Being thankful, Day #10

Without a doubt my life was dramatically changed when i joined the Army National Guard in the summer of 1986.  But it may not be for the things that might pop into one's mind.  By the time i joined that days of D.I.'s Like R. Lee Ermey's portrayal in the movie Full Metal Jacket where mostly over. I was a High School dropout that did not hold a job for more than three or four months.  Finally employers were not take a chance on me.  So, while searching for yet another job i saw an ad for the Army National Guard.  Well, i needed money, so i answered the ad.  It took me over three months to get in.  The recruiter had to get papers regarding some therapy my mother had me (i know, a real shocker, eh? ), the ASVAB done (not a single score below 100), that sort of thing.  When i asked the recruiter what i could do, he told me pretty much anything i wanted to.  Not a great thing to tell a kid who has no clue about... well, pretty much anything.  I enlisted as a 'Heavy Weapons, Antitank, Infantryman'.  In hindsight, i literally could have done ANYTHING i wanted to in the military.  There are a lot of dream jobs that i would have loved to do, not the least of which would have to (have at least tried to) be a Special Forces Medic, or commo guy.  Personally, i would have loved that, but God had a different plan for me.  God used my time in the Infantry to really get me heading down the right path.  I was a Corporal and had my own antitank section in under two and a half years, and made Sergeant in under three.  I am completely honest when i say that my nickname was 'High speed, Low drag'.  I do not regret one day of my service.

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Random Dozen - 20101006

Linda over at 2nd Cup of Coffee hosts a weekly meme where she works hard to come up with completely random questions, a dozen at a time, to share with the blogosphere.  Yesterday she actually posted a shout out for questions to be sent to here from her readers and today is the fruits of that request.  So, without further ado...

1. If you had a theme song that played whenever you walked into a room full of people, what would it be? ~ My mood of late the Mercy Me song, Bring the Rain really seems to fit the bill.  Rain is one of those things that brings such a brood range of responses.  On one hand people see it as somber, depressing, a harbinger of sad things.  Funerals in movies almost are always in the rain.  But it is also an imagery of refreshing, things being purged and cleaned... refreshed.  The rain comes in a cleans the landscape and provides a fresh scent.  It brings about renewal, strength.  I am not sure what others would have picked for my "theme song", but... i would go with "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me.

I am Yours regardless of

The dark clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what's a little rain

So I pray

2. Which of your shoes are your absolute favorite, and which are of the object of your most painful shoe-buyer's remorse? ~ Sandals.  I have a pair of that weigh next to nothing, and are really comfortable.  I can tighten them to where they don't slide, and yet not cut off the circulation, leaving me to be able to walk long distances in them without any issues.  In regards to buyer's remorse... i recently paid to have a pair of work shoes resoled... but the results were less than impressive.  Even after spending the money on them... they will most likely end up in a landfill somewhere. 8(

3. Tell about your favorite birthday celebration that you've personally experienced. ~ I am not inclined to big celebrations, either for me or for my friends.  I like getting together and just playing Mexican Train (dominoes) or some other game like that.

4. If you were a flavor of ice cream, which would you be? ~
I have no clue.  I am really not an expert on all of the various flavors... i pretty much enjoy just vanilla, and the toppings are not mixed together to make a soup.  I like the variety of texture and taste.  I think i will go with Tooty Fruity. 

5. Have you ever had a crush on a movie star? Who was it, and are you still crushing? ~ To be honest, not really.  I tried but... none of them really came close to a crush.  I think the closest i ever got was Elisabeth Shue from Adventures in Babysitting.

6. Glasses or braces--if you had to wear one, which would it be? ~ Well, being a life long wearer of Glasses i would say... glasses.  Braces are painful to see... they just look painful.  And with me getting mouth sores anytime i bite my lip... no thank you.

7. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? ~
This question comes around again every once in a while.  This time i would like to answer Rivendell.  I love the imagery in my mind from Tolkien's books... and the movie scenes were very stunning as well.  I love the idea of a race of people living in harmony with the land around them, and being able to pursue learning and interests ad infinitum. Some day i will get to do just that in regards to my Lord Jesus Christ.  Although, i am sure whatever mental image i have of Heaven is woefully inaccurate.

8. If money were no obstacle, what would be the perfect birthday gift to receive? ~ I would be incredibly happy with a 'Paid in Full' notice of my home mortgage.

9. What is your favorite birthday meal? ~ I must be a complicated person... because it depends on a lot of things.  What is my mood... what have we been eating a lot of lately... that sort of thing.  In general i enjoy a good fillet Mignon, 6 or 7 oz. is sufficient.  Some garlic mashed potatoes, and a crisp oven baked green bean with my Beloved's "special seasoning".  Yum!

10. Do you still send hand-written thank you notes? ~ Sadly... no.  Not nearly as often as i should.  I will more readily open up an e-mail and jot a note... or even a text message...

11. What is something you've done that you never thought you'd do? ~ Rappel Australian style.  I have what i like to refer to as a "severe respect for heights" and although i do not have problems rappelling in general... or going up into skyscrapers and looking at the view... i do seem to have some trouble looking over cliffs, etc. straight down, so when my old First Sergeant goaded me into trying out Australian... it took me a while to do it.  My first rappel my heart was in my throat, but once i got going down the rope i loved it.  I must have rappelled a dozen times that day.  I never did get a perfect rappel in, and a few times TOP let me "bounce" by deliberately feeding me too much slack (which left a neat rope sized bruise across my belt line), but i really enjoyed the sense of almost free falling down the rope.

12. Mount Rushmore honors four US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. If you could add any person to Mount Rushmore, who would you add and why? ~ That is really a tough one.  My mind goes to John F. Kennedy (and i am a Republican with heavy Tea Party leanings), but in many ways... he did not get the chance to serve long enough.  I know as a Republican i am probably expected to say Ronald Reagan, but in the end i have issues with how he really launched the deficit spending platform that BOTH parties have embraced.  I LOVED what Bill Clinton did in regards to this nation's budget... if it just weren't for many of his other views.  So... my short answer is that i do not feel that we have had another President worth of such an honor... yet.  May God grant us such a public servant again... and soon.

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Rambling Rememberances

Yesterday i was catching up with an old Army buddy on Facebook. As i was looking through his old pictures two of them caught my attention. The first one here is a snapshot of our platoon when we did a rotation to Honduras. What an incredible experience that was. I remember it being incredibly HOT. August in Central America is like that. We flew into a really small air strip in C-130's and then got trucked - literally to the small Honduran army base. It was not all that big, but i remember it being lined with concertina wire, and the tents (pictured above) were already set up for us. Misquotes were incredible. I remember being issued this bug spray in a nondescript aerosol can. You had to take your uniform off and apply the bug repelant directly to the uniform, let it dry (which sometimes took a little while with the humidity), and then you could put it back on. But it worked great. I remember getting heat rash for the first time. We had to burn the barrels beneath the latrines. One of the Platoon Sergeants even demonstrated the water purification tablets, but then couldn't get any of us lower enlisted to follow up the demonstration. About the third or fourth day there my body stopped digesting meat and dairy products. I could only drink water, soda (five for a dollar), and eat only fruits and vegetables. Bread i could tolerate in small quantities. I lost 10 pounds off of my 155 pound frame in a little over 10 days. Even now, about once a year, usually in the early parts of summer, my body will not tolerate meat or dairy for about 3-5 days. The country was beautiful. The jungles were lush and green. The mountains incredibly steep - i know this because i had to lug my young butt up and down those slopes carrying five gallons of water - plus my regular load. At night i leaned my ruck against a tree and sat on it to sleep so i would not slide down the mountain. I remember sunlight streaming through the clouds after one of the daily downpours. I remember it mostly because i was a brand new Christian (less than two weeks) and one day while i was changing my drenched t-shirt one of my Honduran counterparts said, "Cristo" and pointed to what little chest hair i had. Apparently what i did have was in the shape of a cross. I traded one of my unit patches with the man for one of his, and then he mentioned "Cristo" once more. He then gave me a hand woven cross made of some kind of durable string. He tied it around my neck. It stayed there for many a year until it literally wore off. My next picture is one of my high points of my Infantry career. My first job was that of a 'Heavy Weapons, Anti-Tank, Infantryman. My job was to be the eyes and ears for my battalion as well as provide anti-tank support. You see, i had joined the historic 29th Infantry Division (light) and vehicles were in short supply so we had a dual scouting role as well (which led to a lot of interesting competitions with the Scout platoon. Anyway, although we trained with the TOW system we did not get the opportunity to fire an actual missile all that often. In the six years i was in the TOW platoon we fired only two missiles. In order to determine who would have the honor of getting to fire the one missile we would have (at the time) we held a two month competition to determine the "Top Tube" award. The winner would get the honor. When the competition started i did not consider that i would have a chance because, despite all of the training i had on the missile system, i was nowhere near the qualification scores of many of the other soldiers. But what i didn't know was that our APFT, Rifle Qualification, and a few other things that i can not recall all played a part. When they announced i had won you could have knocked me over with a feather. The picture below is one that my old Army buddy on Facebook actually took of me on the day i got to send that baby down range. I still remember the sound of the missile's systems starting up, the discharge motor igniting and the wash of heat as the missile launched out the tube. I remember my sight picture and how i gently brought the crosshairs down onto the old tank out on the dropzone, and i remember nailing that sucker right between the turret and the deck - a perfect shot. I remember feeling slightly disappointed that there was not a bigger flash of light or puff of smoke -something. I learned later that the reason for this was that it was a perfect hit and all of the energy went into and through the tank. The spectators in the stands, including my photographer here saw the hit, and on the backside of the target the remaining energy of the shot knocked down a small tree that fell over in "slow motion". I still have the electrical connector cap as a memento. From all of this i also received a 29th Division coin from the commanding General (which, i can't remember his name now ). The only other award that i cherish from my time in the National Guard as an Infantryman was when i earned the Air Assault badge. That was the toughest course i have ever taken. I still have my handbook from that school. On the back i kept track of the number of students in the class. We graduated just over half of out starting number. Of the seven students my battalion sent only three of us came home with our 'wings' (above right). Of the three Scouts sent, none of them came home with them. A source of pride for both myself and the TOW platoon. Not too long after i met my beloved and i was smitten. I had been a "hard charger" and referred to as "High Speed, Low Drag" soldier. But then i met her and a lot of my priorities changed. For a while i allowed myself to get mired in an MOS i really, really, didn't like - but it allowed me to be home a lot more often. More on this some other time. I remember not just these vivid memories of my (then) young military career, but the tuggins God was placing on my heart. How is transformed me through the military from a young man who could not care less about anyone, or any thing, other than himself (for example i would not keep a job more than three months) into the man who i am today. I found something that i loved and could excel at, but even then that was not the end point. God would introduce Himself to me in 1989 and my priorities changed even more. He did this through the Chaplain's assistant i would meet in my first NCO school, and many other men i would meet in and out of uniform who witnessed to me - and not just by sharing the gospel. I have many fond memories of this time of my life... but time is linear... and it ever moves forward. There are a few examples of God not wanting His people to dwell in the past, but He also encouraged them to set up monuments in tribute to what He had done. I give thanks to God for these memories, and the incredible journey He has brought me through. While the verse i want to use below is in the context of the writer being in a severely oppressed position, but...

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. ~ Selah (Psalm 143:5-6, ESV)

While i was never in the same league of trials as this writter, God did use the pressure and the 'heat' of those years. And for that i am grateful and will ever praise His name.