Some things are hard to remember, in a terrible kind of way. I will do my best in the telling of this, but it's been sealed away a very long time.
I must have been 17 or 18 years old at the time. It was in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. I was in the army at AIT. We had a pretty good bunch of guys in the platoon. For the most part we all got along pretty good.
Except for Tommy. He was a small kid, but plenty mouthy. He had a natural ability to piss people off. We all pretty much ignored him or told him to shut the fuck up. Pretty much.
Teague was probably my best friend there. He was my age, and he was black. You will see why this is important shortly. I mean, we went everywhere together. Beers at the PX, the occasional movie, things like that. We rarely ever got off post leaves in AIT.
One day little Tommy decided to fuck with Teague. He and I kept walking away but Tommy wasn't having it. Finally I shoved Tommy down, hoping that would stop it. He jumped right up and started in on Teague again. We were outside the barracks, it was a beautiful day.
Then it happened. Everything went into slow motion. Teague grabbed Tommy around his neck and lifted him off the ground. I waited for Teague to put him down, but he didn't. Tommy was turning a bad color and I started yelling at Teague.
"You're killing him, He isn't worth it, put him down."
I tried to remove his hands from Tommy's neck but they were like steel. Tommy was starting to pass out.
I kept trying to get Teague to stop, but he was too far gone by now. I drew back my fist to knock Teague out and somehow I went flying. I landed on my back, looking up at two black guys. I screamed for them to stop Teague.
Then it started raining, real hard. I felt detached and once in a while I thought it was raining combat boots. This just didn't make any sense at all. Then I went to sleep, for a long time. When I woke up it hurt, like nothing had ever hurt before. I had no idea who or where I was.
Then they told me about the thing. They said I would be fine and that healing would take some time. I asked why I needed to heal. They were very helpful in making me remember. I had been stomped up pretty badly.
Some broken bones and things like that. Teague was arrested and was expected to be in prison for a very long time. They estimated that about 200 soldiers were involved in the riot. Only one death. Little Tommy would never lip off again.
I didn't want to remember this, ever.
Dammit.
Damn.
Sometimes you've gotta let it drain, man.
You and Roger keep this up, I'm going to do some writing, and you're going to pile on me for being a whiny little bitch.
I need a fucking drink.
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:02:34 PM
I need a fucking drink.
You ever hit the east coast, I will buy you one.
At least.
Thanks guys. None of you would want to be around me drinking while in this mood. :)
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:25:42 PM
Thanks guys. None of you would want to be around me drinking while in this mood. :)
If you can live through it, helping you shovel out the aftermath should be survivable.
My dad's a retired Marine, my uncle, retired Navy. If there was something could do to help deal with this kind of crap, particularly this kind of crap that went down for somebody in any branch of the service, and I didn't do it, I could never look either one of them in the eye again.
Quote from: Luna on February 08, 2011, 08:30:40 PM
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:25:42 PM
Thanks guys. None of you would want to be around me drinking while in this mood. :)
If you can live through it, helping you shovel out the aftermath should be survivable.
My dad's a retired Marine, my uncle, retired Navy. If there was something could do to help deal with this kind of crap, particularly this kind of crap that went down for somebody in any branch of the service, and I didn't do it, I could never look either one of them in the eye again.
Well, this wasn't even a tiny drop compared to the doll factory that Roger went through. My military career was short, firey and uneventful.
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:36:35 PM
Quote from: Luna on February 08, 2011, 08:30:40 PM
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:25:42 PM
Thanks guys. None of you would want to be around me drinking while in this mood. :)
If you can live through it, helping you shovel out the aftermath should be survivable.
My dad's a retired Marine, my uncle, retired Navy. If there was something could do to help deal with this kind of crap, particularly this kind of crap that went down for somebody in any branch of the service, and I didn't do it, I could never look either one of them in the eye again.
Well, this wasn't even a tiny drop compared to the doll factory that Roger went through. My military career was short, firey and uneventful.
Yeah, I came across that one, already. Roger's on the "buy him a drink, or several" list, too.
I think I missed the doll factory thing. Link?
Quote from: Doktor Blight on February 08, 2011, 08:43:12 PM
I think I missed the doll factory thing. Link?
Someone else will have to provide, I can't just yet.
Quote from: Charley Brown on February 08, 2011, 08:48:02 PM
Quote from: Doktor Blight on February 08, 2011, 08:43:12 PM
I think I missed the doll factory thing. Link?
Someone else will have to provide, I can't just yet.
Got it. Sent privately.
Quote from: Doktor Blight on February 08, 2011, 08:43:12 PM
I think I missed the doll factory thing. Link?
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=22758.0
:x
Fuck.