbag emplacements made the entrance seem like something straight out of a 1970s post apocalyptic movie.  I half expected Mad Max to come barreling over the top of one of the craters.  It didn’t help the that the sky had turned that sickening gray/brown you can only get here and the wind was blowing hot and hard from an oncoming dust storm.  It was probably the most desolate place I have seen yet, and that is saying a lot in this country.  The place was creepy and you could feel death there.