Red Star Clusters - Bill Groves (part 2 of 2)

In part 2, we swap Bill Groves stories that still feel like yesterday even years later, from a tank round snapping past our position to the summer shift when enemy fire gets sharp and accurate. We also talk about the weird day-to-day details that stick, how unit handoffs can fail, and why the bonds from that time still don’t fade. 

• getting shot at by an Abrams
• the bridge guard post mess and rumors that spiral fast 
• getting put on hard labor
• hooch life stories, dumb injuries, and the stuff we did to pass time 
• the heat
• firefights in the south and the shift to more accurate enemy shooting 
• faith arguments in the truck and “no atheists in a foxhole” 
• Junction City stories 
• the 2/5 handoff 
• coming home 
• drones, contractors, and finding insurgent propaganda videos 
• looking back 22 years later and what the brotherhood means now 

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If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above. 

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Transcript

Opening And Combat Memory

SPEAKER_01 0:26

No, that's okay. I actually don't remember the date. I wish I did.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Alright. So and I I think I heard somebody else tell the story too, but I was there and I'm gonna tell it too. Why not?

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Not very many people get shot at by an Abrams and live. You're allowed.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Yeah. So I remember that was we had the high back. We had uh all the dismounts and all the dismounts. They had uh

Surviving Abrams Friendly Fire

SPEAKER_03 0:54

they got out of the truck and they ran across Michigan and kind of had dug in a little bit behind the bush. And we'd been there. I don't even think we were there for that long, like they had just gotten set up, and I was facing the opposite way. So my back was towards the the the Abrams and and Geezer was I think Geezer was looking the other way too. Geezer was looking forward too. And uh you heard the you heard it shoot and then it whizzed by. And I remember thinking, I didn't sound like an RPG, although I remember like you could see that like just the the flash of light go by the Humvee, and I was like, oh fuck, that was close. And then you saw it, you know, detonate in front of us a little ways. And geezer, bless his heart, man. He fucking spun that gun 90 degrees and he just unloaded because I think the dismounts, like Matroca and Miranda, I think they started shooting towards the Abrams. And in the in the heat of the moment, man, geezer saw muzzle flashes and he thought we were getting ambushed right there. And so he fucking spun that gun 90 degrees and he just laid the the butterfly trigger down flat. And I remember thinking, Stop! I was like, no, don't. And uh I remember seeing like the tracer skipping over. I was like, oh shit. And then everybody's yelling, ceasefire, ceasefire. And I remember seeing uh JD Stevens like in the middle of the road, like the Abram started rolling out, you could hear the tracks, and then once he heard like the tracks come, we knew exactly what happened. Uh and it was like watching uh fucking an action movie, watching JD walk down the middle of the street, and this Abram's just coming at him, and he's just like he's all silhouetted with just that. And I was like, Oh, this is gonna be good. I think like he jumped up on the tank, too. I was just like, Oh man, I wish I could be over there right now. Yeah. Uh yeah, that was when Monroe almost killed all our dismounts on accident.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yep. Fortunately, and again, this is one of those things Monroe was stupidly accurate with a 50 cal. And that was good. That was the one fucking time he mostly missed. Like it was he he somehow did not kill Cohen, Metroca, Miranda, who were all sitting over there.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

I don't think he could see him. I think they were kind of down in a little depression.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Uh, I don't think he um, I mean, if he chewed up the ground enough, he would have got through, but yeah, I think he was just going right over the top. I don't think he had a good I bet they didn't realize that. I bet they were you know shitting bricks, but yeah, but yeah. I remember I was talking to Cohen and he said he was basically laying down and he was watching the tracers go over him, and I was like, fuck man. We thought I know Monroe felt horrible about that.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah, but dude, and that what we you certainly don't get expect to get shot at by anything of that size ever. I mean, it was just uh a hell of a moment, and so fucking I mean, literal shell shock, right? Like yeah, you're just gonna start shooting back.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Yeah, I remember at one point, and I forget when it was, but it was we took contact at night one time, and uh they hit the driver's side like right in front of where my face was at, like hit the windshield. I remember thinking, huh, that's interesting. Like nobody even like it didn't bother anybody. Like at that by this point in the deployment, like we were we were unfazed by little shit. Like it yeah. So I remember the the abrams one being kind of a big deal, but outside of getting shot at by an abrams, I think by this point in the deployment, uh there was there wasn't many fucks to give. We were just like, oh that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

But you're either dead or you're not. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

If you're not if you're not dead, you need to get in the fight because it's happening.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Well, anything else uh kind of strike you from the summer? I can start lifting listing off a bunch of dates, but I'm just curious about anything else that stands out, any other weird missions? Because we did a lot of random weird shit.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Yeah, we did a lot of random weird shit. I mean, I don't necessarily remember a lot of like the the missions. Like, I remember the the fuckery that we had. Uh like I remember there was the debacle about shooting off the bridge. I don't know how in-depth we're gonna get into that one,

Bridge Incident And Hard Labor

SPEAKER_03 5:06

but we don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

You can tell it if you can tell if you want. Otherwise, I'm gonna eventually I'm gonna talk to those people and try to ask them to tell their part of it because I I would love to hear from their perspective. But yeah, you can talk about it if you want.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

That's not my story, but the the story I was told was some guys were on the the bridge OP during guard the guard post that we have, and they saw some. I want to say they, I think they said they were like the Iraqi police digging in an IED and they lit them up. Uh, but when the uh the SOG or the corporal the guard or the sergeant of the guard got there, they might have been a little bit inebriated and some might have been passed out. And then so then the rumor started flying that they were throwing their whiskey bottles and trying to shoot the whiskey bottles. So I don't know, I don't know what's true. So I'll be I'll be tuning in for that episode when it comes up. I hope you can get one of those three guys to to tell that story because I'm that's I I I I think they should.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

They don't they don't have to, but I hope they do, and I'll reach out to them and I've reached out to them personally.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Well, you got you got three shots to get the story, so yeah, hopefully, hopefully one of them, hopefully one of them buckles and uh and gets it. But I remember uh I was on the guard shift right before theirs, and that was when the like the kid came up and asked because whenever we want guard posts, like they come up and say, Hey, Mr. Mr. You want chicken? You want feaky feaky? You know, do all that weird shit. And that was I'd I'd I was up there with uh with ghost with Miranda, and I tossed this kid a five-dollar bill thinking that I would never see any food. But sure shit, this little kid comes back with like a whole chicken and like flatbread and like pickled vegetables, and it was delicious, and I don't regret it. But uh the very next post is when was when uh the guys had had shot off the bridge, and I think first sergeant Mack and Captain Wildler weren't too happy about it, and so they asked if anybody else had any contact with with the locals while they were on guard posts. And I had said that I did. And I don't know if it was like an official NJP, but I remember and Shannon remember, they gave me 30 days hard labor and they said 30 days half pay, but I didn't have a bank, so I don't know how true that was. But I had to fill I had to fill sandbags every day for four hours. Like if we were on day taskable, as soon as day taskable ended, I had four hours where I had to fill sandbags, which ultimately it ended up being a good thing because I filled enough sandbags to barricade like all of map three, all of map two. We made a smoke pit out of them, yeah and uh reinforced a lot of the a lot of the hooches. And shortly after I was done with it, like we took some pretty accurate rocket fire mortar fire that landed close and like blew up one of the air conditioner units, or at least shrapnel shredded the air conditioner units. So and those walls weren't real thick. So I like to think that my stupidity saved somebody in map three. So you're welcome, map three, if you're listening.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, and your uh your sandbags on our hooch also stopped uh definitely stopped mortar fire from coming in and killing Lopez at some point because one mortar landed right where his right where he slept.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

Yeah, so that's why I said I don't regret it, although the 30 days hard labor was kind of bullshit, but thanks Mac if you're if you're listening. I appreciate it now.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

But it's funny because I I can't imagine I can't imagine what it was like being in charge of this group of misfits because you have to kind of balance like I need to keep people in the fight, but I also need to punish you. And like what can I punish you with, right? Like, there's I can't take it, I can't take anything away. Your life is already yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

What do you shave my head, send me to war? Okay, right, yeah. Here we are. And I remember that was like the running joke. Well, yeah, what are they gonna do? Shave your head, send me to war.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

So but it all worked out pretty well, I think.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Well, so transitioning while we're talking about the hooch, man. Uh I uh would be willing to bet you've got some great stories about hooch life because uh I remember some great stories with you about hooch life.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Oh man, dude, hooch life was hooch life was wild. Uh yeah, so it's kind of weird. Like the uh the way the mission breakdown was, because we had I think mortars were broken down into two platoons, and then we had the three map platoons. So it

Hooch Life And Off-Duty Chaos

SPEAKER_03 9:39

was you worked day taskable, day QRF, night taskable, night QRF, and then guard. Yeah, and I was always jealous of uh the 81s because they had like a hundred fucking bodies, it seemed like uh and map two is I think was the smallest map two or map three, but like we worked eight on, four off, eight on, or eight off, four on. Yeah, eight off, four on for basically a week straight. And so hooch life was always interesting. Uh, I remember for some reason, I don't know why, to this day I it doesn't make fucking sense to me, but I I brought a butterfly knife with me. Yes, uh and we were it was sharp too. This thing was like a I got this thing like razor sharp. And uh we were fucking around in the hooch one day, and I was twirling this thing around and tweeter came right up to me, and I acted like I was gonna slice at him, and unbeknownst to me, he put his hand up and butterfly knife cut him so fucking deep. And uh Sergeant Neal, which ironically we called him knife, he took that butterfly knife away. I still never got it back, which I don't blame him, but he took my he took my butterfly knife away, rightfully so. But uh I think they I think one of the corpsmen just stitched it up.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Yeah, but yeah, Bundy stitched him up from what I remember. Yeah, that was awesome. You you brought a couple extra weapons on because you had a baton and a taser. I remember that.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Yeah, I did have a taser. The taser was just more for for fucking around with back then. It was a cool phone, but it it it was like a phone mp3 player at the same time. When we were when we had it, uh we were fucking around with a taser. It was still like we were in New Jersey, and someone had taken it away and they had they had tased it, and it fried my phone, and so I couldn't even use my phone to listen to music. And I was like, God dang it. But uh we had a taser. We we found stuff too. I think we I think we found that one weapons cache or or one of the platoons found a weapon cache, and they had this little like I forget what it was called, like a it was a somebody says like a Beretta M82 or M12 or something, like a little submachine gun. Oh yeah. And uh Swede fucking stole that shit, and we kept that in the in the center console of our Humvee. Uh just after seeing the fucking army guys get hit with that satchel. We didn't want somebody to roll up on us that we couldn't get our guns out quick. Uh then what else? Like we got the we got Anderson and Bass, the the boot drop, did they come like mid midway through?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They came uh like right in the middle of the summer.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Yeah. So they got there and obviously we we treated them you know open with open arms and duct taped them to a pole and you know, just normal stuff. Uh but I remember the the hooch like when we first got there, it was basically just four walls and a and a tarp for a roof with a bunch of bunk beds. So it wasn't like in a you know, we're not saying at the riz. Remember, it was hot, uh it smelled bad, there was no running water. And although it did have a bathroom that was quickly designated as the Jack Shack, uh, that's where everybody kept their porn. And then we had uh on the on the wall, like right when you leave the hooch, like everybody was like posting up like the center folds and so like a whole wall of boobs as we left our hooch. So I was a big fan of that too. But yeah, I mean I remember like when we weren't running missions, like I remember grappling in the dirt in the back. I remember somebody's somebody's dad like sent them uh I don't remember if it was like a bottle of Listerine that they had put tequila in or something, or I remember like somebody had like the chocolate candies with whiskey or something like that, or bourbon.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah, I do remember that.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

I remember messing around with those in the back, but mostly it was just kind of hanging out, smoking and joking and and shooting the shit. Uh I remember like we had the we had the phone center on our base, but you couldn't you could only use it if like nobody had been hurt or killed. Like if anybody got hurt or killed, like they waited until they did like death notifications. So it wasn't uncommon to lose phones for you know three or four days at a time, and then have it on and then gone for three or four days at a time. Uh and I remember we had a little gym there. I remember me and Jax would go work out, and we were in there one day doing a workout, and then uh Staff Sergeant Coleman comes in, we called him Big Boy, and he walked into the on the incline bench. Maybe it was Tweeter, maybe Tweeter was there too. But this dude, he was a he was an animal. I mean, just absolute animal. He walked in, he put three plates on each side on the inclined bench, lays under it, no warm-up, no nothing, just reps out. I don't know, 10-15 reps, whatever it was, racks it and says, Ah, still got it. And he gets up and he leaves, just leaves his weights, everything. I was just like, you know what? If 315 is your warm-up, brother, you can leave that weight. We'll clean it for you. Don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

I still remember when big boy came to our platoon. Like it was almost like right before we left. It wasn't, it wasn't long before we deployed.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

And I remember they were like, Yeah, we're getting a new uh a new platoon sergeant, you know, straight out of the drill field. And I remember thinking, ah fuck, man, this guy's gonna like to run. He's gonna, you know, he's gonna be one of those guys. It's gonna be just like back in boot camp. And he got there, and on the very first, the very first PT we did was a boots and use run, obviously way before Ramadi. And we took off running. I meant, I was thinking, man, here we go. I hated boots and use. Like, I always fucked up my feet, and we didn't get a quarter mile into it. And Staff Sergeant Coleman was like, Hey, let's slow it down in the front. And I was like, Yeah, let's slow it down in the front. That's what I'm talking about. So that's that's what I knew. There's me and Big Boy would be good friends. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Uh yeah, he didn't even go with us to March Air Force Base, so he had to have been now. He couldn't have been with us maybe three weeks, something like that. Wasn't long.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Yeah. It was it was right before. Yeah, what else happened?

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Well, let's see. Here's uh let's think of a couple of things that kind of happened. There was uh in July, uh OP library got blown up, and that was when the Fox Company guys were trapped on the top. And we had to go out and do a bunch of corners.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

Oh, is that the hotel or the hospital?

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Was that where they blew up like the whole corner of the building?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

All right, I remember that. Now I don't know how how true the story is, but somebody said that, and this could be just Marines making up

OP Library Blast And Dark Humor

SPEAKER_03 16:50

shit, but it's a funny story, so we can tell it anyway. And with the caveat of it, may or may not be true. So uh, but somebody said that they were trying to shit into a bottle when the IED went off. Did you hear that? Okay, so I'm not the only one. All right, I'm not the only one. So so maybe there's some truth to the story, but uh somebody said that they were trying to they were they had to shit and they were trying to shit into a water bottle when the IED went off. Yeah, I don't I don't know anything after that, but I feel like somebody said that the go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

I feel like Rake Brandt's the one that started that rumor. Uh I feel like Rake Brandt's the one that started that rumor. I don't know if that was true or not, but yeah, the water bottle got stuck in his ass or something.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Yeah, yeah. That's that's the story that I heard. How true that is, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

I'm sure that is not true at all. That sounds like some bullshit, but that's yeah, but it's still a good story.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Uh man, like before that before we came onto the podcast, I remember thinking of all the stories, and now I can't think of shit. What other what other dates do you got?

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Uh, I mean, that's a real big one. So the other one, let's see, rolling into the last bit of the deployment we had um July 28th is one I remember just because it was a fucking nightmare and it was super, super hot. Uh there's two or three of us map platoons that were out in the south of the city, and there were seven tons rolling, and we ended up in just an extended gunfight down in the the south area, not not too far from the soccer stadium. And we're there just we were basically going neighborhood to neighborhood, getting in these little short gun fights. And uh that was when they did the flyover with uh with the fast mover, and everybody was so

July Gunfights And Deadly Accuracy

SPEAKER_01 18:35

dehydrated because it was like 140 fucking degrees out. The thing I remember specifically is that was the day that you decided to get up in the gun. Do you happen to remember that?

SPEAKER_03 18:44

Oh, yeah, I do remember that. There was only like one or two times that that geezer let me fucking ride in the gun, and every time it was it was bizarre. So I remember one time when I was up in the gun, uh I think we were on route route Michigan still. Yeah, and it was after the it was after the snipers got hit because I remember we needed to watch out for the the more accurate sniper fire, because that's a whole different story. But uh Neil was dismounted, he was walking in front of our truck, and we took contact, and I remember seeing all the bullets, all the all the dust fly up, like where he was walking. And I remember thinking he's gone. Neil's Neil's getting hit right now, and he just like was dancing, and then he ran and like dove behind the median. And I remember thinking, holy shit, like Neil, Neil's a legend. That dude, nobody can kill Neil. Yeah, that dude's a fucking stud. But uh and then yeah, that I guess yeah, that was a bunch of a bunch of a bunch of times just taking contact because that was when right after that, or right after Neil dove behind the median, we suppressed fire. That kind of that kind of died down. I don't know whatever happened to wherever they were shooting from, but it was like up higher up. They were in elevated position, they were like shooting out of a window. Uh, and then a a truck was or a car was coming out. I don't remember if it was a taxi cab, but it was like mobbing right at us on the road, and we lit that up and it swerved and hit the median and it flipped over. It flipped on its side. Uh, I think at one point when I was up in the gun, I remember I had ducked down to say something to Sweet or or talk to to Geezer or somebody, and I had like one hand up on the gun, and that was when we they started shooting again. And I didn't think anything of the time, but when I came back, there was a hole through my through my sleeve, my camis, and I was thinking, oh shit, I think I just had either shrapnel or a bullet went through the sleeve, and I thought that was close. Yeah, but obviously not as close as Webster. So I think that was the day that was that the same day that Webster got hit in the back of the head.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Same day, yep.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Yeah, yeah. I feel like I didn't want to tell the tell my story when Webster's got one to the dome. My my camis were much less impressive that day.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

So well, it was a big, I mean it was a big shift, right? The first guys that we fought, like you're talking about the April, May time frame, March, whatever, uh lots of like crazy spray and prey, lots of AK fire just over walls and stuff like that, or or whatever, but not I mean, it was accurate, but it wasn't point accurate. And then you're exactly right. Come summertime, it was a new element of people, new you know, trained insurgents or something. Yeah, and the fire was way more accurate where you're getting bullets through your sleeve. Yeah, uh, the trucks are actually getting hit by bullets more and more often. Like plenty of times we'd come back and have ricochets or bullet holes in the in the trucks. And and then yeah, then Webster like literally an armor piercing round through the turret and that hit his helmet.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

So Did they ever let him keep that? He was trying to get it so he could keep it, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

We'll have to ask him. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Yeah, I remember when we were driving back, like I think somebody even said like uh like Webster was down or something like that. And I remember when we got back into the firm base, obviously he's in a different truck, but like he took his cavillar off and I was like, holy fuck man, that's awesome. Yeah. But that was wild. That was a good one. Uh I I definitely know one and I'm sure it's probably the same in every in every truck or in every in every company, but I learned more about like religion and just nonsense in that deployment right there than I have in my whole life. Because like uh Monroe was like the son of a Southern Baptist, and then we had Cohen, who was you know just a a devout, I don't know, I don't know what the the Jewish people call him, but he was like really

Faith Debates And Extreme Heat

SPEAKER_03 22:54

Jewish. Sorry, John. But not in a bad way, but like he was he was very knowledgeable on uh on Hebrew and Judaism and stuff like that. Yeah, so like watch like the competing sides, and I learned more about theology in in that eight months than the rest of my life. So uh I think geezer was starting to wear off on me because he would say some wild shit. I'm like, that's not true, and then and he'd come back like see, I told you. I'm like, all right, maybe it's true. Uh maybe, maybe you're right. You know what they say, there's no there's no atheist in a foxhole. And yeah, definitely a definitely a firm believer in that. But uh, yeah, that was a level one too. But else was around that same time. I remember uh do you remember when there was like like you said, it was like a hundred and it was like 120 for like a week straight almost. Yeah, the generators went out, like the generators overheated. Dude, that was the that was miserable. Like there's just no relief. Like you were just praying to be on night QRF so you could get some some airflow in a Humvee or something. Yeah, but that was like Death Valley, and which is crazy is when we first got there, do you remember how cold it was in the morning patrols? Oh, yeah, like in March. Fuck, that was it. It went from like 30 degrees to 120 degrees in a couple months, and I don't know how those people do it.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, and most of those houses don't have any AC, or if they do, it's in one room only, and just just just where they slept. Everywhere else was completely unclimate control.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Yeah, and most of them like slept on the roofs too, or like upstairs and shit.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Yeah. Well, let's see. Let's uh what what did you do to to pass your time other than mess around the hooch with butterfly knife? Were you one that would you read, or did you watch movies, or what'd you do?

SPEAKER_03 24:48

No, I don't know. I remember watching movies. Uh we would watch like it was always seemed like we were watching like fucking soap opera shit. Like that was an odd not not one tree hill, but but shows like that. Like I remember we were watching just dumb shit and and DVD

Movies Weapons And Junction City

SPEAKER_03 25:07

movies that we that we bought from the uh the Haji stand.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

And I remember they were like the the new movies that just came out in theaters, so I was like, oh heck yeah, this is awesome. But then like midway through it, somebody stands up in front of the camera, they're all like pirated, they're like, Yeah, whatever. It's I get the idea. But yeah, no, we watch watch movies, and fucking Monroe. The only thing Monroe did was clean his gun and and re-lube it every day, which I'm grateful for. But nobody cleaned a gun more than he did. Nobody, but to his credit, that gun never went down.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Never.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

Even when we we burned through thousands and thousands of rounds in one day, that gun never never jammed, never misfired, never stopped running. So he was uh geezer was good with that. But I remember going back to it. Remember when we went to uh was it Junction City once uh 2-5 came and took over? Yeah, oh sure. Yeah, oh dude, that was that was fun too. Uh Richie got stuck in the ladder when they they bet him that he couldn't fit through the ladder. I I don't know this one. Yeah. All right, I'll have to send you a picture because I still have it. Uh we we bet Richie that he couldn't squeeze through the rungs of this ladder that was on the like the ladder for a bunk bed. Final to the top rack. And so he he squeezes through and he he got his shoulders up and he pushed it down to his hips, but he couldn't get his hips past it, and then he couldn't get it back up over his shoulder, so it was stuck. And so we had to wander around Junction City looking for a C B to cut it off of him.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

I'll have to send you the picture because I still have a picture of him stuck in the fucking ladder.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

What else was there?

SPEAKER_03 27:01

There was definitely other stories from Junction City that I don't know if uh you know what fuck it, I'll just tell it. And people can judge me later if they want, and it is what it is. Uh about like two or three weeks from going home, I decided that I wasn't gonna crank that hog. I was gonna save that and build it up, and it was just gonna be an awesome money shot when I got home. And feel free to edit this out if it's too gross or graphic. I don't care. Nope. Uh it's not gonna hurt my feelings if it doesn't make the cut.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

But um this is not a fair. If it does, it does, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

All right, yeah. Gotta be a warning on this one. So we're we were back at Junction City, and I don't know if you remember, but it wasn't like a normal hooch where all the guys were sleeping in the same hooch. It was uh there was only like six guys, maybe there's like three bunk beds in each one. Yeah, and I was on the top bunk, and I forget who was below me, and even if I remembered, I wouldn't tell you their name. Oh, you know what? It was Richie, I'll tell you. Uh and I had a I had a dream. Basically, it was a it what turned into a wet dream, but I had a dream that I was sitting by a fountain, and I remember thinking, man, this feels so good. And I woke up just in time for the last stroke as I'm cranking my hog in my sleep and just fucking everywhere. And I'm sitting there, I'm in fucking just like the like the ranger panties, like skivvy shorts, no shirt, and the mattresses all had plastic wrap on them. And I'm just covered in fucking fertilizer, if you know what I mean. And and I got nothing to nothing to call I can't get off, like I can't get off the the the bunk bed. So all I could think to do was I took my hand and went like wiped it up, and then I didn't know what to do with it, so I just flinged it. And I remember all I could hear was like just spatter going everywhere. I was like, oh my god, that's so gross. And then I uh I reached over. There was a because we hung our packs on the rack on the on the bunk beds, yeah. And there was a beanie on the bunk bed, and I just grabbed that thing and and cleaned up off the and I feel like as I tell the story, it sounds super gross, but I can't be held liable for what I did in my sleep. Like, that's not me. I wasn't thinking about that, it wasn't intentional. I'm sorry, Richie. But I'm pretty sure it was it was Richie's beanie, and I fucking cleaned up and uh I did swap my I I swapped the the nightcaps because the fleece beanies or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Oh yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 29:32

Yeah, I those things were like coveted, so I took the this the the dirty one and I gave it to my and I replaced it. And I didn't I don't think I told anybody that story for for years because I fucking I was like so grossed out by it. I was just like, what the fuck, man? I was like jacking off of your sleep. What a dirt bag, but it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

It's good that you switched it because Rit Richie wore that damn beanie all the time.

SPEAKER_03 29:58

Yeah, he always wore it.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

He was always wearing it, didn't matter how hot it was, he was always wearing that thing.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

Yeah, no, I I definitely switched it. I remember that because when I got I didn't I didn't wear that beanie there, obviously we were on our way out the door then, but I didn't put that beanie on my head. I think I'd I probably turned that thing back into sift the way it was.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Well, now that you're talking about the way out, you remember anything uh for those last little drawdown and then driving up uh up to fly out?

SPEAKER_03 30:31

Yeah, I remember when 2-5 came in. Uh they were like real standoffish, like they didn't want anything, they didn't really want to talk to us. Like we were like, hey, like this is what you're looking for, and they just kind of wrote us off like we didn't know what we were talking about, which I thought was kind of annoying. Um, and then like come to find out later. And again, I don't know how true this is, but like their battalion commander was basically like, hey, these guys are cowboys, they're reckless, that's why they have so many casualties, or or something like that, that they didn't like the way we were handling business.

Handoff Friction And Lessons Lost

SPEAKER_03 30:59

And I think they found out real quick that our way was working, and so I think they kind of I think a lot of the stuff kind of switched back to how we were doing it, so it did.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Yeah, I mean, after you guys moved to Junction City and we stuck around for the the final left seat, right seat transition portion. Uh, me, Randall, Jordan, uh, Swede, and the lieutenant, uh, they told us to our faces that that's what they were told. I mean, that was that's that's not a rumor. They did tell us that's exactly what they were told that we were a bunch of cowboys, and they were specifically told not to listen to us.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

And that's not just your platoon that happened. I I was part of the left behind, and it was our our platoon was told the same thing. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

Which is crazy. I mean, like we've been there for what almost nine months, and and you're not gonna listen to the guys that they're on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

They paid for it in blood, though.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

Yeah. Well, we learned the lessons in blood. You'd think that they would have fucking took the easy road a little bit, but right.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Yeah, it's a weird, I don't know, it's a weird culture thing that uh we didn't have any method to pass things down like officially, right? You would think there'd be some kind of like a record of all the things that we were doing, and here is how it was working, and here's what nope, not at all. It was just yeah, you know, give give each other the middle finger on the way in and out, and that was it. And good luck, you'll figure it out on your own.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

Yeah, well, and even even from like you know, battalion to battalion, like and maybe this is just my perspective from from being just a lowly lance corporal at the time, like we would do missions and maybe Swede knew, but I'm just like drive that way, yeah. Okay, I'm on it. Well, I had no idea what we were doing, other than just waiting to get fucking blown up or waiting to take contact. I didn't know if there was anything other than that.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

It's funny it that you say that. I I had lots of conversations, but I think you're right. I mean, there wasn't any time we didn't sand table or anything like that. We but I know for sure me and Randall and definitely Tweeter and definitely Swede and the lieutenant and staff sergeant knew what was going on, but I don't think we had time to really like disseminate the whole plan. So yeah, it was like we're going here. Good luck.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

And I think I think Swede's probably like, I'll explain it to Groves, but he won't understand anyway, so I'll just point and fucking he'll do that. That's so he probably he's probably saving himself the headache, and and I can I can appreciate that too.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

So but well, uh, we came back, right? We flew back, uh we went over to Alasad Airbase, we rode over on seven tons, jumped on a plane, got to Kuwait, and then we were in Kuwait for a little bit. You remember anything specifically from coming back or what it felt like, uh at least before you got to California?

SPEAKER_03 33:49

I think it was like a just kind of a mix of emotions. I mean, on one hand, you're you're glad to be done with it, but on the other hand, you know, I I think I felt guilty for for leaving too,

Coming Home And Thin Reintegration

SPEAKER_03 33:59

because I knew I knew what 2-5 was going. I was super on the fence about trying to trying to lateral or cross-deck over to 2-5. Uh but I'm I mean, I'm obviously I'm glad I didn't. I I I would have missed out on the the next Oki deployment. And obviously my my guys, like my truck, my crew, my platoon, like I was super tight with those guys. I couldn't leave, I couldn't leave my guys. Uh but I think if like if a couple guys from our platoon decided that they were gonna cross-deck, that would have like if if Swede or Tweeter or you were like, hey, I think I'm gonna stay for another pump, I probably would have stayed. So I'm glad you guys didn't either, because that would probably have been a mistake. Uh especially seeing how a 2-5 handled initial though.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

I was gonna say, even if that was even in my in my thoughts in any way after the handoff, that was a definite no. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean we flew back, we went to Kuwait, and we flew back to California. Uh any thoughts about when you came home?

SPEAKER_03 35:03

I was just glad once I got home, I was I was glad to be back. I was glad it was done. I was glad it was over. Uh and I was glad to eat like real food because I remember like we had T Rath, we were rat fucking MREs for a living. Uh I think the only MRE I ate while I was there, it had to end in an eye. So like I would eat like the spaghetti, the the tortellini and stuff like that. But if it didn't end in an eye, I wouldn't eat it. That was the do you remember when they when they came out of the new MREs that had clam chowder?

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

I don't this may not be the popular opinion, but that's the best clam chowder I've ever had in my whole life, and I'll fight for it. That that clam chowder was delicious.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

That's awesome. So I assume when you got back, you you kind of mentioned you were married. Did you you have somebody waiting for you on the on the parade deck when we got back?

SPEAKER_03 36:08

I don't think I did. I I wasn't married at the time.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

Uh and I don't know if my I don't remember if my parents came down or not. Maybe they did, so if they ever end up listening to us and they were there, then sorry, I don't remember. But uh Yeah, I'm sure I'm I'm sure they had to have been there. I'm sure somebody was there. But I think I was I think I actually cried when I got home. Or like when we when we landed, like coming across the parade deck. Did they meet us at did the did the families meet us at March or did they meet us back at Mateo?

SPEAKER_01 36:40

There was a couple of there was a couple of people who were holding up signs at March. Uh I have you were there? Yeah. So I always thought that was I thought that was interesting because troop movements were supposed to be secret, right? But there was like I don't know, maybe four or five women that were holding up like welcome back two four signs on the fence. And then we'd were there for however long and we jumped on buses and then came back. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

So yeah, I think when we came back, I think I actually saw my my family for the first time on the parade deck right at the uh at the new the the newer barracks of Mateo.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

We we pulled up there and kind of got out and unloaded. Uh I forget what we I don't remember if they like they secured us right then or if like we got home on a Friday and we came back Monday morning or whatever it was, or if we went straight into post post-deployment leave or what happened, but there's a couple days.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

I don't remember what day of the week we came back, but I think it might have been during the week. You know what? I think it was during the week because I think I remember at least two days. At least two days I saw before the weekend libbo, but like our check-in process was so like every day, you know. Like we had a we had formation at like something late. It was like seven o'clock. And then they they were like carry out the rest of the day, and then it was basically like go fuck off. Like we we didn't have anything going on, and then we had the weekend, and they were if I remember correctly, being back in the barracks. They were just trying to keep us kind of contained to the barracks. They didn't really want us going out.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Did you guys have to talk to a chaplain or somebody before post-apointment? Like, I remember having like being in a room in like one of the barracks or one of the common areas, and there was a chaplain or a I don't know, somebody who's basically acting like a therapist, and he was like, Hey, it's okay to feel these kind of feelings. You know, if you have any questions, you know, feel free to ask. And of course, nobody's gonna open up to the chaplain, no offense to the chaplains, but you're sitting around the room with a bunch of guys with type A personalities that just came back from combat and they're not gonna talk about how they feel.

unknown 38:54

Right.

SPEAKER_03 38:54

And so I think I asked him, it is it true if you don't use it, you lose it. And of course, everybody laughing is like, ah, fuck it, we're out of here. And that was the end of the uh the therapy session.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

No, all I remember was the like three question survey. That was it. I mean I remember being in a room with everybody, but I I remember them handing out that little survey, and it was like, Are you having difficulty sleeping? Are you something like it was like three literally three questions? Yeah, and if you if you checked yes on any of them, they they talked to you, and if not, they didn't. And I think I remember them talking to like one or two people. It was not very many, even though clearly there's several guys who were having issues, but that that was it.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

Yeah, yeah, but but nobody's gonna. I mean, when you're filming that survey, nobody else is gonna say, Yeah, I'm having issues, they're just gonna sack up and handle it like like they see everybody else doing.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

In hindsight, that's probably not the healthiest way to cope, but you know, tell that to any other 20-year-old kid that just did that shit.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

Right. Yeah, and then we got that uh that trash can leave at 30 days. Did you end up going home? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:04

Yeah, I went home. Just I mean, I live so close. I I'm three hours away from Pendleton anyway, so uh yeah, I just I drove home and hung out. I don't remember being 30 days, but it very well could have been. I don't know if I took all 30 or if I came back early.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Yeah, we would have gotten back back from that and then we would have had our our ball and then uh you remember going that one? Going to the ball? Yeah, right after post-deployment.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Oh, I know I went to the ball. Do I remember any of it? No. I just remember that I remember that we looked badass because everybody had the chessy polar starter kit with, you know, like the I think the the first ball. I mean, that might have been the first ball. No, I think the first ball that I went to, it was kind of before everything had kind of kicked off. And you see every once in a while, you see like a staff sergeant with, you know, two rows of ribbons. But at that ball, that's when you saw you you saw PFCs and you know, Lance Corporals with a three-stack, and you're just like, hell yeah. Yeah, so you see you see salty sergeants that got fucking four rows of ribbons, and you're like, that's a hitter right there. So yeah, I remember like I the first time I saw Gunny, uh Gunny Maraki in his class A's or dress blues or something, I remember thinking, dude, that that guy right there, that's that's all that is man right there. One day I'll be like Gunny Maraki.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

I don't remember. Did you did you get wounded over there? No, you were one of the few.

SPEAKER_03 41:42

I was zigging and zagging at the right times. So nice. Just got lucky.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Did you end up did you end up doing more than just your one four? Or did you just do the four years and get out, or did you do more?

SPEAKER_03 41:53

No, I just did the I did the four and then and then got out. Uh I got a suspicious phone call when I was on inactive reserves, and I I think it went to voicemail. I don't think I ever answered it on accident. So I don't know if that wouldn't call me back, but it definitely said Camp Pendleton on it. And I was like, not today, Satan, not today.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Yeah, I I got a muster letter while I was in college, but I just called I called them immediately. I was like, I have I have a semester left of college, and they were like, Oh, don't worry about it. And they took took my name off the list and I never heard anything again.

SPEAKER_01 42:27

No, I they made me show up. I had to go to a whole thing and uh get my butthole looked at again and everything else.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

And uh, and then they were like it doesn't like you volunteered for that.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Like, whoa, we're checking buttholes. No, they uh they put me through the whole the whole physical. You could have had an old man look at your butthole for the second time.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

Heck yeah, they didn't finger yours, they didn't put a finger in. Nope, nope, nope, knew that fucker lied to me.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Just a quick quick glance, and they were like there whole the questionnaire was also retarded too. And but then they went through the whole thing and they're like, Oh, we're not really looking for anybody in your MOS right now. And I was like, I was here all day for this. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 43:13

What what MOS were they looking for?

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Did they say they're looking for uh mostly mechanics and air, like mostly air MOSs? Okay, aircraft, air anything, aircraft mechanic, aircraft weapons loaders, that kind of shit.

SPEAKER_03 43:26

Gotcha. Yeah. Hey, do you remember not to not to backtrack a little bit, but do you remember it was it was one night? I'm assuming we were like either night QRF or we were like uh one of the day missions because we were just sitting around like the the smoke pit in the front, and there was some guy that was flying a drone. He was trying to get obs on the uh soccer stadium. They had reports that there was armed insurgents at the soccer stadium. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01 43:51

No. No.

SPEAKER_03 43:52

So there wasn't many of us out there, but there was some dude,

Drones Contractors And Propaganda Finds

SPEAKER_03 43:56

and he was like he wasn't in regular camis, it was like he was in, you know. Cami bottoms and like a just like a regular shirt and he had a like a controller but it had a TV screen and everything else. And he was he was flying a drone and he said that they had reports of it. And I don't know if he was doing a if he was checking the soccer stadium and doing like a they were calling for fire, but I remember we were sitting there and we were just kind of watching him fly his drone and sure as shit there was people popping up and he got on the radio and then the people were fucking dust. And I was like, oh that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

Nice. But that had to be the oh that had been the ODA guys, because there's I mean nobody else would have had that capability in that AO, I would imagine.

SPEAKER_03 44:38

Yeah. I mean that makes sense. I remember like I remember was it the ODA guys that pulled up into that in that suburban?

SPEAKER_01 44:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

Okay, yeah. It was it was probably them.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

Yep, they rolled around an armored suburban. Uh the only other people in armored suburbans, there was one small uh private contractor group that came in. There was a triple canopy group that came in in suburbans.

SPEAKER_03 45:01

So triple canopy, they were doing like security around the government center, I think, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:06

All the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:07

Yeah, I remember we were at the government center. Oh fuck, I remember that. Uh we were at the government center, and there was like a and the and maybe it's just as a Lance Corporal when you're looking at these these triple canopy, the the contractors and private security guys, like they just look fucking badass. You're like, dude, that's fucking that's what I want to do when I get out. Of course, once you get out, you're like, fuck that, I'm not doing that shit. That's crazy. But like some kid rolled up on a bike and was like trying to push push the limit, and he like pulled out this fucking like little wooden billy club and he fucking hit the kid's bike tire and just tacoed it. And I was like, fuck yeah, this is awesome. But but the the reason that story came up as I was just thinking about it is we did a uh a raid on like on a movie store or something. They were they had a bunch of uh like insurgent propaganda videos, and we found videos of our guys getting fucked up at this movie store. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01 46:06

Yes, I do. Yeah, yeah, and we took all the movies and ended up like I mean, like 90% of them were garbage, but uh yeah, there was a whole bunch of weird propaganda Al Jazeera and like other videos that were in there.

SPEAKER_03 46:20

Yeah, I remember we watched a video, and I don't know if it was like in the we had brought it back to the uh the weapons company command hooch or whatever it was. Yeah, uh, but we were watching some of the videos, and there was one of the guys that got killed on April 6th from Echo Company, and like they had stripped his vest and they zoomed in, you could see his name tapes, you could see who it was. And I remember thinking, holy fuck, man, like these dudes are just animals, they're savages, which I know it sounds bad, but at the time that's what they acted like, so it is what it is. Yeah, but anyway, yeah, sorry to sorry to backtrack.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

That's just no, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

If you if one pops in your head, that's dying.

SPEAKER_01 47:03

Well, not only that, that's that's a hell of a story, and uh most well, I can tell you nobody else has told that story for sure. I don't think anybody remembered that. I didn't remember it until you brought it up.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

I remembered it only because and it's burned in my brain. Like it was uh the kid's name that they zoomed in, it was PFC Langhorst was his name. I didn't know him personally, but I remember like when they they were looking at his face. Obviously, he was you know, he was he was gone, but like the his vest was stripped, he didn't have his gear. I think his dog tags were still out, but like they zoomed in on his it said US Marines, and then it said just his last name, just Langhorst. And I was like, Oh fuck, that's one of our guys. But that one that one stuck in my brain for a while. Let's see what and then the I'm sure they somebody's already talked about the sniper story where the snipers got hit.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

If you remember anything specific, you're welcome to talk about it, man. Uh yeah, but yeah, there's been a couple people remember some things.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

I remember I think we were day QRF, or we were we rolled, I think, or maybe maybe uh the 81s were were day QRF, and we just rolled out to to help assist with it. But I remember I went in to get coffee out of the uh

Sniper Rifle And Media War

SPEAKER_03 48:14

the command hooch there, and Al Jazeer, which was like Al Jazeer news was always playing, even though it was always in Arabic and nobody can see what it was, but like it said, like, yo, breaking news, and then it said Ramadi, and I'm like, Oh shit, that's where we're at. And then it was like Al Jazeera was already there, and like they were filming the guys while while they were up there and before we got on scene, bro. Before before the QRF got on scene. And I remember I was like, Oh, that's not fucking good. And the next thing I know, all the trucks are firing up and they're like, Yeah, we gotta go. And I was like, shit. And then that started a uh a few months where the the random pop shots were real fucking accurate. I think one of the guys from Fox Company took one of the sappy that dropped him. Yeah, the sappy stopped it, but I mean, just one clean shot. And that that wasn't happening before that sniper rifle got turned over to the insurgents.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

If I remember correctly, the the last casualty of the battalion was a sniper shot of Fox Company out of the tower, and it it killed the guy.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah. Yeah. Were they where they end up getting that rifle back in uh was it Habania or something?

SPEAKER_01 49:26

It was a year, it was a year or two later, I think 2006. And yeah, it was another fifth Marines unit that recovered it.

SPEAKER_03 49:36

Somebody I think somebody hit me up and they're like, hey, we got you guys' rifle back. And I was like, no shit. I was like, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 49:41

Yeah. If you go to the uh the Marine Corps Museum in Quanaco, they actually have the rifle. Uh yeah they have it. It's actually it's it's actually a really cool exhibit that they've created for OEF. Um, but they have the rifle up on the wall.

SPEAKER_03 49:54

I think the wife and I are gonna head up to the east coast in an in the next few weeks, so maybe off the swing by there. We're gonna be in like DC, so that's close enough to wherever that's at.

SPEAKER_01 50:03

So it's right across the river.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Yeah, it's just right there. So maybe we'll it's totally that Marine Corps Museum is totally worth it, man. Like it's well worth your time to go down.

SPEAKER_03 50:14

Yeah, we'll we'll check it out. We're gonna go up in a few weeks, so we'll have to we'll have to make a stop there.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

Well, that's a perfect segue to probably a good question to close this out since we've been going for a couple hours. Uh when you look back on all this shit 22 years later, uh, what do you think about it? What does it mean to you and what do you tell people?

SPEAKER_03 50:35

That's deep, man. I mean, I wouldn't trade it for for anything. Obviously, I uh I wish I could trade, you

Meaning And Brotherhood After War

SPEAKER_03 50:46

know, trade some of the outcomes. You know, I wish I could I wish we didn't lose the people that we lost for sure. But as far as the being there, like some of the best times of my life right there. That and you know, raising kids and and the family I have now, I I wouldn't be here without that experience. So I mean the way the way I kind of look at it is all the little decisions I've made in my life get me to where I'm at right now. And so uh that I think that camaraderie that we had then and and still have now, it you can't replicate that any other way. I mean, when it when when you have that kind of that bond that's forged in fire like that, there's just it's hard to have a bond with with anybody else that you have with those people. And I I think that's true. Even without talking to anybody else about something like that, I think they probably all feel the same way. Maybe not Miranda, because he was just we called him ghost because he motherfucker was just disappeared. I don't even think he liked us, but I liked him.

SPEAKER_01 51:51

It's it's funny. We did interview him. If you have a chance to listen to it, it's pretty good. Uh I I think he just didn't talk because English was his second language, man. Uh yeah, I mean that that was the way he described it. It he uh he definitely was a lot closer to a lot of us. It was interesting, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

No, I I Brandon was awesome. He was he was quiet. The only thing that bugged me is like when we get on guard posts, and it'd be four hours, and I'm just like trying to talk to him, like, hey man, what you know, what do you what do you want to talk about? And he's just like, mm-hmm. You're like, man, four hours gonna drag, bro. Fucking do something. Talk Spanish to me, I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

But no, I mean, the the relationships that I made, the the the bonds that we forged, like those are if one of the guys from our platoon, and and maybe even mortars, but if one of the guys from our platoon called us and said, Hey, I need this, I would drop what I was doing. Hands down, no questions asked. If Tweeter said, Hey, I need you in North Carolina tomorrow, I'd be on a plane. It just it is what it is. And and not to not to bash on the mortars, but there's a running joke that I keep I keep it at my work now that there's only two kinds of mortarmen, and I don't think Blake would be too upset about it, but you're either you're either you're either fucking brilliant, like just you got that dog in you, you're autistic and just absolute fucking genius, or you're an absolute creature with fucking no personal hygiene habits. Like it didn't seem like there was any in between. You're either.

SPEAKER_00 53:30

I mean so so what at what point are you gonna say the contentious thing?

SPEAKER_03 53:37

Oh, yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 53:38

I didn't think you I didn't think you'd be mad about it.

SPEAKER_03 53:42

I I put you in the the first category, but some of those mortarmen, god, love them to death, but they're not even real humans, they're just creepy.

SPEAKER_00 53:53

We are uh we are a different beast and uh had to be run as such, and so clearly.

SPEAKER_03 54:01

I remember like some of those guys, I was like, What is wrong with you? Like, so I think I got into a fist fight with Rocha. Jamie Rocha.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:10

Yeah. I was just having a bad day, and he was fucking with Tweeter, and Tweeter's like, handle my light work, and I was like, Okay, and so I fucking just started a fist fight with Rocha in the fucking stairway. And we went to a trade, we had like we were leaving that afternoon to go to some one of the ranges for like a two-day training, and Rocha caught me with a fucking right hook that I didn't see, and like my lip was fucking black and blue, and I was just like, God damn it. I think that was they started calling me Butterbean from like that point on. So that's I earned my nickname Butterbean with that right there.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Yeah, no, I yeah, I I don't I wouldn't change a thing. I mean, I'd it was an awesome experience. I mean, it it sucked for a lot of guys. It was it was hard, it was grueling, but it was incredible at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 54:59

As weird as that sounds, it I very much agree with everything you said.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

Yeah, man. Perfect way to wrap it up.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:09

Well, I'm glad to see you again. Uh, and I think of you very much the same way, dude. We uh we chewed some hard fucking dirt, and I enjoyed every fucking time I was side by side with you. I really did. You were always fucking hilarious, you were hard as fucking nails. I always knew I could rely on you, with the exception of one thing. You would never fucking turn the radio off. Never, never. It would kill the Humvee battery, and we'd have to jump start that goddamn thing, and I had to beat you with a Kevlar to get you to turn the radio off.

SPEAKER_03 55:39

I do remember that. You know what? It worked out. It worked. If that's if that's the one flaw, I'll live with that.

SPEAKER_01 55:47

That was it. That was it. I was always like, all right, gross, we're gonna start at the knuckles, and I'm gonna keep going up every time you don't turn the radio off. And I got to the shoulder, and you never you always turn the radio off after that. I was glad because I was like, fuck, if I have to hit him in the face, I'm gonna do it, but this is gonna suck.

SPEAKER_03 56:02

And what's what's funny is I got a I got a police car in my driveway right now, and the radio's on. I know it is because I heard it talk already. So you you remind me that I'm gonna turn my fucking radio off. But no, this was awesome. I I love you guys for doing this, and I'm I'm grateful just to be a part of it. So thank you guys so much. I appreciate everything.

SPEAKER_01 56:23

Thanks, man.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

It was so good to see you, man.

SPEAKER_01 56:25

Have a good night. I'll uh I'll be in contact, dude.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

All right, sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 56:31

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