I talked about this on the podcast (which you really should download if you didn’t listen live), but I want to put in writing as well.
For the past few days I’ve been traveling to different posts visiting my troops. One of those trips was to Ft. Campbell, KY. Just before arriving, I stopped for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel, located at Exit 4 off I-24 outside Clarksville. Because I was working, I was in my uniform.
I was seated in a fairly secluded area for some privacy and so as not to distract anyone. I always feel self-conscious being in public in my uniform alone. You never know if Code Pink will show up and force me to get arrested for spitting on the only “women” I’d feel justified spitting on. I ordered the lunch special, which was the Chicken Pot Pie, and a Diet Coke. I love Cracker Barrel because it reminds of being back on the farm in Texas growing up. I used to spend my summers working on my grandfather’s farm. While most kids worked in the mall or a fast food joint, I was sweating my arse off bailing hay, feeding and corraling sheep and cows, harvesting wheat and maize, and other farm chores. My sister would work with the women around the house and bringing us men sodas and water in the field – the way it should be!! hehe (I’m gonna feel that, I’m sure)
Anyway, I quickly finished my meal and I guess the waitress realized I was ready to go. She came by my table and informed me that my check was taken care of. At first, I thought I had done something wrong. “What do you mean my check was taken care of?” I asked. For some reason I interpreted that comment as “please just leave; don’t worry about paying for your food.” I don’t know why I’d think that, but it was my immediate thought.
She explained that a man had paid for my meal already. I looked around and asked her where he was so I could at least thank him. She told me that he had already left and asked her not to let me know until he was gone. While I’ve had meals paid for before, this one came the perfect time. As you’ve been reading, the past few weeks have just been hell. I haven’t been feeling very confident about much lately inside though I’m a great actor in public. Since you’re my buds and this is my therapy, I’ll admit that I was recently diagnosed with depression. Don’t worry, it’s not the “woe is me” depression where life is hopeless. I just don’t find joy in much of anything lately. I finally – after five years – forced myself into a doctor’s office.
Anyway, this little token of appreciation by a complete stranger really made a difference at a time when I really needed one. It’s been a lonely journey lately and the Cracker Barrel Patriot made me feel like I wasn’t in this alone. My family is supposed to have my back, but it’s good to know that there are others out there that I don’t know have it as well.
So, if you’re reading this and you paid for my meal on Wednesday, 22 October at around noon, thank you sir! I may have only cost you a few dollars, but to me your generosity is priceless. I left the restaurant a very different person than I entered. And the Chicken Pot Pie was absolutely DELICIOUS!!
Some of my favorite bands are on the Roadrunner Records label: Slipknot, Nickelback, Megadeth, Fear Factory, Theory of a Deadman, Coal Chamber, and an old 80’s band called Annihilator. I also listen to many of the label’s other bands like Black Stone Cherry and others.
Yesterday, on the way home from this whirlwind trip across Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, I stopped for gas in Athens, Alabama. Athens just happens to be where the studio is located of some of the radio stations I listen to, mostly WVNN (talk radio). The morning host had finished his show about an hour prior to my arrival, but I decided to see if he was in since I was in town and getting gas across the street.
While I was walking in, another gentlemen was coming in at the same time. He had a stack of CDs in his hands and I noted that I could relieve him of his burden if he’d like. We chuckled and approached the counter. I asked if Dale Jackson from WVNN was still around and the other gentleman asked for Jeff Andrews from WZYP. Jeff is the 3-7pm personality for the top 40 station. Darrin, the gentleman in the lobby with me, and I struck up a conversation about music. I noticed the music he was bringing in and we conversed about different bands and such.
He asked if I was doing anything last night because there was a concert in town. I told him I had a radio show that I do on Thursdays. He explained that Theory of a Deadman and Black Stone Cherry were in town along with a new band called Parlor Mob. It just so happens that the song I’ve been listening to a lot lately is Thoery’s song “I Hate My Life”. It’s actually a very funny song:
So sick of the hobos always begging for change
I don’t like how I gotta work and
They just sit around and get paid
I hate all of the people who can’t drive their cars.
Bitch you better get outta the way
Before I start falling apart
I hate how my wife is always up my ass
She always wants to buy brand new things
But I don’t have the cash.
I hate my job, all of my rich friends
I hate everyone to the bitter end.
Nothing turns out right There’s no end in sight
I hate my life!
For some reason, I can relate lately. Anyway, turns out that Darrin works for Roadrunner Records and invited me to be a guest at the concert last night. I asked what time it started and he said 9pm. Hellz yeah!! We exchanged contact information and he told me just to present my ID at the door and I’d be on the list along with a friend. Emily didn’t want to go so I took my neighbor.
The concert kicked ass. It was very smoky, which I wasn’t at all used to. But, I had a great time watching Parlor Mob and Black Stone Cherry. About halfway through Black Stone Cherry’s set, Darrin came in asked if I’d seen Jeff. I thought I had seen him but didn’t know where he was. He told me not to go anywhere and disappeared.
When he came back a few minutes later he asked if I wanted to go and meet Theory of a Deadman. Ummm, yes? I didn’t expect to meet anyone; I was just happy to be at the concert. I grabbed my buddy and we walked a few blocks to the band’s tour bus and were introduced to the band. Very cool guys with a POW/MIA license plate on the back of their bus. We made small talk and I think I convinced them to contact the USO about playing for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t have the picture yet, but we took pictures and they gave us each a signed copy of their latest CD, “Scars & Souvenirs“.
So, thanks also going out to Darrin and Roadrunner Records for allowing me to have a night with the guys and forget the real world for a few hours! Yes, I rocked out when they played “I Hate My Life”!! And thanks to the love of my life, Emily, for letting me go even after being gone for the previous three days.
Sometimes I can’t help but think that instead of being in the Army, I’m in the Department of Armed Redundancy Department. How in the world did we ever win wars in the past without the hundreds of duplicitous reports, memorandums, and taskings that are heaped upon us on a daily basis. Continue reading this post…
You’ve seen the liveblogs and read the quotes, now see the first panel of the 2008 milblogs for the first time on video. The really handsome guy up there is me. No not the one to the far left. No, not the one at the podium. Okay, I’m the guy on the right….
I know, I know. What took so long? Hey, I’ve got a full time job here people!! I’m not like the Blackfive bubbas who are living large sucking back martinis and puffing on expensive cigars while the money comes rolling in. I have to earn my pay!!
Anyway, this is the first of a few interviews that Marcus and I created while we were at the Milblog Conference in Vegas a few weeks ago. The problem is that parts of the video were filmed in HD and others weren’t, which has presented some challenges.
This video was shot on a Saturday morning at about 7am. I had originally wanted to interview a homeless drunk that was perched on the corner of our hotel, but by the time we got the camera from the room, he was gone. So, we did what any good journalist would do – we lied found someone else to talk to. Probably the only preacher in Vegas up at 7 in the morning.
Home Front Hero, Profile: Erin M, Navy Wife
By: Claire Shackelford
I met Erin online a few years ago, and I have watched and admired her from afar. She has handled deployments like a pro. She has an incredible story and a passion for military life. I hope you enjoy reading the interview I was able to conduct with her. As you read Erin’s story you will more than likely hear a little of your own story reflected in her experiences.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Erin. What branch does your spouse serve in? He serves in the US Navy. We’re in CA. My husband, Chris, is stationed at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI or Coronado). We live in one of the larger military housing sections, which houses Navy, Marine and some random Army and Air Force families.
Have you ever lived over seas? Although we’ve applied for overseas duty stations, we’ve never been able to go. I think it would be an amazing experience, though, and wish we could!
Tell us about your general interests, education, career interests, or anything else you would like us to know about you. I have a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing. I met my husband the first week of college and went on to marry him while going to school. I was pregnant with our first child, while he was deployed and while I finished my degree. I love to read, write and listen to music. I’m a pretty big TV watcher, too. I have been teaching myself to knit and am also into photography.
How many times have you PCS’d over the years? Actually, we’re one of those rare exceptions to the military move rule. We’ve NEVER moved. I don’t particularly mind it, though, since I’ve lived in CA my entire life and it’s nice being so close to our family, who live about 5-6 hours away.
Do you have a favorite military life experience story? Usually, my deployment stories are the best. I don’t know if it’s because things seem to fall apart only when he’s gone, or if they’re just more challenging BECAUSE he’s gone. Either way, deployment periods always boast lots of insane stories. For example, his first deployment, he left in July 2001, three months after we’d gotten married. Continue reading this post…
Except for the two years that I was in training when I first joined the Army, I’ve always gotten language pay. I joined the Army as a Spanish cryptologic linguist. Being proficient in a foreign language means extra pay. I’ve had that extra pay for 12 years now. Except on two occasions, I’ve always gotten the high end of the pay scale for maxing out the test. Those two occasions were: the first test I took to graduate from the school and immediately upon returning from Ecuador. The Army pays on a 2/2+/3 scale. To get paid, you have to score at least a 2/2 (reading/listening) on the test. 2 is a basic understanding; 2+ is a moderate understanding; and 3 is an advanced understanding. The lowest I’ve ever gotten in 12 years is a 3/2+ on the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT). Normally, I get a 3/3 on the test. Until recently. Continue reading this post…
Greetings! My name is Claire, and I am a Blue Star mom, and my husband was in the military until late last year. He is currently rehabbing a fracture sustained in training at Ft. Benning. When he rejoins he will be an Officer in the Army Reserves.
When my oldest son was deployed last year I started blogging to cope with the emotional upheaval I was experiencing. I was not on a military base at that time, so an empathetic shoulder was hard to find. My blog became my tool for pouring out my fear, my pride, and the whole other range of emotions that needed to be spoken. Through writing I wound up meeting other parents of soldiers who felt the same turmoil that I was feeling. I also connected with other military spouses. The fears and struggles as the mother of a deployed soldier and the wife of a deployed soldier are different, but they are similar enough to establish a common ground for support and mutual appreciation.
I have met many new friends — both wives and mothers — who relate to what I write. We have supported one another through the hardest times — the black outs, the news reports of death and injury, and the phone calls informing us of injuries sustained.
I am looking forward to writing at You Served. We will explore the joys, stresses, triumphs and times of sadness together. Check back often and let me know what’s on your mind. We are in this together!
An Army soldier deployed in Afghanistan is on a two-week leave to witness his wife give birth to quadruplets in Nevada.
Army Spec. Joe Shatswell, 22, has been reunited with his wife, Darah, in Reno, where she is in a hospital awaiting the birth in the next several days.
She will mark her 30th week of pregnancy Tuesday. Doctors hope the babies will weigh at least 3 pounds each.
“We’re kind of nervous and excited,” Darah Shatswell told Gardnerville’s Record-Courier newspaper. “You wait forever for something, then it is just around the corner. The faster, the better, but whatever is best for the babies.”
Joe Shatswell had not seen his wife since the couple found out they were having quadruplets.
The pregnancy was a surprise because the Shatswells decided to wait until after his deployment ends in July 2009 to expand their family. They have a 2-year-old daughter, Zowie.
Darah Shatswell, 24, said her husband would be able to stay in Nevada until the end of October before he returns to Afghanistan.
The Shatswells, stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, relocated to Gardnerville, about 45 miles south of Reno, over the summer after they discovered the quadruplets were on the way.
The couple have family there.
The community has rallied around the couple, donating everything from diapers and quilts to gift cards.
You think he’ll have a lot on his mind when he gets back? Here’s an earlier story prior to his return.
Recently CJCS Mullen made the very accurate statement that the wrong direction was taken for the last two years in Afghanistan and now he and the military is trying to correct for it. I have to say I totally agree with him. I saw it first hand when I was there, especially when there were O-6 Colonels calling ETTs “non-combatant, combatants” and telling us that there was no reason for ETTs to get out of the truck or for us to go into a kulat (house). These same Colonels and Colonels like them were telling new inbound ETTs that they would never fire a round, that they would only pass out candy and pat kids on the head.
BTW, if anyone would care to tell me what the hell a non-combatant, combatant is I would love to know. I am sure all of the ETTs that died in 2006 and 2007 would love to know that means too. As stupid as that sounds, that is what we had in charge of many parts of the Task Force when I was there. As the “thank you on behalf of a desperate and grateful nation” tour has progressed, I can only imagine there are as many if not more leaders at all levels that are more worried about having a good evaluation report than taking the fight to the enemy.
This is a great video http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/oct/13/afghanistan-taliban-us-army for many reasons. One is it gives the viewer a real inside view of what it is like to be downrange, clearing villages, talking with “innocent” villagers and the frustration of not finding bad guys. It also shows an act that at one time was considered taboo. See part of the reason that the wrong direction being followed for the last two years was that leaders were afraid to “fight” the enemy. My good bud Rog-O got called on the carpet one time in front of a One-Star General becuase he and his ETT partner knocked down a kulat door with their humvee, as seen in this video. Now you can see that the 101st has no problem in taking down doors, but back when we were there, it was almost a crime to do such a thing. When you are knocking on a door and you hear the distinctive sound of AK-47s being charged on he other side, taking out the door with a humvee is the right thing to do. Luckily for my man Rog-O, after he explained his side of the story all was forgiven and forgotten. The Task Force leadership saw the justification for doing such a thing and in fact Rog-O was used as an example of how to motivate the ANA.
I didn’t mean for this blog to be so long, but after watching this video I realized it was a good example of how the attitude has changed from the coddling, safety above all else attitude of 2006-2007 to the lets kick ass and finish the fight attitude that we have today.
Eight years ago, on October 12, 2000, just before the presidential elections, the USS Cole was struck by suicide bombers outside the Adan port in Yemen. 17 American Sailors were killed and others injured. It was an event that literally changed my life. Continue reading this post…
