Fort Hood Texas...and Other Bullshit That Happens
just turned 17 years old 2 months prior. I learn a lot of shit in the
militray, some don't or won't understand the Life Lessons I leraned. Its
like this....
You are the protection that all you need. You know the difference
between right and wrong. You can get away with wrong for only so long,
then it catches up to you. You learn to size up people, you learn how to
approach people in certain situations. You learn how to use key words
and adhere to body language. You learn to speak your mind, have your say
and stand by your convictions. You learn to face up to the truth.
Mostly, you learn how to deal with people and life terms.
Not all can do that it seems, but those of military train and
conditioning do. When shit gets knee deep, we learn to reach out for
help. I learned to reach out for help. I also learned that for every
action, there is a reaction. You may soumd like its a cliche, it is, but
its true. Like they say, you have to learn how to fold em. This shit
that happened at Ft Hood, Texas is just the beginning of worst shit that
can come to the surface.
I'm not being paranoid or anything here. But the hume psyhe, hope I
spelled that right, well it needs to unwind. It needs to empty is
stomach or whatever the fuck it is or called. You can take only so much
shit, and then you 'throw up' on people. That's what happened it Texas.
From what I read, he was being deployed to Iraq on the 28th of this
month. It seems like he didn't want to go or something. But I think it
was deeper than that.
Being from the inner city on New York City, you learn to adapt to
certain....SHIT. Yeah, shit, that's just what it is. You also learn to
talk about shit that bothers you, don't keep it bottled inside cause its
nothing but pressure baby and it will POP !! This guy POPPED !!! His job
was to examined other people's mind, deal with their problems, give them
sound advice. But his backyard, frontyard..HOUSE was filthy as hell. Who
did he talk to about shit he was going through? Was he told to @lsoldier
up' and deal with it cause you're an Officer, most likely. He didn't,
couldn't and he snapped. You will never hearabout the warning signs that
he showed, or hear it from those that knew him well, and lsitened to
what he was saying, telling him to get the help he needed from the
agency he was working for, no you won't, well not right now you will.
Later, about a week later you will hear something. But shit like this is
happening all theough our Armed Forces, but you don't hear about it.
This couldn't be contained, it was way too large.
I know when I was in Germany, we were in the field for 3 days, my first
time. It was raining, sleeting, snowing, hailing, cloudy and cold...ALL
while the SUN WAS SHINNiNG !! I thought I wasin Hell, no for real. I
lost it for about 15 minutes, started crying asking for 'my mommie' no
one laughed at me, they understood. Young, 17 years old, first time
really away from home, they all reached out to me and told me that
everything would be alright. I learned back then to talk about what I
was feeling and going through. When I got out the service, it took me a
while to pick talking about shit, again. I thought I was the only one to
go through stuff like that. I wasn't.
This guy must have had all the problems of other soldiers on his mind.
It probably felt like a 50 ton weight. He saw no ther way out, and he
wasn't going by himself. Its wrong for any person to do what he did, but
look at where he was coming from, be there, was baout to go through.
What we see on tv, read in the newspapers and read online is nothing
like 'being there' I saw a photo article in the newspaper. It showed
some soldiers ina building. It looked like they were windind down,
tucking in for the night. What I saw was completely different. I didn't
see not one dark face, Black American. No, no, hear me out. Some photos
are photo ops for the public. There could have been hundreds of pictures
take peior to this one or even after, but this one was netrual as they
say. No weapons, noequipment, no sad faces, althoght no one was smiling
or laughing, it made you think that nothing was really going on. To me I
saw a platoon, right before a squad meeting, right before the cameras
and sound equipment was told to leave the room. Shit is real people.
I was baout 18 years old, still in Germany, and was in the field. It was
out last day before going back to base. 6 155mm M109A1's Howitzers, each
having about 30 95 and a half pound rounds left to fire. I was the
number 5 man, I was to hold the un used powder in my right hand and drop
it in the ground when the gun fired. I was just standing about 50 meters
from the back of the gun. I saw all the other guns hump their rounds to
.y gun. I was called to the gun. Was asked di I wantto be the number one
man for this fire mission, and I said hell yeah. I shouldn't have. It
was a 'Battery Extend all Ammo, Base Piece Extend all Ammo'.
The Gunner and assistant Gunner got the deflections and quadrants...me I
'humped Joes'. That's 30 times six, 118 rounds I fired. Itbwas the
middle of winter, something like 25 degrees outside, but I was sweating
like a pig, I was one with my gun. Afterwards the Forward Observers who
were charting ur rounds landing in he impact zone, they wanted to know
who was the number one man. I stepped forward. They gave a a gold nose
ring, it unscrews on top of the projectile so that you can pace the fuse
on. There was so much talk about it afterwards, that for a week I could
do no wrong. 8th Infintry Division Commander heard all about it and want
to meet me. I got a day weekend pass, and off the duty roster for 90
days. All for what I was doing, my JOB as a soldier in The Army. To me
it was 'no biggie', but for those , it was one.
All that to say is this. We do what we have to do when the time clls for
it. No matter what, you do your do, and get it done, and do it all over
again if ya have to. This Officer in Texas, his duty to his country, his
life to his country is over and done with. But don't hold it against
him, cause youdont know. Don't know what he was going through, been
through. He sw no ther way out, and he really went out like a soldier,
doing what he was trained to do, kill or be killed.
--michaelchappell
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