The World According to our Soldier

(These are comments taken from conversations I've had with our Soldier over the past two weeks of leave. Sound bites if you will. Some are funny, others are profound and a few are eye opening. These are single statements that found a place in my memory.)

"Local Iraqi food tastes better than Army mess. Kabobs, home made pocket bread - it's good stuff."

"Local food is cheap - you can live like a king all month on ten bucks."

"If you hear gunshots there's no need to duck - the bullets are going some other direction. The other guys look at you like you're crazy but they don't know the secret yet."

"If you hear the whine or crack of a bullet - look for the nearest cover and get under it. The bullets are coming at YOU."

"Sleep where ever and when ever you can - if even for ten minutes - because you never know when you'll sleep again."

"Even hot water tastes great when you're thirsty. For that matter, even hot kool-aid is refreshing. But a hot Coke isn't very appetizing."

"An over heated can of Coca Cola is a ticking time bomb. Never, never throw one at somebody."

"MRE's are "Meals Ready to Eat" but can be referred to as "Meals Rejected by the Enemy"."

"A fire extinguisher can make a real handy "refrigeration unit" in a pinch."

"There's no place on your body where the sand and dirt can't penetrate."

"Showers? Occasionally. Hot showers? What's that? For a long time we didn't have them."

"Mom said that eating a little dirt won't kill you but she never told me how much."

"AK-47's sound way different than M-4's and M-16's. The guys who use them show different levels of restraint too."

"Only trust guys wearing the American flag - never totally trust anybody else. And always remember that some of the guys wearing the flags may not be the brightest bulbs on the tree either."

"Never worry about how the guy next to you smells - you don't smell any better."

"Where do you go to the bathroom? Any where you can."

"Remember - the stupid ones are already dead."

"We have our own version of KFC. It's the local "Kurdish Fried Chicken" place. At least I think that's what it means in Arabic."

"During that firefight? I watched, and well, made some kool-aid."

"Don't think too much, let you're training take over and everything will be fine."

"You and mom should get a house over there when this is all done. You can live real cheap."

"There's no such thing as chance, everything happens for a reason."

"CBS and Survivor? Never seen it but I sure as he!! live it. Hey, most of what we watch in the states is junk anyway."

"Who cares about politics? I'm over there to do a job and that's what we're doing - our jobs."

"Little kids are the same where ever you go. They are always attracted to guys in uniforms. Or maybe it's me."

"Five days dad. How can a relationship survive on five days out of a year?"

"What's an Iraqi party favor? An AK-47. They shoot the darn things into the air at weddings."

"Were was I when Saddam was captured? About an hour away doing work so that the other guys could make the collar. We all heard about it five minutes after it happened."

"The sun, and the moon are the same no matter where you go. That's comforting."

"Yeah, her picture is always with me - actually they're taped up all over my Stryker."

"I wish it had been us. Then no one would have gotten hurt." (Telling a story about an IED going off under a Humvee.)