Some of the information given here may seem choppy or inconclusive.This is a “running blog” and a continuation of a much greater story.You are encouraged to go to the main web-site to catch-up or read previous blogs.These blogs tell the story of Christian I(100% DAV, homeschooling pastor-dad with M.S.)and Christian II (son 3 years old-T1 diabetic)-BOTH TRYING TO RAISE MONEY FOR SERVICE DOGS!
Thank you for coming! If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know :-)
Christian I – As you recall, SSG X and I almost blew up the
whole place and were now running backwards trying to escape the enemy and
trying to get back to our base camp. We could not see where we were going (as
it was the middle of the night). So, we were tripping over bushes, rocks,
falling into holes and running into each other… all while firing at the enemy
who was now behind us.
Yes, thanks to our hero (SSG X), I felt like a clown running
and tripping everywhere, but something else was wrong. We had just left the
enemy (remember, by the fuel bladder?), and there were about fifteen soldiers
in that area. However, there was only one small weapon firing at us as we ran
away. We should have been dead for sure! Please remember this!
SSG X and I finally made it to a safe enough distance where
we thought the POGS (Non infantry personnel) were nowhere in sight. We were in
the clear and on the way back to camp to see the rest of our platoon! Good
training!
The next morning we awoke and rallied together with the
leadership of the enemy that we were fighting the night before. This was common
practice after a mission of this nature (OPFOR). Our objective was to train up
the POGS (about 2000 in this case) to make and defend a fully functional camp …
as a soldier should. So at this point we were meeting with the leadership to reflect
on their performance, make suggestions, and “grade” their overall activities.
It was a very
interesting time that we had - reflecting on their performance during missions
that this blog hasn’t talked about yet. When we came to talking about the night
before, it was very difficult… try to
feel this one with me – I felt troubled, like I didn’t know if I should
laugh out loud or what – LOL.
We talked about how poorly defended their
positions were, and right in the middle of our dialogue the Lt. Col.
(Lieutenant Colonel) interrupted me and shouted out, “Hold it right there!”
Then he directed his voice behind him and said, “Bring the men over.” And over
walked three men: a first lieutenant, a staff sergeant, and a private.
I was a little concerned. I never saw these men before in my
life – I thought… Just then the L.T. Col. says very seriously, “These men would
like to press charges against you,” and then he motioned to me. My face was
very stone cold and without emotion, but inside, I could feel my brain had
dropped into my belly. And I was about
to throw up. I was thinking to myself, “What did I do wrong now?” I saw that
one of the men had bandages on his hands and I started to figure out what was
going on. Even still, I remained stone–faced .
The entire group erupted with laughter – on the POG side of
the forum. They were just all having a great time – trying to get me to squirm!
But they didn’t. They introduced the first lieutenant as the man that we had
blinded with the grenade simulator the night before (Remember? “Where did they
go?”). The Private with bandages on his hands was the poor soul that tried to
grab my weapon from me by the blazing hot barrel (so sad). The SSG that came
forward was the one who set off the booby trapped port -a- potty when we were
trying to sneak away the night before. Good training – LOL!
I actually got an award
from these people because of what happened! The only question that I had
was “Why was only one weapon firing at us during our escape?” Well, we missed the
fuel bladder and blowing up the whole camp, but we started a rather large brush fire (That we couldn’t see
from our angle at the time)… and all of the enemy soldiers were trying to put
it out. Good training!
No one said anything about how foolish we looked running
backwards and tripping over everything as we escaped and no one had anything
negative to say at all. To this day I have kept it quiet, and have told no one about what a “ding dong”
SSG X was, but now you know, don’t you? Good training!
Today, I didn’t make it to my office or even outside to
write this blog. It’s a good training day for me (If you know what I mean).
Please keep your prayers going for our fundraiser. I was just talking this
morning about how little we have.
Please keep your comments coming. I’m writing these army stories
because that is what people wanted to hear. I’m going to start writing about my
family, unless you send me an email with other suggestions!
Christian II – Little Christian’s numbers are still as they
were yesterday. I’m going to start calling that kid “Yo-Yo” because his numbers
go up and down so much. He’s sleeping now. I can’t help to look at him while
he laid there, “Am I doing my best as a parent?” and “Are they going to have to
cut his toes off or something because I’m letting his numbers bounce around so
much?” We need that dog.
