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"If we want peace, somebody has to do the fighting..."

As rapped by Sho Baraka on 2016's The Narrative ("Foreward, 1619").

By Nefarious DarriusPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Diyala Province, Iraq circa era '09.

Another list of random memories from my time as a GI.

And commencement:

1.) I once saw a lieutenant (LT) completely stun one of his fellow officers during combatives (hand to hand) training with a series of palm strikes that were supposed to be open hand slaps. Miscommunication.

2.) I may or may not have done a hot minute trying not to curse at all. Definitely awkward.

3.) I completely gave up on pork and got sent to an NFL game when the First Sergeant (1SG) forgot to order a vegetarian pizza for my ugly self (everyone else enjoyed pepperoni). Funny enough the game was during a big training mission wherein I had just gotten food poisoning due to cross contamination.

4.) Speaking of which, we may or may not have had a guy in our Recon platoon get caught eating a Whopper while making a bowel movement in a portable latrine (port-a-potty). Hilarious at the time.

5.) Doubled down on my radicalism during deployment. I may or may not seriously regret some of my social media behavior from that era.

6.) I may or may not have gotten pulled over while being the designated driver (DD) after a night on the town. I was completely sober and got roasted for the rest of the ride back to the base if memory serves me right.

7.) My lovely moms gave me my first emergency credit card while I was doing my stint with Uncle Sam. Heaven bless her.

8.) I spent entirely too much time and energy on video games and bowling. No question.

9.) So, there was a scenario wherein I was practically a "heat casualty" by way of foolishly wearing a cold weather garment under my uniform during a ruck march, right around the time we were gearing up for deployment. Don't be like me.

10.) I read the entire Bible during my one and only deployment. It was the Good News Translation (GNT), with the Apocrypha.

11.) I was blessed with some vegetarian MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) by my platoon sergeant at the time who was Sergeant First Class (SFC) F. Surprisingly, his first deployment was my first one also; despite his some ten odd years in before I "signed my life away."

12.) Speaking of which tho, we all fell in love with the Gatorade protein shakes during deployment, and the near indestructible cans that they came in. I might've "tactically acquired" a case or two for my platoon when I did my brief stint in Supply (logistics).

13.) Not proud of it at all; tho, in the interest of full disclosure, I def dropped the ball when it came to keeping in touch with my folks. Praying that I don't have to go thru that with either (any) of my children.

14.) In a similar vein I was grossly disrespectful to one of my 1SGs during a NY minute we spent training with other coalition forces in Germany. The beer there is not a game; tho, thankfully he didn't take it personally at all.

15.) Saw the ball drop live and in person for the first and last time while I was in uniform. That was a wild night! (Shoutout to the big bro, Ckool Lew for making that happen.)

16.) I'm pretty sure that the statute of limitations is up; so, yeah I may have dabbled into tagging (aka graffiti bombing) a bit. Definitely not for the feint of heart.

17.) I was gifted my first and only marble chess set by a longtime friend of the Fam right before deployment. It was deeply appreciated and right on time.

18.) I learned how to break down an AK shortly after copping my now nonexistent knife collection.

19.) I got my first lessons in boxing, and shortly after had my initial sparring match with my then BFF; MJ. He was a middle aged White man from East TX. "Old man strength" is most def a thing.

20.) Rocked my first and fav kufi that I ended up giving away for some strange reason. It was in a pattern of the Pan-African flag (red, black, and green), and I can't seem to find a replacement of it for the love of me. Oh well.

***

Supposed to be going to pay my respects to my dearly departed Grandma later and I don't wanna doze off while driving again; so, ya. Post over. Please stay blessed.

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About the Creator

Nefarious Darrius

I'm a Grunt who’s been stuck in traffic for the past few decades or so. From DC to Seattle & Iraq; to back in "The Swamp". Also, I Love my Progeny more than life. Born Day: 4/20. Lastly, my apparel brand, War 'N' Tees is live! One Love.

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