Saturday, October 23, 2004
There and Back Again, Chapters 3 &4
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
10 October 2004
It's almost 9:30 PM. They say we should be flying out of here at about 3 AM. We'll see. It's been a boring day of sitting around.
They have a little stash of books here. I read an interesting book entitled "Uncle Frank". It's the life story of Frank Costello, the gangster. 292 pages. Read it all, today. Really good book. It gave a good picture of him as a total person. It didn't pull any punches, but it didn't make him out to be Satan incarnate, either.
Slept late. I really needed it. I was dragging by the time we got here last night.
Bored. Bored. Bored.
"Hurry up, and wait" is a part of military life. After 15 years of this, you think that I would be used to this. Well, I'm not. It is still frustrating.
Wednesday, 13 October 2004
I guess I am going to have to play catch up. Things have been a bit hectic, and I didn't have an easy way to write.
Going back ...
About 2:15 AM the morning of the 11th, they came and woke us up and told us to get ready to fly. Everybody hopped up and got their stuff together. We boarded the buses to go to the flight line about half an hour later. They loaded the stretcher cases first then everyone else. And we took off on about a 5 hour flight to Germany. C-130's are not exactly the most luxurious way to fly. We were strapped in like cargo, and the heat didn't work for squat. I tried to sleep, and did get some rest, but, mainly, I froze. The crew was very friendly, and kind.
We landed in Germany and were loaded on buses. Shortly after getting on the bus, a Marine Sergeant Major hops on the bus, and tells everyone how he appreciates everything everyone on the bus has done, and thanks us for our service for our country. At first, I was thinking, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, just let me get off the bus at the hospital so I can get some breakfast and coffee." Then, the SGM reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a cell phone and hands it to the person nearest him. He says that he can't do a lot for us, but he can do this. He goes on to explain that this is his personal cell phone, and there is plenty of air time on it. Everyone on the bus is then ordered by him to call home, dialing direct. Just make sure that he gets his phone back when we are done. I was able to call Amy and I tell her I was in Germany.
We, finally, got to the hospital. It was a Federal holiday. They were operating with a short staff. Almost all of the incoming patients went through several briefings and a tour of the hospital. Then, they were released for the day to go to where they are going to stay while they were being treated. The only ones that were kept in the initial waiting area were those patients that might be kept for inpatient care. Someone had to evaluate their case to see if inpatient care was necessary. Chewie, of course, was one of those. It was about 5 PM when he was finally seen by a doctor. We had been put in a waiting room and told to stay close because a doctor would see us shortly at about 10 AM. So much for shortly.
The doctor determined, with the medication that Chewie was taking, he did not need to be treated as a in patient. In fact, he probably did not require an escort. So, we were released to go to the barracks where the outpatient people stay. We, finally, got there about 7 PM.
I had spoken to the 1st ID liaison to the hospital earlier, and he had contacted the rear detachment for my unit. Normally, I would have had to fly out the next morning. But, the Captain said, after consulting with my chain of command, that he couldn't get me out the next day. My rear detachment commander was coming to check on Chewie, and that I should go with the rear detachment commander, and spend the night at home. I should give him a call the next day, and see if he could get me out the day after that.
So, I ended up getting home about midnight. The dogs went nuts. I, basically, had to lay on the floor, and let them crawl all over me for about 15 minutes so they would calm down.
10 October 2004
It's almost 9:30 PM. They say we should be flying out of here at about 3 AM. We'll see. It's been a boring day of sitting around.
They have a little stash of books here. I read an interesting book entitled "Uncle Frank". It's the life story of Frank Costello, the gangster. 292 pages. Read it all, today. Really good book. It gave a good picture of him as a total person. It didn't pull any punches, but it didn't make him out to be Satan incarnate, either.
Slept late. I really needed it. I was dragging by the time we got here last night.
Bored. Bored. Bored.
"Hurry up, and wait" is a part of military life. After 15 years of this, you think that I would be used to this. Well, I'm not. It is still frustrating.
Wednesday, 13 October 2004
I guess I am going to have to play catch up. Things have been a bit hectic, and I didn't have an easy way to write.
Going back ...
About 2:15 AM the morning of the 11th, they came and woke us up and told us to get ready to fly. Everybody hopped up and got their stuff together. We boarded the buses to go to the flight line about half an hour later. They loaded the stretcher cases first then everyone else. And we took off on about a 5 hour flight to Germany. C-130's are not exactly the most luxurious way to fly. We were strapped in like cargo, and the heat didn't work for squat. I tried to sleep, and did get some rest, but, mainly, I froze. The crew was very friendly, and kind.
We landed in Germany and were loaded on buses. Shortly after getting on the bus, a Marine Sergeant Major hops on the bus, and tells everyone how he appreciates everything everyone on the bus has done, and thanks us for our service for our country. At first, I was thinking, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, just let me get off the bus at the hospital so I can get some breakfast and coffee." Then, the SGM reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a cell phone and hands it to the person nearest him. He says that he can't do a lot for us, but he can do this. He goes on to explain that this is his personal cell phone, and there is plenty of air time on it. Everyone on the bus is then ordered by him to call home, dialing direct. Just make sure that he gets his phone back when we are done. I was able to call Amy and I tell her I was in Germany.
We, finally, got to the hospital. It was a Federal holiday. They were operating with a short staff. Almost all of the incoming patients went through several briefings and a tour of the hospital. Then, they were released for the day to go to where they are going to stay while they were being treated. The only ones that were kept in the initial waiting area were those patients that might be kept for inpatient care. Someone had to evaluate their case to see if inpatient care was necessary. Chewie, of course, was one of those. It was about 5 PM when he was finally seen by a doctor. We had been put in a waiting room and told to stay close because a doctor would see us shortly at about 10 AM. So much for shortly.
The doctor determined, with the medication that Chewie was taking, he did not need to be treated as a in patient. In fact, he probably did not require an escort. So, we were released to go to the barracks where the outpatient people stay. We, finally, got there about 7 PM.
I had spoken to the 1st ID liaison to the hospital earlier, and he had contacted the rear detachment for my unit. Normally, I would have had to fly out the next morning. But, the Captain said, after consulting with my chain of command, that he couldn't get me out the next day. My rear detachment commander was coming to check on Chewie, and that I should go with the rear detachment commander, and spend the night at home. I should give him a call the next day, and see if he could get me out the day after that.
So, I ended up getting home about midnight. The dogs went nuts. I, basically, had to lay on the floor, and let them crawl all over me for about 15 minutes so they would calm down.
