Thursday, August 11, 2005

Skin Deep

Seven PA Guardsmen were killed in Iraq this week. This memory surfaced.

Joe sits across from me at the table eating a slice of pizza that looks and tastes like cardboard. We're at 'Chuck E Cheese' for my sons birthday party. The noise of arcade machines, music and screaming little ones has brought on our retreat back to the table.

Joe's 10 years older and a foot shorter than me. His head is balding, with his remaing hair, grey and cropped short. He's got bug eyes.

"Whoa, check her out!" He says alittle too loudly.

This particular Chuck E Cheese is located in one of the richest towns in the US. The room is full of stay at home Mom's who have Nanny's and time to go to the gym.
"Ya know Joe, I'll bet she needs a man who will pay attention to her" I tease him. We joke abit about becoming BoyToys for the rich and famous. Using our kids as bait to meet women.

Joe's grew up in south Philly and fully plays the part. He's brash, only knows dirty jokes, and tells people that he wants to sleep with their wives to see how they'll react. His own wife is tiny and shy, and he's madly in love with her.

Today he's wearing a bright red Phillies Jersey. All of the letters are stitched on and it looks like something that costs $200. The jersey is far too big and goes down to his knees. Joe's sweating.

Our kids run by the table at top speed, none of them have shoes on. I'm drinking warm cola from a clear yellow plastic pitcher. Joe's admiring the kids and mentions 'Situational Awareness'

I crack up at him and he laughs too. It's one of his Army words and you can see worry behind his eyes. We talk about the Army for awhile.
"How soon do you go?"
"A couple of weeks"
"How long will you be gone"
"At least 18 Months"
"Wow"
"Yeah...." he kinda trails off into another world for a moment. I have many questions about what his wife and kids will do when he's gone, but I dont ask them. I can see he's got the same questions.

Joe was a career Army guy who got out during the Clinton Administration. He owns his own company now and is very successful. He's been to conflicts all over the world, and now has been called up with his PA Guard unit.

Joe speaks Pashtu. He's an experienced Interrigator. He's also a Colonol of some kind. We have a conversation on the differences of breaking a New York Street Thug and an Al Queada Militant. Somebody in a furry Mouse Suit walks by handing out yellow prize tickets to 5 year olds.

Later that night Joe will leave three increasingly drunk and angry phone calls on my answering machine. I call him the next morning and tease him, he intended them for someone else, but kept hitting redial on the phone to my house.

3 comments:

steakbellie said...

exactly. This guys been gone acouple of months now and has a MINIMUM of 16 more months to go.

In my mind, people in the Guard and Reserves are there because they have a certain combination of skills, patriotism, and financial need. They are willing to put their REAL lives on hold, during emergencies like hurricanes and blizzards to help keep the order for their state and community.

I see them as 'first responders' like an EMT. You'd be happy to see one if you had a heart attack, but the person you REALLY need to see is a Cardiologist.

We're using these guys like they were fulltime soldiers. We're EXPLOITING them to make up for embarrassing gaps in planning. These guys are paying a dear price now. They have wives, children, jobs and mortgages that must go on....

Our Governments abuse of the Reserve System will kill it. I heard a Radio Plea for people to join the Reserves. They are still saying that 'one weekend a month, two weeks a year' crap. Everyone knows the second you sign your name they are going to send your ass over to Iraq.

I'm sorry, I blacked out for a second, did I get political again?

d.K. said...

You know, the reserves and the Guard were not called to active duty at all during Vietnam. As a result, there developed a real "gulf" between the American community and the social island that comprised the soldiers and marines. In the 1970s, the Army purposely re-designed its doctrine to make the Guard and Reserve an integral part of the deployable fighting team. The idea was that this would maintain the connection between the troops and the American public. Well, it has. That community in Ohio that lost 14 soldiers last week is definitely connected to this war. And while American genuinely care about the soldiers (mostly boys and girls, really) this may have unintended results. I think that seeing these mounting casualties, and feeling at the same time connected to those young people, has sped up the popular demand that this war end. These troops are not out of sight and out of mind, which to some degree during Vietnam they were - as a subculture, really.
The Guard and Reserves are struggling to enlist new people - what a surprise. Yes, they have definitely been abused in this war. It's heartbreaking.

steakbellie said...

I didnt know that about the Guard in Vietnam and I guess that explains why w got himself into the Texas Air Guard.

There's an article in todays Philly Metro talking about the 7 PA Guardsmen, and how hard it can be for these people to grieve at war. Many of the Guardsmen have known each other and families since youth.

I do think it's important that the public feel a connection to these soldiers. I'm grateful that they are willing to risk such damage to themselves and all that they have built in life. I regret that in this case it was for a boy calling 'Wolf'.

I can think of 3 guys in my community and 1 cousin that are over there, or have done a stint there for this war. All of them are civilian soliders. That has certainly helped me keep the soldiers in my mind.