Over comm info
By Matt Freire
The familiar double bleep echoes through the fob
And I halt
Pause the music and tune in my ears
Attention on the fob
Attention on the fob
Shamrock red
Shamrock red
Another one
That’s why they call this a war zone I suspect
Pre combat checks
Pre combat inspections
Hydrated
Kit set
Mind right
Stomach slightly bloated
Wait
Patience is gaining
Preparedness sustained
Hurry up and wait
Double bleep
Double bleep
Shamrock black
Shamrock black
Must be bad
This is only the second one I’ve heard in a month
Urinate
Scratch my head
Turn the music back on
And tune in my ears
Photos:
Pfc. Rodrigo Ximeno and Pfc. Branden Hazuka from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Focus Targeting Force (FTF), look at local farmers while they pull security on a landing zone during an air-assault mission to capture insurgents in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan on 17 Jul. 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Matthew Freire / REVIEWED)
![[...]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cw0KlDhKsNM/Sm5xxlWQkJI/AAAAAAAAB3A/2C0t1jCEDPs/S150/matt+chinook+chopper.jpg)
![[on leave]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cw0KlDhKsNM/SmkZh3hXBpI/AAAAAAAABzw/RzOKjc4FobE/S230/matt+may+16+2009.jpg)
Ya, so it's 9:00 p.m. here on the Pacific coast. Just watching the end of the sunset with your name on it over the ocean off our back deck. I'm drinking an ice cold Corona. I have spent the last 4 days working my ass off getting ready to move. Thinking how our situation is so stressed, wondering where and how we can afford to move on social security. Dead tired cause the landlord is coming for a visit and we don't have her 2200$ for this months rent. Wondering where we are going to go. Will we be homeless. Than I think of you, what you are going through. Putting myself in your filthy boots that are like cooking pots and I thank my lucky stars. I have choices. I am in my own country. Free to make choices. I think to myself " what the hell am I feeling so stressed about?" Your world has so many more stresses. And I put away my self pity. I remember it is my nephew's birthday. I smile as I sip my Corona and I raise my beer across the world to you Matthew Freire. Prost! Happy Birthday Matty! I love you.
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