Today I learned...
Today I learned...
Well, way more than I wanted to know about the Iraqi war experience. Apparently a student of mine was over there for 18 months. He was guaranteed a shorter stay but the military kept telling him that despite what they promised, they didn't have as many "experienced soldiers" as they needed, so they couldn't send him home. He went off about his experiences for 30 min in class today (it popped up because of the song lyrics we were going over in the poetry part of my basic lit class), and while he spoke he ripped up all paper around his hands into teeny, tiny pieces. I don't think he realized what he was doing.
He has been shot three times: once in Desert Fox (under Clinton, 1999) and twice in this war. He wasn't told what they were doing on the first day of the war. He just was expected with the rest of his 27 person platoon to secure an airfield and to "take out all hostiles." After all the smoke cleared, he was one of only three people from the platoon to survive that original attack.
He prefaced many statements with things like, "CNN won't tell you this one," or "What I never see reported here is..." He talked of how he watched 18 year old boys set themselves on fire so they could get sent home (the goal was more than 30% burns), kill themselves with bullets, overdose on heroin...women trying to whore it up so they could get pregnant and sent home...troops who were told that now, post capture of S. H., they were to a) secure the oilfields and protect them, and b) make the locals like them. Problem with the latter part: the locals occasionally strapped bombs to themselves to then detonate and kill soldiers. Yes, he saw that happen more than once too, watching a friend blown to smithereens as a result.He stated that the casualties of the war have been severely underreported (deliberately, of course). The gov't doesn't like to count soldiers who killed themselves either in the body count...they don't even acknowledge the amazing numbers of them who are doing it. Why? Well, he tells me, they just like to believe it's ok if OTHER soldiers from OTHER countries do this. But not AMERICAN soldiers!
He spoke of the humvees that they were promised would have bulletproof windows and solid steel thick doors...that were sent over with glass windows and hollow doors, and the casualties that resulted because some politicians wanted to save money and make a buck rather than save our troops' lives...He spoke of the horror of having to tell a young boy that if he deserted a third time, this time he'd have to shoot him and kill him because it was a time of war...of writing over 45 letters via email to families to announce to them their child was dead, unable to tell them HOW the person died because the military wouldn't tell him and he wasn't there to see it...of having his personal belongings stolen or just plain melting in the heat...and of how that song by Ozzy Ozborne, Crazy Train, came to mean the world to him.
The most interesting part of this experience for me was watching the rabid Pro-Iraqi war student who sat behind him sputter and desire to argue with the fellow, then back down when he realized that it would be (at the very least) not a good thing to do to a man who so obviously is suffering from what he has seen and had to do.
He also told me that many of the troops are becoming addicted to heroin over there (for some reason it's the easiest drug to access there?) and that we'll see, after the war, the fallout from it."All because," he said in a quiet and solemn voice, "SOMEBODY wanted to play cowboy..."
Woof.
****
Ari threw up all over the place for Alex today. Therefore, when I came home, I started doing wash. Jared stopped barfing Monday AM, but he started running a fever again this afternoon (after this morning not having one at all--just like yesterday morning!). It's viral, so there's not a damn thing to do about it. Sigh. My poor kids...
So, they are really sick. Therefore, I've determined that a diet today of cheetos and sprite is FINE. They're miserable enough! They might as well enjoy SOMETHING. I never buy soda for the kids, so this is a huge treat. Cheetos is a rarity too. It seemed to perk them both up, so I'm glad I bent the rules.
Rob and I are to meet at court at 1030a tomorrow so that we can go over stuff before our hearing at 11a. Wish me luck! I can't wait to be free. I put up a sign that announced the absence of my classes tomorrow and the classes themselves have their work assignments to do in place of the class. Ug, I'm still behind on their grading though. I hate that grading. Love my students; love teaching; hate grading.
Well, way more than I wanted to know about the Iraqi war experience. Apparently a student of mine was over there for 18 months. He was guaranteed a shorter stay but the military kept telling him that despite what they promised, they didn't have as many "experienced soldiers" as they needed, so they couldn't send him home. He went off about his experiences for 30 min in class today (it popped up because of the song lyrics we were going over in the poetry part of my basic lit class), and while he spoke he ripped up all paper around his hands into teeny, tiny pieces. I don't think he realized what he was doing.
He has been shot three times: once in Desert Fox (under Clinton, 1999) and twice in this war. He wasn't told what they were doing on the first day of the war. He just was expected with the rest of his 27 person platoon to secure an airfield and to "take out all hostiles." After all the smoke cleared, he was one of only three people from the platoon to survive that original attack.
He prefaced many statements with things like, "CNN won't tell you this one," or "What I never see reported here is..." He talked of how he watched 18 year old boys set themselves on fire so they could get sent home (the goal was more than 30% burns), kill themselves with bullets, overdose on heroin...women trying to whore it up so they could get pregnant and sent home...troops who were told that now, post capture of S. H., they were to a) secure the oilfields and protect them, and b) make the locals like them. Problem with the latter part: the locals occasionally strapped bombs to themselves to then detonate and kill soldiers. Yes, he saw that happen more than once too, watching a friend blown to smithereens as a result.He stated that the casualties of the war have been severely underreported (deliberately, of course). The gov't doesn't like to count soldiers who killed themselves either in the body count...they don't even acknowledge the amazing numbers of them who are doing it. Why? Well, he tells me, they just like to believe it's ok if OTHER soldiers from OTHER countries do this. But not AMERICAN soldiers!
He spoke of the humvees that they were promised would have bulletproof windows and solid steel thick doors...that were sent over with glass windows and hollow doors, and the casualties that resulted because some politicians wanted to save money and make a buck rather than save our troops' lives...He spoke of the horror of having to tell a young boy that if he deserted a third time, this time he'd have to shoot him and kill him because it was a time of war...of writing over 45 letters via email to families to announce to them their child was dead, unable to tell them HOW the person died because the military wouldn't tell him and he wasn't there to see it...of having his personal belongings stolen or just plain melting in the heat...and of how that song by Ozzy Ozborne, Crazy Train, came to mean the world to him.
The most interesting part of this experience for me was watching the rabid Pro-Iraqi war student who sat behind him sputter and desire to argue with the fellow, then back down when he realized that it would be (at the very least) not a good thing to do to a man who so obviously is suffering from what he has seen and had to do.
He also told me that many of the troops are becoming addicted to heroin over there (for some reason it's the easiest drug to access there?) and that we'll see, after the war, the fallout from it."All because," he said in a quiet and solemn voice, "SOMEBODY wanted to play cowboy..."
Woof.
****
Ari threw up all over the place for Alex today. Therefore, when I came home, I started doing wash. Jared stopped barfing Monday AM, but he started running a fever again this afternoon (after this morning not having one at all--just like yesterday morning!). It's viral, so there's not a damn thing to do about it. Sigh. My poor kids...
So, they are really sick. Therefore, I've determined that a diet today of cheetos and sprite is FINE. They're miserable enough! They might as well enjoy SOMETHING. I never buy soda for the kids, so this is a huge treat. Cheetos is a rarity too. It seemed to perk them both up, so I'm glad I bent the rules.
Rob and I are to meet at court at 1030a tomorrow so that we can go over stuff before our hearing at 11a. Wish me luck! I can't wait to be free. I put up a sign that announced the absence of my classes tomorrow and the classes themselves have their work assignments to do in place of the class. Ug, I'm still behind on their grading though. I hate that grading. Love my students; love teaching; hate grading.
posted by Kira | 1:21 PM
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