A Bit of Home
When’s the last time you took a shower outside in a wooden and corrugated tin shed where you had to get wet, turn the water off, lather up, and then rinse off in order to save water? Oh, and did I forget to tell you that you can’t control the water’s temperature?
Or how about the luxury of being able to go to the bathroom in private? I’ll bet you don’t have to go outside and use a wooden outhouse or urinate into a tube stuck at an angle into the ground. Better yet, I know you don’t have to burn your bodily wastes at the end of the day.
And about supper, when’s the last time you had a hot meal … every other night? In the meantime, there are plenty of Pop Tarts and pre-packaged meals I wouldn’t give you two cents for to eat.
As to breakfast and lunch, you’re on your own out here.
And don’t even think about a trip to a nice coffee shop for an iced latte. Ain’t gonna happen. But I can recommend the water and Gatorade.
Care to talk about how nice it is for you to be able to sit down at your computer and send an email to a loved one any time you want?
And my point?
The soldiers of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, at Command Outpost Aztec currently don’t enjoy many of the luxuries you enjoy.
But brother have they done a great job of making this place feel like a small piece of home. And they are damned proud of it.
“When we first got here about four months ago, this place was a mess,” said SFC David Heard with a smile. “I mean there were chemicals and trash all over the place,” he added.
“This place” is an abandoned meatpacking plant, and what the soldiers did is clean out what was the headquarters building to this plant and transform it into living quarters and an operations center.
“There were a lot of days were we had nothing but water and MREs,” added Heard. He neglected to say that he and his fellow soldiers worked in 115 degree plus heat.
But these guys stuck with it. They cleared away the trash and chemicals; they build outhouses and showers; they set up and maintain an electrical system that powers the air conditions and/or fans and refrigerators in each soldier’s room.
They took for granted that they could do the job of carving out a little bit of what you take for granted at home while at the same time conducting combat operations.
I admire such fortitude and courage.
J.M. Simpson
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