Entry # 75: October 14, 2006

Camp Slayer, Baghdad, Iraq

Rain. It has been approximately 6+ months since I last felt God’s tears pour down on me. Growing up in Georgia, the fierce Spring thunderstorms and the melancholy showers of Fall were both a Godsend and a disaster, depending on the current disposition of a certain shaggy blonde-haired boy. If I had a soccer game, I was despondent. If I had chores, praise for nature and fate filled my thoughts. I had Soldier chores today, but yet I welcomed the rain.

When each step leaves a path resembling that of Pigpen the Peanuts character, you realize the barren earth under you desperately needs a drink. Today, God opened up his heavenly Nalgene bottle and allowed Baghdad a pleasant sip of water. Maybe pleasant wasn’t the best word. Force fed along with gale force winds seems more suitable. It was interesting to see the sky light up with breath-taking lightning along with a powerful breeze. The violence of the sky seemed to accompany the same hostility that fills the streets of Baghdad.

The transformation in weather brought with it another change. The first wave of our replacements arrived, A-bags and rucksacks in hand. I gave them a quick tour of my facility and then when one of my NCOs took them to get them billeting, I casually turned a corner and did a quick “happy dance” which probably resembled a cross between a Cherokee war dance and a game of hopscotch. If you don’t get my point, I was ecstatic.

Three weeks to go. I have been banished by my commander from going outside the wire anymore, which my Mom will be pleased to read. My focus now turns to training the new batch of souls who have just arrived “in-country”. My platoon has accomplished its mission, now it’s time to ensure the fresh-faced, new uniform replacements can carry out theirs. And so the Soldier’s life continues…