Out of school and bored
Okay, okay. I know I’ve been slacking. I’m not used to this whole non-school part of life and there hasn’t been much to write about lately. My room is super clean, my closet is organized and so is the rest of the house. I’m still waiting on a phone call to see the outcome of my interview last week. I would imagine I’d get a call by this Friday, but who knows.
In other news, my best friend is back from London where she’s been going to Richmond University. I think she leaves in about a week, though. I haven’t seen her in so long – maybe almost a year. Today is my first shot at actually seeing her face-to-face since she’s been home. We’re going to do a double date thing with our boyfriends and go see the new Star Trek movie. What can I say? We’re nerds, but no we don’t qualify as “trekkies.”
Has everyone heard about the tragedy in Iraq at Camp Liberty? Army Sgt. John Russell opened fire on the camp, killing five of his fellow soldiers. Ironically enough, he was at the stress clinic for the camp when he decided to start shooting. He is now being charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggrivated assault. Russell was on his third tour of duty. His story just further proves how incredibly taxing war is on the human mind. I’ve written about the guy I work with before and how incredibly angry he is. It’s actually scary sometimes. I can see him cracking and doing something like Russell did – he always seems just barely contained.
What does everyone else think of war, or what experiences have you had with someone who has lived through it?
Iraqi war consequences
I work with a guy who was sent on two tours of Iraq as part of a special operations unit for the U.S. Army. He returned home in November 2008 and began working again in December. It was immediately apparent to me how much what he had seen and done affected him.
For the sake of confidentiality, we’ll call this person P. Though I hadn’t known him for long before he left for Iraq, P seemed to be a relatively happy person – outgoing and funny though somewhat crude at times. Now that he’s back, his attitude has totally changed. He’s got the “me against the world” thing going. He’s angry. He’s callous. And he drinks one hell of a lot more than he used to. I’m not sure what to make of him.
I can’t blame the guy for what the war did to him. He’s killed dozens of people, lost many soldier friends and his unit was essentially blown up seven times. He has small dents on either side of his head as proof, but no stars from the Army. He’s still a good guy, but he’s so harsh now. He was a good enough actor that he fooled the Army shrink into thinking that he would return to civilian life completely normal. Though I get along with him just fine, I would not want to cross him… ever. I don’t want to see the full strength of his anger now that he’s been in the heart of the Iraqi war doing some of the most dangerous tasks the government could ask of him.
P is happy to be home, there’s no question about that. But he’s so different that all of his relationships have changed, and that can’t be helping things either. For a long while, everyone tiptoed around him and completely avoided any topic of death and destruction, which he brings up frequently. We’re still careful not to pop balloons while he’s around because he’s still pretty jumpy. P’s attitude at work seems the same, but those that have known him for a while can pick up on the underlying ripple of disquiet.
I respect P, and every other soldier, immensely for what they do. I would never have the strength, either physical or mental, to perform such tasks for the safety of freedom. But so many of them come home trapped in their own heads that the only thing I can say is that freedom definitely isn’t free. There are huge consequences and the mental toll it takes on all involved is certainly not the least of them.
