Of Heritage and Horror

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to watch some movies on DVD. By chance, two of the movies dealt with the holocaust. One was Roman Polanski’s Academy Award winning masterpiece, The Pianist. (Note: For those of you who haven’t seen this film, I recommend you watch it as soon as possible. It is that good.) The 2002 film, based on the memoir of the same name, follows Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman’s day to day life from the early days of the German occupation of Poland through the end of the war.
The other was 2008’s The Reader, starring Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet, who, by the way, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. The movie details a youthful affair between the two protagonists and how their lives cross years later in light of the revelation that Winslet’s character had been a guard at Auschwitz during World War II.

Both movies explore the human experience during Hitler’s attempt at exterminating the Jews – in showing both mankinds’ ability to maintain hope in the face of the most adverse conditions imaginable and in its ability to savage fellow human beings.

While watching these films, I could not help but recall my visit to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 2005. We were at the end of a three-week training mission in Hohenfels, Germany. The visit to Dachau was part of a tour of cultural and historic sites.

It was early March, so the winter winds were still biting. It was very somber, as you might imagine. Even my Soldiers, who are normally constant wise-asses, were quiet and reserved as they walked through the exhibits and prisoner barracks that the curators left standing so visitors could see the wretched conditions the Jewish prisoners lived in.

Towards the end of our time there a group of Soldiers approached – each in his own way appeared disturbed by what he had seen. One of them, a corporal, asked me the question nobody in the civilized world has been able to answer for sixty years: “How did this happen?”

I told them to think about what they had seen and to remember that this is why we fight. Because men are still willing to prey on their weakest neighbors and commit unspeakable atrocities against the weak and the defenseless. We do what we do because we have an obligation, as free human beings, to travel to faraway places and try to make things right – or at least to protect the weak who cannot protect themselves. Bosnia, Somalia, Darfur… All places where human beings have descended into the evil shadows of themselves.

I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those American Soldiers in Europe when they stumbled upon the concentration camps. Death camps filled with the skinny, wretched victims of the worst mankind has to offer.

I can’t imagine what they felt, but I am proud to share my heritage with them.

Relief at last...

Finally, a moment to breathe. Last night - well, this morning really, thanks to the seven-hour time difference - two of my three classes ended. I'm still exhausted. I finished my last paper and submitted it around 0830, but then I had to attend an IG briefing at 1000. I walked to my room and managed a thirty minute nap. Of course, the briefer was late and we didn't start until twenty minutes after. When I finally got to sleep, it was only good for a couple of hours because I had to meet someone at my office for an investigative interview. After that, I figured I might as well stay up for the remainder and try to click back into a normal sleep schedule.

This week, I will drag myself back to the gym and try to tighten up before going on leave.

I'm very excited about my mid-tour leave coming up next month. I'm flying to Alaska where I'll meet up with Andi and the kids. I haven't checked it on the globe, but my suspicion is that I am flying the long way around the planet. I have to remember to bring my travel mug on the plane - Soldiers are not permitted to imbibe of delicious adult beverages while in uniform, so I will do what we warriors do best: camouflage!

We have a beautiful cabin rented about an hour north of Anchorage. A salmon filled stream runs through the property behind the house. It sounds like a perfect break away from this sand-filled spot in the middle of nowhere. We have some different activities planned to do with the kids, but mostly I just want to chill out and enjoy my time with my family.

My sister found some old pictures of me from when I was a young, 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper - lean and mean. Hard to believe I was ever that young...or that thin.

Hail Scholasticus!

I can almost see the finish line from here. Two of the three college classes I'm taking end next weekend. I might actually get a chance to breathe after that. Lately, my days are filled with company business during daylight followed by reading textbooks, writing papers, and taking online exams in the evening. Saturday and Sunday are usually my crunch time - that's when I hit the deadline for most of my assignments and the best days to atone for the week's procrastination.

Tonight is no different. Fueled by gallons of fresh, black coffee and an iPod filled with Black Flag, Lou Reed, and N.W.A., I will be reading and typing until dawn. In the morning, I'll crawl to the chow hall for eggs, Tabasco sauce, and more coffee; then use my new found energy to stagger across the compound to the trailer where my bed is. If I time it right, I'll stay awake long enough to undress before I fall into my Monday morning coma.

On the upside, one of my assignments this week was to watch Crimson Tide and then answer several essay questions about the leadership styles of the two main characters, played by Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Not a bad gig, watching DVDs for homework. I expect to have my degree complete before the end of the deployment.

Next week, I'll celebrate by cracking open a book that has nothing to do with school and then find my way back to the gym. My trips to the gym have screeched to a stop until the end of the semester next week (I actually still have a week or two left in my Behavioral Management class, but once the work load drops to one class, the gym becomes realistic again), but my morning runs have stayed pretty constant. I've hit a plateau with my 5K time, though. I have to integrate some interval training and speed work into the runs if I want to break the stalemate.

Time to sign off and get back to the books. This has been a welcome distraction, but unless my professors start giving extra credit for blog entries then this is getting me no where.

Hellion Six, out!

St. Paddy's 5-K

25:40 in the Saint Patrick's Day 5K - not my best, but acceptable. 

Two of my Soldiers received medals this morning. One took 3rd place female in her age group and the other took 2nd place overall. Great job by both of them!

The temp this morning was fairly cool, although it was windy and hazy. Not a full on sand or dust storm, but a lot of sand in the air. That's nice for cutting down the glare of the sun in the second half of the run, but it can rough on the lungs.

Today, I'll be blasting those in the area of my CP with plenty of Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!

Saint Patrick's Day

Greetings loyal readers! It is time for my monthly entry and my monthly promise to post more frequently. This post may be old news to some of you, depending on who's receiving what emails from me.

We've been getting settled in here in the Gulf and learning what we need to learn in order to take over this mission from the unit we are replacing. The conditions are austere, but in the big scheme of things, this is pretty good living for a deployment.

    My "driveway" during a morning sandstorm.


There's plenty to do for us to stay busy here - everything from fitness to martial arts to college classes. Today, I started one of three online college courses I'm taking this month. If all goes according to plan, I will finish my degree by the end of the summer. I've been trying to alternate my mornings with either running or spinning and then do something else in the afternoon or evening. I've been able to squeeze in a few P90X sessions (which, quite frankly kicked my ass) and a couple jujitsu classes (which also kicked my ass...does anyone else see a pattern here?).

Tomorrow morning is the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) Saint Patrick's Day 5K Run, or as we call it here: a chance to get a free t-shirt! What can I say? Our options are kind of limited. Thanks to the evil that is General Order Number One - the DoD's prohibition against alcohol in combat zones - my options are pretty much limited to running the 5-K in the morning and maybe knocking back a few O'Doul's after work.

Lest any of you get the mistaken impression that I am spending my days running 5-Ks and doing schoolwork, that isn't the case. The fact is that the Army frowns on Soldiers discussing mission details on blogs. Remember the expression, "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you."? Well, this is "I'd tell you, but I'd have to go to prison."

Thank you again to everyone for their support.

PJO

On Pass

I'm back at wonderful Fort Hood, Texas - The Great Place - at least that's what the sign at the front gate declares. I spent the past four days on pass. It was both a welcome relief from training and preparing to cross the water and a nice chance to spend some time with Andrea and the boys.

On Saturday, we stayed local and took the boys to the First Cavalry Division Museum here on post. They enjoyed it, but I think Matthew tapped out early with boredom. Nicholas, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the tanks, trucks, and helicopters on static display outside the museum. Afterwards, we drove to the Belton Dam. While we were there, we spied a seafood restaurant called the Dead Fish Grill. It looked decent enough and the dining room looked out over Belton Lake, so we gave it a shot. It was an excellent choice. We had the peel and eat shrimp followed by fish sandwiches. All of it was delicious.

Sunday, we decided to drive a couple of hours north to Dallas. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Press Box Grill in downtown Dallas - the food was excellent, but the service was beyond terrible - then headed to the Dallas Zoo. We had given the boys a choice between the zoo and the science museum and they both screamed, "ZOO!!!" in unison. The zoo's high points included the King Cobra, Black Mamba, and the albino Alligators. To round out our time in Dallas, we returned to downtown and took the boys to the site of the JFK assassination. I explained to Matthew who JFK was, explained a little about the assassination, and pointed out the window Lee Harvey Oswald shot from. Then I told him just to file the information away in his brain so that when he learns about this in history class one day, he can dust off his memories and  have a decent visualization of what they're teaching.

The next day, we headed south to San Antonio. Of course, we made the obligatory stop at the Alamo first. Unfortunately for the educational-minded parent in me, the boys immediately spotted the Ripley's Believe It Or Not and Guinness Book of World Records museums across the street. They begged, I gave in, we ended up spending some hard earned money and time looking at the World's Largest Twister Game and reading about the World's Largest Star Wars Memorabilia Collection (it's in England, by the way). We ate lunch at the Chart House, a revolving restaurant at the top of the Tower of the America's. It sits almost six hundred feet in the air and provides the diner with a revolving, panoramic view of San Antonio. After lunch, we wandered the Riverwalk for a bit, took a boat tour, and enjoyed a late dinner of Mexican food.






The last day of my pass began with every kid's favorite thrill - the falling of fresh snow. After remaining snow-free since 1989, Killeen, Texas received somewhere around two and a half inches of powder on Tuesday. The boys made snowmen and we ended the day with a massive, hour-long snowball fight between me, Matthew, and Nicholas. Afterwards, we ordered a pizza delivery and chilled out in the hotel room watching Animal Planet. It was close to midnight when my ride to North Fort Hood arrived and I was forced to say good-bye once again. It was sad but the sadness was offset by how much fun I had running around with the boys and enjoying some romantic time with Andrea.

4 a.m.

I know it has been a while since I’ve posted, but we’ve been busy…crazy busy. The past six weeks or so have been a non-stop gaggle of training, chasing training documents, weapons ranges, and the monster of all of it – planning the logistics of moving this entire task force across the ocean with all the proper weapons, computers, radios, personnel, and other miscellaneous equipment needed to fight the conflict formerly known as the Global War on Terror.

Today started with an unexpected four a.m. wake up call from the Tactical Operations Center. Never a good start to a morning. Forty minutes and three more wake-up calls later, I just said to hell with it and got up. Luckily, I just got a fresh re-supply of my favorite coffee, so I brewed a pot, hit the shower, and started the day with full-tilt crisis management. It all seemed to work out in the end, but Chapter Two will come later when I try to crush the skull of the miscreant who started the whole thing by passing along unverified and incorrect information.

Other than that, things are going well. I manage to squeeze in enough time to run or hit the gym every day and I can usually end the day with a little reading time. Depending on my levels of exhaustion, I might only get to a page or two, but I try to stay religious about it. Mike W. was kind enough to loan me Inside Out – Personal History of Pink Floyd, written by long time Floyd drummer Nick Mason. I also picked up a dog-eared copy of Jon Ronson’s book, The Men Who Stare at Goats – which details the efforts by U.S. intelligence and Army Special Forces to explore the psychics and mind-control. The Grant Heslov movie by the same name is based on this book.

Anyway, that’s all that is new in the world of Central Texas Army life. I’ll post up some more soon and I promise to update this more frequently if I can.