I have a huge amount of respect for the job you guys did over there under those conditions.
When I read your account of eating dates, in my mind I immediately thought of someone wearing all that hot gear in 113 degree, dusty, and pulling those dates down from that tree.
Must have been great, if you were exerting yourself in that heat, your body probably craves calories, and chewing on that must have been grand!
Thank you again.
Guys like you might not know it from reading on this forum, but there are a lot of us who appreciate what you did and how well you did it, and regardless of the political BS introduced by many, think you guys rate up there near the top in quality and heart with any forces we have put into the field in any war.
Damn proud of you guys.
You’re too kind.
Summers were hot. Often 115-120F in the summer, reflected heat from city pavement, humidity from the rivers and canals.
Sixty to 80 pounds of armor, kit, weapons, and ammo.
Iraqis loved rumors! One of them was that our vests contained miniature air conditioners. That was the only way they could fathom or explain US troops patrolling on foot in the mid-day heat.
The first time I heard that one, I had just come into an enclosed space to meet with some pro-US Iraqis. It was very hot. I had already sweat through my t-shirt, uniform top, and into my vest. One of them mentioned that it was a good thing we had those air conditioners, otherwise we’d be passing out.
Challenge accepted.
I doffed my vest and kit and put it on the Iraqi. I said, there is no air conditioning. Their mouth hung open. Between the weight, the heat, and the fact the vest was dripping with sweat, they were gobsmacked.
After that, word spread through the neighborhood that the A/C rumor was a lie. The Americans were just THAT TOUGH!! Hoo-Wah!
I did the same thing a couple more times in the following weeks.
We gained a lot of Wasta that day. ‘Face’, ‘influence’, ‘respect’.