Not A Warrior, But......
You know the drill.
Dad was a multi-multi pilot, grandfather was artillery, great-granddad was cav, great-great was a leg, etc..... I had dreams of flying Cobras (or at least Hueys - they may be old school now, but they were
King Shnizzit back in the 70's); even though I logically knew
that wasn't any more than a dream for a guy who became "four-eyed" at 8 yrs old.
But the "Modern All-Volunteer Army" didn't have any place for a High School kid with a blown-out knee; so Trish (and you, I guess) picked up the colors I had to drop. Well.
Spent a lot of time yesterday, running around with Post 19; support crew on 40/8's "Train". Ceremonial Team fired "salute" and blew Taps for Post 802 (Quechan Tribal Post), then Aux 19 dropped a wreath off the old bridge by the Territorial Prison - more guns and Taps. Then to Desert Lawn for that Memorial Service. Colors, guns and Taps, -Matt policed a lot of brass yesterday! At Desert Lawn, like a good SAL member, I "stood in" for Derek Caley (Goofball fell asleep face down while fishing on the Gila River
-no shirt- Friday afternoon. Now he has blisters on his sunburn
) by putting on a c**t-cap and placing the wreath for family members of the fallen warriors. Then on to the cemetary at the Foothills (name?) for more Taps, guns and more brass for Matt. Then the Moose Lodge, colors, guns, brass for Matty, Taps, etc. By the time we were done, the two buglers had their echo down perfectly. Back to the Post for BBQ and beer. Somewhere along the line, I offered my opinion on the train's oil leak which only occurs on long runs like from Yuma out to the Foothils; and now my job-jar has the addition of changing valve-cover gaskets on the 454 BBC stuffed in the middle of that contraption.
You ever looked in the engine bay of that sucker? About 1/4" clearance between the engine and the sides of the body, once I twist myself into a pretzel to get a seat on top of the air cleaner housing
Oh well, just doin' my part I guess.
Anyways; back on topic. You had your reasons for joining up, just as Trish did. Looking back, you probably think they were pretty weak reasons in the grand scheme of things. 25 years from now, whatever you're doing, the reasons will be different, and a lot more important to you. And for
those reasons, you have my pride and my respect. Doin' good, man.
Dawg
Oh yeah. The Ceremonial Team fires Garands, and I don't have anything that shoots a '30-06. Now what the H*** am I gonna do with all that brass Matt brought home?