Before now poetry has taken notice
Of wars, and what are wars but politics
Transformed from chronic to acute and bloody?
from "Build Soil"
Robert Frost

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Longest. Route. Ever.

My platoon now holds the Alpha Company (and probably the Task Force) record for the longest mission. We spent almost 40 hours outside yesterday and the day before. I'm not sure how much ground we covered, but I would estimate something close to 200 kilometers. We found lots of IEDs, blew up caches, got in a firefight, got blown up, stuck, tired, muddy and gross. More on that soon (with pictures!).

For now, I have a couple jokes:

Q: Why did the Iraqi cross the road?
A: His IED was on the other side.


A Marine is working on a Police Training and Transition (PTT) team. Two of his Iraqi Police trainees grab an insurgent, who calls out "By Hussein, let me go!". The IPs drop the insurgent, who runs away. The Marine, astonished, asks why they released the man, and the IPs explain: "He asked for mercy by Hussein, the son of the Prophet, and custom demands that we set him free." A week or two later, the Marine is captured by insurgents. He remembers the IPs, and decides to give it a whirl, so he calls out "By Hussein, let me go!" The leader of the insurgents stares at him for a moment, and then says to the others: "Not only is he an American dog, he's a Shiite too! Kill him!"

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous29/4/07 05:17

    Being blonde, I don't really get the first joke, but I love the second one! There must be more jokes, please share'em.

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  2. Anonymous29/4/07 05:40

    Kudos to you guys for a long, but successful mission. I hope everybody made it back in good shape(except those you had the firefights with). All that, and you keep your sense of humor. Don't ever lose that TD.

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  3. Looking forward to the photos TD, happy you guys are home safe, job well done...
    So whats new huh.....

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  4. Welcome back. (hugs)

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  5. Anonymous29/4/07 09:51

    Not being blonde, I get the first joke and the second one... kinda. Wasn't Hussein a Sunni? I are smart... sometimes. *rubber giggle*

    You must be utterly exhausted, wired, frazzled, hungry, nauseous and glad to be back. Welcome back dear man.

    You remain on my mind and in my prayers.

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  6. I like your patrol stories better than your jokes;)

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  7. hi td. i was tagged today to post my favorite post for 2007, if you get a chance, go see what i chose!

    smiles, bee

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  8. You know you're still sane if you can still laugh. Thanks for those.

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  9. aprillini;
    That's because the first joke is kinda bass-ackwards. It would make more sense if the punchline was, "Because his IED wasn't on the other side."

    8)

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  10. I got them both, very droll sense of humor. lol

    Congratulations on your successful mission.

    WM

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  11. Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 04/30/2007
    A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.

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  12. Anonymous30/4/07 16:10

    FYI
    Looks like CNN is about to do a report on your vehicle tonight. Something about Congress needing to fund it. They showed the vehicle and some sort of detection device on a boom.

    Hope those guys don't say too much.

    You're doing good out there, TD! Thank you all!

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  13. Anonymous30/4/07 19:29

    Alexa Kim:

    Yes, Saddam Hussein was Sunni, but the phrase "by Hussein" is not a reference to him. Instead it references Imam Hussein, the son of the Islamic prophet Mohammad.

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  14. Thank you for a wonderful blog, and for all of your service for this wonderful country!!! This ol' broad salutes you!
    ~~~Blessings~~~
    Gracie

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  15. "Alexa Kim:

    Yes, Saddam Hussein was Sunni, but the phrase "by Hussein" is not a reference to him. Instead it references Imam Hussein, the son of the Islamic prophet Mohammad"

    Slight correction, Imam Hussein is the son of Fatima (daughter of the prophet Mohammad) and Imam Ali. Imam Hussein is the grandson of the prophet Mohammad. Shia honor the family of the prophet Mohammad [May peace be upon him]. Imam Ali, Imam Hussein and Imam's son were all killed along with many of their followers for the crime of being "Shia" by Salafi sunni extremists (the Al Qaeda of their day).

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  16. Good to see your sense of humor is intact after such a grueling mission, TD.

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  17. Anonymous1/5/07 22:28

    tibbsy and anand, thank you! Thanks to such, I get a little smarter once in a while! =)

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  18. Anonymous7/5/07 20:35

    Apologies Anand, I knew I should have looked that up rather than rely on my memory that often ends up being slightly mistaken, but close enough that it seems right at the time.

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  19. Dude, it's cool that you can still have a sense of humor in the midst of all this... even though you got all these people trying to break your joke down for you. It was funny none-the-less; stop nit-picking and just LAUGH, people.

    Anyway, I was wondering if it'd be cool to put a link to your blog on mine?: www.sylky.blogspot.com

    Well, actually I already took the liberty of adding you, lol, just let me know if that's cool.

    Well, stay safe and keep kicking ass out there soldier!!!

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  20. Anonymous17/5/07 09:49

    i cannot believe you guys can laugh at this stuff. it's really admirable. stay safe and you're in our thoughts!

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