May 11, 2020

“Memories”

By Jim Culp

Good Morning readers. This morning is a brisk one, it’s 51°F, which is cool for May in Kansas City. This spring is an example of nature letting us know that she needs better care, and that you and I are the stewards of the Earth.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and my mother is deceased. So, I spent the day working on my new book and doing odds and ends. Last night, I surfed the tube for something to watch, and ran across “Jarhead.” Over the years, I had seen pieces of it, but never watched the whole movie. I settled in with a couple of cold beers to see the whole enchilada form start to finish.

This movie had some familiar names like Jamie Fox and Jake Gyllenhaal. When I saw Lucas Black, I tried to remember the last movie I saw him act, and that was “Sling blade.” “Man, that was 24 years ago,” I thought to myself. I thought all the actors did well in the movie.

What made the evening special is that this movie took me back to the Gulf War. We’re talking way back in 1990. I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. The division there at the time was the “Big Red One,” the First Infantry Division. I was a combat engineer with the First Engineer Battalion, and my company was the specialty unit of the outfit, because we were bridge engineers.

When rumors began of war starting in the region, we all felt that feeling that only a soldier can describe. You want to test yourself in war, but you know you might not come back. Such is the life of a person that joins the military.

The movie began with the Marines enduring Basic Training (or “Boot Camp”) as other services call it. There’s some other stuff after this, but I’ll skip that.

Eventually, the Marines in this movie are called up for Operation Desert Shield, the massive defense maneuver used by the Allies to protect Saudi Arabia, the larger and richer neighbor of Kuwait. The movie focuses on the dull drudgery of soldiering when not engaged in a mission. It’s a daily grind that I am all too familiar with.

This started my walk down memory lane, including the uniforms, the toilets made from plywood and 55-gallon drum halves, and hours of preparing positions. Then came the chemical drills. Oh, that was fun. Whenever you want to experience something miserable, do this. A) Wait for July or August (think Phoenix, Arizona) and do not shower for 14-15 days. B) Dress yourself in an argyle sweater, wool pants, and rain boots. Tie up or tape anything that is loose. C) Put a surgical mask on your face and cut a small hole in it for your mouth. Then, place a plastic trash bag over your head, and cut a slit near your mouth to breath. D) Tape the neck to your sweater, it can’t be loose. You are now in a training MOPP suit. MOPP means “Mission Oriented Protective Posture.” They should have named it the “TSADB suit.” That means “this sucks a donkey’s balls.”

Wear that for a day or so, then you’re allowed to remove the mask…nothing else. Stay in that get-up for a month. No showering. Hot? Shade only; no air conditioner. Do all the same work you normally do.

After a month or so has passed, take it all off and get yourself a shower. That’s a “shower” of 45° F water that your buddy pours over you using a 5-gallon water can. If you’re smart, you take care of your head and private parts first.

Lastly, the oil fires. I could never forget the sight of this catastrophe as long as I live. For as far as you could see, there were fires burning at least 200 feet into the sky, day and night. The air we were breathing was comparable to placing your face real close to your car’s exhaust pipe and eating your lunch. On guard duty, you literally had some idea of what the “hell” in the bible talks about.

Ah, memories. Aren’t they great?

This movie gets a C for me. It was good, not great. But the memories were awesome. They cover all the basics…fear, horror, pain, and death.

In the Gulf War (for me, that was December 25^th, 1990 to May 2, 1991) I held the same position (and rank) that the Jamie Foxx character was. I was 25 years old, and my soldiers were anywhere in age from 17 to 23.

My brother Jeff was a senior Marine in this same conflict. Mom was pretty relieved when we both came back.

If I wish my readers anything, it is that their children never experience war. It’s not glorifying, it’s not pretty. It’s something you never forget.

-Jim

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com

Follow me on YouTube, at Kid Culp