[river rat]

Slurpees, notebook computers, phone calls home, weekly mail call, GPS navigation, night vision devices, 24/7 air cover overhead, no more than a 30 minute chopper ride to a full scale field hospital or an hour from even more sophisticated medical facilities, real time satellite imagery of the area, smart bombs, heavy tanks on call, fewer friendly or enemy KIA in 5 years of war than we experienced in some months....etc, etc.....

Hell, we felt blessed if the damned rains would stop, or we had Sterno to provide a smokeless fire to heat a drink without signally our position, or if we had a clean change of clothing once a month, cross a stream without picking up leaches or had enough claymores, M60s and 81MMs set up to sleep peacefully......

How the times and expectations change...

But — Iraq and Afghanistan pose a set of horrors that I wouldn’t want to face..
The enemy and the people are one and the same......with no way to tell the difference until they decide to strike..

Semper Fi

[moonpie57]

God Bless you river rat and welcome home. I have nothing but respect for our vets. I wish you were here so I could shake your hand and give you a hug.