Summer of 2004

I recently went to social media to ask people what they want to know about being a Veteran. I am an open book, and I know that sometimes it can be intimidating to ask a Veteran what it was like to serve in the military. So, today’s blog post is to answer the following question:

What was a typical day like in Iraq?

This is a loaded question, to say the least, since no two days in Iraq were the same. (And I am speaking only from my experiences. Every single soldier has their own story to tell. I can only write about my own.) And I have shared several stories about my attacks and the days after the attack. But not every single day was a firefight or being blown up by roadside bombs kind of days. There were many mundane days, full of standard missions or being on base, taking care of our trucks and weapons.

I thought back to my deployment and decided to share a typical day in the summer of 2004 as an Army truck driver.

During the summer in Iraq, the heat is unbearable. We were working the night shift, driving from one base to another because it was too damn hot during the days. Driving at night meant that the insurgents also changed their schedule, and many ‘quick’ missions would quickly turn into all-nighters.

If we were lucky, we would make it back to camp just as the sun was coming up, all in one piece. After taking care of our vehicles and equipment, we would make our way to the chow hall to grab any food leftover. If you were lucky, you might get there in time for hot chow, but the chow hall was already closing up most days. On those days, dehydrated milk and a box of fruit loops might be all you could grab.

We would make our way back to our tents, sometimes not even having the energy to shower. Yes, there were more days than I would like to count where I would take my boots off and fall onto my bunk.

Speaking of my bunk, my friend and I acquired old bunk beds from another unit, and we were able to make a makeshift room in the female tent. The goal was to keep this smaller area cool, but by midday, there was no escaping the Iraqi heat.

So I did what any American twenty-three-year-old female would do. I would sleep until the heat woke me up, and then I would head into camp to swim at the pool.

Did I say pool? You bet I did! The camp was the old Iraqi Olympic training camp, and there was an Olympic-sized pool that the good ole Army engineers were able to patch up and get working again.

Throughout the summer of 2004, my routine became the following. Drop off truck and equipment, eat breakfast, sleep for a few hours, wake up, and alternate sleeping and swimming at the pool. Of course, we were still in danger and were reminded daily of it. Any time a mortar attack occurred somewhere on the post, we evacuated from the pool, and most times, it would not re-open. If we were lucky, we could get a solid few hours of respite in the cool water before heading back to our tents to get ready to start another round of night missions.

You see, this is why Veterans are so resilient. We can take a terrible situation, like being in combat, and find a way to make it more bearable. We can find the silver lining in just about any situation. Where other people may see only obstacles, we already have five ways figured out to get around it. We know the true meaning of working hard, but trust me, we know how to play even harder.