Goodbye

Day 1 23NOV2009:

Goodbye is hard. It’s hard knowing that you won’t see the person you love for months at a time. How will I change? How will she change? Will my dog recognize me? Will our lives fall back into place? I love my life. Many questions run through your mind. I really dont have any fear about going to Iraq. We are deploying to a huge FOB and I will have to travel to a few other locations to treat Soldiers from different battalions but lately all bad news coming from Iraq dealt with civilians being killed. We don’t have any combat operations ongoing. Over the past few days when I would think about how hard it is for me to leave my wife I would try to think of all the Soldiers over the last 7 or 8 years that were going into a much more dangerous situation. Or even today’s Soldiers who will be leaving for Afghanistan. I have it easy…but it’s still not easy. It’s putting your real life on hold and stupid shit can happen.

We have orders for a 365 day deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am a Brigade Physical Therapist attached to Charlie Med Company of the 501^st Brigade Support Battalion with the 1^st Brigade 1^st Armored Division. None of that matters to you if you are not in the Army. My mission leading up to today was readiness. My mission starting today is to conserve the fighting strength. Mostly ill deal with aching backs from Soldiers wearing their IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest/the current Army protective vest). We’ll treat sprained ankles, torn ACL’s and neck pain. Some Soldier’s will get heat exhaustion. Our biggest threat is likely to be ourselves. Someone will roll a vehicle, one will fall off a truck, and someone may accidently shoot themselves. Two weeks ago a US Army Major and mental health professional killed 13 fellow Soldiers at Ft Hood. There is a reason some people end up as mental health professionals, they need mental help. This is an extreme case but fratricide is definitely on my mind. I mean I have told more than a couple of Soldiers that they are full of shit in the weeks leading up to today as they tried to convince me that their back hurts so bad they can function as a Soldier. Really! You’re 19 years old. You signed up to do a job, now suck it up and do your job. Fucking dirt bag. I should probably be more tactful with some of these guys. He’s not a dirt bag.

Goodbye is hard. I was supposed to deploy on the 19^th of NOV. That was changed 3 days prior and the new date was yesterday. I got a call the night before yesterday that we would not deploy till today. Seems like it shouldn’t be a big deal…but it is. Its takes preparation to say good bye and drawing that process out takes a toll. I could see it on many faces today. I watched parents and wives try to be strong. I saw young girls and boys say good bye to their moms and dads and they did not bother being strong, they just show their emotions as they feel them. So I haven’t slept in the last few nights and probably have not eaten as much either. My hunger was remedied today because after saying good bye to my wife and mom my apetite came back. The FRG had burgers, the DAG had steak and now on the plane I just finished off a roast beef sandwich. You will not go hungry in the Army.

We are in the air now headed for Wisconsin. Yes, I guess some other Soldiers need to hitch a ride. Then it’s off to Germany and then to Kuwait for a couple weeks of training. I have no idea how long this will take but it will suck.