This Veterans Day I wanted to say thanks to some of the people I crossed paths with in the Army way back when. These are folks that weren’t in my unit. They are just little memories that stuck with me. I know I’m leaving stuff out. It was along time ago. Faded memories…
Thanks:
– To the cooks at so many bases and middle-of-nowhere’s who were always waiting with a smile when we rolled up in the middle of the night and treated us so well. I don’t know if you know what a hot meal and your hospitality meant.
– To the cook at Friedberg that sent me back out to the field with hot pizza for my guys when it was freezing cold outside.
– To the Air Force cooks at Dhahran Air Base that could see we were exhausted and waltzed us pass the line of dozens of officers to feed us steaks.
– To the supply guy that gave us new clean BDU’s and a case of MRE’s even though he wasn’t supposed to.
– To the off-duty German MP who flagged us down and helped us search for the Air Force guy that had run his Porsche down through the woods.
– To the Norwegian soldiers we got drunk with and sang blues and 80’s metal all night in Nijmegen. Heineken baby!
– To the Canadian soldiers that backed us up when soldiers from another country got obnoxious in that bar. Take off eh.
– To the German soldier who dressed down the girl in that club that hated on us for being American soldiers.
– To the Saudi MP’s who invited us to dinner. Most of us couldn’t speak the same language yet you still made us feel welcome.
– To the mechanic that always took the extra time to make sure my HMMWV was always running at +100%. You worked late and scavenged what you needed even outside channels to make sure I always had the best running vehicle in the unit. I’m pretty sure you even went into your own pocket a few times to make it so.
– To the personnel clerk who got me assigned near home when I rotated stateside.
– To the I don’t know who from the chopper crew that stuck a fifth of JD in my ruck.
– To the Vietnam vet who paid for my meal at the airport. I’ve no words.
– To the NCO that snuck us out the back door and took the dressing down from the base commander for that little off-base uh…”incident”.
– To the Air Force guys at Ramstein Air Base that invited us over to their barracks for a party when our mission was delayed and we had nothing to do.
– To the Navy guys whose ship had hit a mine in the Gulf. I can still see you guys sitting in the tiny NCO club in Bahrain with bandages on your head. It was an honor to share a drink with you.
– To the female Chinook pilot who maneuvered that beast under multiple power lines and set us down safely. I didn’t know those things could do that.
– To the A-10 pilot who buzzed my tower after I mooned him. Well played sir!
Kelly says
Thank You Veterans everywhere!
Sue Ragan says
Oh, so many memories.
So many good people.
Thank you for your service Eric!
Dan from Indy says
Eric,thank you for your service,and all the men and women who have served our country,our country is a much safer place because of our VETS and PATRIOTS,its time to tip our glasses to our VETS,again thank you