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Reflections On A Decade: Remembering EASY 40

Ten years. A decade. The changes in that amount of time are unfathomable. Ten years ago, we were just being introduced to the smartphone. Tommy Tuberville was the head coach at Auburn. Nick Saban had just been hired at Alabama. The College Football Playoff was a concept people spoke about and claimed it would never happen.

Ten years ago, I was sleeping in Pod F5 on LSA Anaconda, Balad, Iraq. I was a bright-eyed young lieutenant deployed to a combat zone in the time of the sectarian violence in Iraq just before the Surge. I had been out on a mission with one of our air crews to get a look at the country, but for the most part, I was a Fobbit. I was the assistant S2 (at the time; I would become the S2 in a few short weeks) of 1-131st Aviation from the Alabama National Guard.

No major incidents had occurred involving aircraft in some time. I took my job seriously in briefing the air crews, always stopping to talk to those in hooches near mine when they would ask about the areas they'd be flying to the next day even if I was in a hurry to get to the chow hall or the bathroom. Still, though, I never expected anything bad would actually happen to me or any of the men and women it was my responsibility to keep informed.

Reality catches up to us all, eventually. War has a way of making it do so much faster.

When I left the night-shift in the early morning hours of January 20th, 2007, it was a day just like every other had been since we arrived in country in September. We'd had plenty of time to settle into a routine. To get complacent - to use a word our battalion commander would pummel us with over the course of the remaining months of our tour.

I awoke in the afternoon to a world that had changed dramatically. I could tell it even though no one was around to let me know. When I stepped out of my hooch to prepare for my day, everything was quiet and I didn't see the normal gatherings of my fellow Soldiers outside their pods. My boss - also my roommate - was not back from his shift, and I never knew him to stay later than he had to.

When he did return, he informed of what had happened. In the afternoon, shortly before 3:00 pm local time, an RPG impacted EASY 40 - a Blackhawk helicopter from our Charlie Company of the Arkansas National Guard - on its route between Balad and Baghdad. They fell victim to the first of many helicopter ambushes Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQIZ) set up using a new TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) they had just developed. The combination of the RPG and heavy machine gun fire caused a catastrophic crash that resulted in the death of all twelve Soldiers on board. Four them were the crew members, my brothers, and their eight passengers.

It is hard to believe, as I write this, that this was 10 years ago. There have been many wonderful things that have happened in my life since then, particularly within the last year alone. I've been through plenty of struggles, but I'm still here. Not a day goes by that I don't think of those we lost that day a decade ago, though. I wear a bracelet on my wrist to ensure that I never forget. I've written more about them at other times and posted them here, as well.

Today, this nation will peaceably transfer power from one leader to another. I don't care what you think about either of them, I'm not here to talk about them or the politics of it all. I'm here to talk about those twelve Soldiers. I'm here to remind you that there are those out there willing to give their lives for the dream that is this great nation that, even with so much turmoil throughout its history, still lives on. Remember them, today. Remember them and the hundreds of thousands of others who have done the same in the 241 years since this nation was born.

Remember them in your own ways. For me, it's 5:48 am local time in San Antonio. It's been ten years to the minute. I will remember them as I always have. It's time to light a cigar and thank God that there are still men and women willing to give everything for a dream that is our great nation.

Rest in Peace, EASY 40.

We're all just trying to have a good time here. Don't be a jerk, and we won't have a problem with you. War Eagle!

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