Monday, I and one of my soldiers were tasked to provide funeral honors for a Viet Nam Vet who had recently passed. This had to be one of the most difficult things I have ever done since joining. Trying to keep a professional, military bearing while presenting the flag to someone that is in the grips of grief, is not something to take lightly. For one, the family is expecting nothing less than that, as it is a source of comfort. Second, you are there to provide honors to this veteran, and don’t want to screw it up by breaking down, which to me would be a big no-no. Luckily for us, there were several vets from the local VFW to help us out. They provided a rifle detail and bugle player, for Taps. There was one upbeat moment during the whole ordeal though. This little kid, I’d say he was around 7, came up to both of us, shook our hands and saluted. Of course we saluted back. (Well, I did. The guy with me was unsure what to do.) The reliance of kids amazes me sometimes. And after the service, we needed our spirits lifted a little. While we were there to comfort the family, this little guy comforted us. The VFW guys also said that we did a very good job. Which felt good, after all, you don’t want to screw up something like this; it’s a lasting impression of the military for the family.
Friday, we were supposed to do a 6-mile road march. But, thank God, it snowed, so the road march was canceled. (I took some pics just before I left for work. And, true to the Ft. Campbell area, most of the snow was gone by lunch time. Oh well.)
We went in for a Safety Class and were then released. Very nice day, if I do say so myself. Well, not everyone was released. We had to have a launch crew, so I, and 2 other NCOs, released our Joes and went to the hanger.
In the Army, if you get overweight (according to Army standards), or fail an Army Physical Fitness Test, you have to do extra training. This training is called Special Populations Physical Training (Spec Pops). These guys had to go in and do this PT on Friday, as well. So, I got to watch a little. One of the instructors had gone through 160th’s selection program, known as Green Platoon. (Let me tell you, it’s not a fun time. It’s not as bad as SF, or Ranger, training, but it is up there.) And he brings that type of intensity to Spec Pops. But, the program is working, for the people that actually put forth the effort to improve themselves. (You can’t help those that don’t want to improve themselves, for whatever reason.) And I still had my camera from when I took pics of the snow.
Also found out that the unit will be getting deployed again. No big surprise, right? When I get to where I am going, I’ll begin regularly updating this thing again. I plan on using it as a kind of diary while I’m there so that my friends can know what’s going on. (And yes, I do know where I’m going to be, and it is common knowledge out in the big, wide world. But, old Night Stalker habits are hard to kill. You’ll find out when I get there.)
Until next time, I’ll see ya’ll later.
