- This story is based on the events that unfolded in my life during my first deployment to Iraq, while serving my country in the United States Air Force. This is an account of what could have happened if I weren't already involved with another at the time... now, on to the story...
As I recall, it was a brisk German day in the middle of August. I had been stationed at Ramstien Air Base for about seven months now, and I was completely in fatuated with the gorgeous country-side. Now, more that ever, I was awe-struck because it was fall now, and endless rolling hills of green had now become ablaze with brilliant streaks of amber, chocolate, and rust. Automn had always been my favorite season, and growing up in Michigan, the colors are quite familliar to me, however, I had never seen them in such astonishing magnitude. Besides, after living in Florida for the past seven miserable years, i was relieved to see that the seasons still existed.
Yes, I absolutely adored Germany, well, all of Europe really. Unfortunately, what goes up, must eventually return down, and the down side of being in such a glorious place is the repuhensible base, but thats another story. Now, as a member of the military, I was well aware of the many sacrifices that I would be expected to make for my country, so it came as no surprise when I recieved orders to Iraq. In fact, having been in the military over three years by then, and was shocked that this would be the first time I had deployed.
Needless to say, with all of the media about the death toll in Iraq, I was a bit aprehensive about my tour there. Therefore, I had made all arrangements prior to my departure. I was living off base in a little town called Obermohr(OH-BEAR-MORE), so i had to make arrangements for my house to be taken care of. Thankfully, that was the easy part, I had a roomate at the time, all I needed to do was aquire the appropriate documentation so that he could take care of any house related issues until my return. I also had to perform the dreaded task of making a will, and distibute my life insurance accordingly, which, was quite depressing.
You can imagine how it felt when all of my preparations were completed. Having about two and a half week before i was scheduled to depart for what verywell may be my demise, I had decided to take a little vacation. I drove up to England with my roomate. He was born there and most of his family still lived there. So, I desided to meet his family, who live in Essex, in a quaint little town called Chelmsford. I enjoyed his family, though I longed to see my own. It was an uneventful trip to say the least, but it was just what I needed to claer my head.
We decided to first visit his aunt, Shirley and his uncle, China. They were a couple of charaters to say the least. China and I regailed eachother with stories of our lives, as Shirly cooked a traditional English beef stew, which was quite delectable, followed by a cup of tea with biscits in the sitting room. We discussed our mutual disapproval of the was that I was bieng sent off to engage in. China had been in the Brittish Army many years ago, and he told me a few stories of his adventures while serving his countryI was completely entralled, and hated to leave, but we had an agenda to keep. therefore, we said our farewells, and departed for our next destination.
Next, we visited his second cousins, Ivon and Roy, and there daughter, Donna, and her husband, Rob. They were quite a talkative bunch, which I was relieved of, because I wasn't in much of a talking mood at the time. They told me embarassing stories of Darren when he was a todler, making him blush, as we all had a good laugh at his expence. Donna discussed of her excitement about moving to a larger flat, which just happened to be the one upstairs from their current home. It reminded me of the anticipation I had when I had received my orders to Germany. I could have sat there for hours listening to them, but the truth was that I already had, and it was getting late. So, we said goodbye, and went to check into our hotel, which was less than a mile from Ivon and Roy's house.
I'n the morning, we went to visit everyone again before we had to go back home. our Euro Tunnel ticket was researved for that evening, giving us plenty of time to visit his grandmother, which he simply called Nan, and his great aunt, Elsie, who lived only two miles from eachother. Nan was quite livly for aa woman of eighty seven, I found it inappropriately humorous, however, seeing her zip around her little bungalo, because she is such a tiny little woman, coulndn't be more than five feet tall, and she had to weigh about seventy pounds. We sat there and chatted for a few hors abot ramdom topics. I did most of the talking though, because she is a little hard of hearing, and Darren talks like he's in an elevator all the time. It was then time to leave, we didn't have the time to visit Elsie though if we wanted to make our reseavations for the train.
We made it to the station with only minutes to spare, checked in and got in the line. See, in case you didn't know about it, there is a tunnel that goes nder the English channel. The tunnel has multiple rails going through it, and you can purchase tickets to ride the train as a passenger, or you can purchase a ticket for a different train that allows you to drive your car onto the train and ride the train sitting in your car. This was what we did because I wanted to bring my own transportation with me. Either option takes you between England and France in about thirty minutes.
With the unsettling knowledge that I still had to be up for work in the morning, I sat a little uneasy when midnight struck and we were still in Belgium, so I decided to pull over and let Darren drive the rest of the way. I passed out rather quickly, which didn't really surprise me because I had been awake and on the move since six in the morning. We arrived home at about three, and decided to just go to bed and take care of the bags later. As I got into bed I set my alarm and dreaded the fact that it would be screaming at me in less than two hours, at least I had gotten three hours of sleep in the car
