"24 years ago today...." Topic

Here's to my brothers;
Chocolate Chips and BDU's…
Al-Jubail and Tapline Road…
To "Stormin' Norman", and "Any Soldier Mail"….
To the little comforts we got from home….
To the gamma glob shots we got…
And the pre-deployment briefings…
To the steak and eggs for breakfast we got at the mess hall;
which told us….
We were gonna be "in the ".
Because "They don't feed "The Cav", steak and eggs for breakfast…
Unless, they're gonna be in the ….
Here's to OP's, "Cav-Navs", and MRE's…
Bottled Water, and Burning Detail….
1/2 Diesel, 1/2 Mogas…
Piss sizzles like grease, and fries and burns like meat…
Here's to Patriots, and A-10's…and the B-52's….that gave 'em hell…
Here's to the MLRS that rocked their world…and to the SP Arty,
That brought their world crashing down…
Here's to 1:50,000 scale maps with NOTHING on them…and radio watch…
And changing frequencies at midnight….and getting the "Guidons, Guidons, Guidons!" call….
Here's to SITREPS, INTSUMS, SPOT-REPORTS, and the ever persistent fear that one of these times that M8 alarm that is going off "by accident", is going to be going off for real….
Here's to the night my team almost lit up the S-5 and his driver with an M-60…
Here's to my first desert night patrol….
Here's to the sounds of engines roaring to life, tracks making that sound that only tracks can make, and the smell of diesel fumes in the air, and that all too familiar odor that only comes from an armored vehicle…
Here's to the movement to position, the last few sips of water, and a quick prayer for you and your brothers before you move into position.
Here's to "Crossing The Berm"….
Here's to it all…..
And to my brothers…
Happy 24th….
Amen….
-Michael Murphy

May the memories be gentle on your mind.

It is a testament to how well I've put it all behind me that I did not realize until Murphy's post…

"Then" Sgt Rayburn, CoGySgt, H&S Company, 1st Combat Engineers, 1st Marine Division, Task Force Ripper.

Once again; I put it behind and concentrate on the family and the now.

Here's to my cousin, apparently also in the cav, who slept through the only battle his unit fought.

I turned 23 the day we crossed the berm. Every birthday brings back those memories. Fire missions, incoming, lack of food, gas alarms going off right after their shells hit, four Cobras hovering over our position firing rockets, missiles, and guns til they had nothing left at Iraqi armor headed straight towards us, actually sleeping in a gas mask despite the fact I'm claustrophobic, the smell of burnt bodies… And the loss of a friend, killed when he stepped on a mine clearing a bunker complex.

I savor my freedom with every fiber of my being.

Semper Fi

I never even realized til I read your post. The 24 years have flown by, it only seems like yesterday that a 21 year-old foxweasel was in the back of a Spartan CVRT waiting to go in. Do you remember being told we were going all the way to Baghdad to get rid of Saddam. Imagine how different the world would be now if the UN hadn't stopped us.

Damn, I guess it really has been that long!

To Absent Companions!

Welcome Home! I was so apprehensive, worried and prayed for all of you. You young men and women sure made us proud. It almost seemed that you all got the country "even" for Vietnam. You sure did wonders for our national pride and finally bringing the well deserved respect back to all servicemen. Not to mention pulling off a major military victory that would have made Patton proud.

It must seem like yesterday to each of you. My 13 months still do 47 years later.

Looking back at the news coverage, I still chuckle about "Stormin Norman" keeping the press at bay. Wish he had been there for us "back in the day".

Thank all of you for what you did for us, our country and the cause of freedom. May it always be remembered.

thank you for your service

Sam Lemonds

I was smart enough to be a squid. Steaming around the Gulf floating on 9 million gallons of JP5 and DFM plus @ 2000 tons of ordnance including most of the 16" ammo in theater. Glad to see that so many of the guys doing the heavy lifting made it back safe.

I remember watching the grainy green footage of night vision cameras on TV. White flashes and tracer fire. I remember thinking it looked like the intro to a video game.

You couldn't really see much of what was happening and the whole thing was beyond the understanding of a Danish 11 year old in any event.

The news papers had articles showcasing this or that plane and showing maps of exactly where Iraq and Kuwait were in the world and little arrows showing who was going where.

I remember one of the school teachers cried when she told us what was happening, at morning assembly.

"I remember watching the grainy green footage of night vision cameras on TV. White flashes and tracer fire. I remember thinking it looked like the intro to a video game."

A friend of mine told me about watching the whole thing on C-Span. We joked that I missed the war by being in it.

" I still chuckle about "Stormin Norman" keeping the press at bay.'

He was a great man, but I'll never forgive him for making us Marines put name tags on our uniforms. Until then we had nothing but rank and an iron on Eagle globe and Anchor with USMC under it. He made us put those bleedin' name tapes on because the press didn't know who we were.

My God has it been that long. I remember when our hospital deployed. Everyone of those guys and gals came back a different person. The world was never the same for them.

I was Corporal Tracey 1st squad Leader,1st Platoon, Kilo 3/5. Wow 24 years ago.

Great post Murphy!

Then: The Big Dog, Renegade Troop (Attack Helicopter), Fourth Squadron, Third ACR

It's funny what you remember. A bunch of the young warrants were trying to make booze out of mess hall grape juice, sugar and local Arab bread for yeast. They would mix it all up in a 5 gallon water can and put a condom over the spout. The thing would blow up and then deflate once fermentation was complete. I wasn't desperate enough to try it but I heard it was god awful. It must've been pretty potent though because the guys who did drink it were hung over for two days afterwards. Our Maintainance Officer, Michael " this is Mick over" Mason just used to laugh when they would make their brew. He used to get a 1/2 gallon bottle of Listerine in the mail each week and I initially thought that was a little odd but never really gave it another thought. Once we were in Iraq and the mail wasn't as regular, I saw him pulling a bottle of Listerine out of his kit bag that was barely a quarter full. He said, " my last bottle." I said, "Mick, you are in the middle of the freaking desert, in the middle of a freaking war and you are worried about fresh breathe? You should be worried about getting your balls blown off." He then confided that his stateside girlfriend had been pouring out the Listerine and refilling the bottles with Crown! The bastard had been holding out on us five months, but once we were back in Saudi Arabia and the mail caught up with us he was decent enough to share.

Wasn't all fun and games though. After the war I found out a good friend of mine from flight school was killed when his Blackhawk got shot down on a Medevac mission.

Absent comrades!

I was with USMC TF Ripper, part of OCD-1. There is not a day of my life that I am not a bit surprised that I survived that. It is hard to imagine that it was so long ago.

Scoutjock…

LONGKNIFE SQUADRON!!!!
AAAAAA-EEEEYAH!

Btw…did you ever hear about what happened with Outlaw Troop?…lol…

When guns are outlawed only Outlaw will have guns…

Last I heard was a handful of the guys took Article 15s which pretty much ended their service careers. The guys who fought the charges and asked for courts martial all beat the charges because they couldn't prove who actually put the guns in the aircraft. But they ended up paying the price when evaluations rolled around.

I heard the Army is casing the colors on the Brave Rifles…

Sad.

I remember the warning order coming through for Op Granby, turning up at the Garage and entering the back of my Comcen wagon only to find it stripped bare!!!
My wagon went to war i didn't and to this day i don't regret it one little bit.

Gee Murphy…. Thanks for reminding about how old I'm getting.

I only, occasionally, miss the flyburgers, beat up HUMVEES, canned mango juice (GAG!!), and artillery raids.

PFC Randall Case, HHC 2\34 Armor
DREADNOUGHT!!