“Good morning this is the BBC in London.” David Owens first thought he was dreaming – then realized his alarm was set to “wake to music” which was broadcasting the BBC world service by way of the Public Radio affiliate in Pensacola. He stretched and turned the volume up louder as he heard the automatic coffee maker gurgling on the adjacent table. He snuggled into his pillows for about thirty minutes of news before he fully awoke. This was the way David began most of his days since returning from Iraq.
Before his military police company with the Alabama Army National Guard had been mobilized for active duty in Iraq, David had rarely listened to news of any kind. After a year in Fallujah and then an extension of another six months, "Dave" as he was known to his friends welcomed the opportunity to hear any broadcast that was in English other than the guttural gnashing sounds of Arabic.
He wished he had been a little more world wise when he had decided to enlist in the Guard in 2001 – two months before September 11.
Then, David had been a department manager at the local Wal-Mart, bored out of his mind and having no love life to speak of in the one horse town of Crawfordville, Alabama. Crawfordville wasn’t his hometown. He had been transferred there from his home in Opelousas, Louisiana. Crawfordville was much like Opelousas except there were no Cajuns. That was okay with David. His family didn’t fit in with the Cajun hierarchy in Opelousas.
Prior to joining the Guard, David had done a three-year stint in the Army assigned to the Security Police detail at Ft. Bliss in Texas. It was rather boring and nothing at all like the recruiter had described Army life to be. When his tour in El Paso was up, David declined reenlistment. He was told that he would most likely remain at Ft. Bliss. This did not appeal to him because in his three years in El Paso he had learned to dislike Mexicans almost as much as Cajuns. He left the Army and went to work with Wal-Mart in Opelousas before being promoted and transferred to Crawfordville.
Subject to boredom, Dave jumped at the chance to join the Guard in Crawfordville after it reorganized to a military police company. Wal-Mart didn’t like letting him take the time off for weekend duty, but federal law on reservists rights gave them few options.
On September 11, 2001, Dave was stocking shelves in the electronics department when he noticed several people gathered around the three TV’s that were turned on for customer viewing. He noticed some of his clerks were watching as well. He was prepared to do some friendly ass chewing when he saw what looked like a plane crash into a building shown on the screen. That day changed Dave’s life forever.
His Guard unit, which was characterized by a club like atmosphere, suddenly became very serious. As time passed once a month unit-training assemblies began occurring two and sometimes three times a month. Wal-Mart was pissed, but in the early months after 9-11, they didn’t dare say anything.
Finally, Dave’s company was mobilized, and after some orientation shipped out for Fallujah in Iraq, following the 82nd Airborne Division. Knocking down doors and arresting suspected insurgents sure beat stocking shelves at Wal-Mart. Now Dave could add Iraqis to a growing list of people that he didn’t like. Unknown to Dave, his own insurgent tendencies were developing rapidly.
Coming back to Crawfordville and Wal-Mart after his tour ended in Iraq, Dave suffered from a lingering depression. He had a hard time enjoying life . The only people he could relate to were his fellow soldiers from the National Guard MP company. They got together, told war stories, drank beer, and generally bitched. Soon he even got tired of that. Wal-Mart was becoming a pain. Dave imagined the place to be an outlet store for the People's Republic of China. Didn't the United States manufacture ANYTHING anymore?
It was costing Dave about $50.00 to put gas in his truck at the local Exxon - and that wasn't totally filling the tank. A half empty cart of groceries had recently cost him eighty bucks. He doubted he could work at Wal-Mart and pay for groceries and gas if it wasn't for his monthly Guard check. Then there were the Mexicans. He saw more Mexicans in Crawfordville than he'd paid attention to in El Paso. The bastards look like Iraqis he thought.
Dave had been at the Guard unit training assembly for four hours when one of his buddies from Fallujah asked if he wanted to go into town and get a burger.
Immediately Dave thought of how much gas it would cost for the 10 mile round trip from the armory to Crawfordville and whether or not he could afford the 7 bucks for burger, fries, and a coke. His buddy who worked at the local paper mill, noticed Dave's distress and said, "My treat, come on let's go!"
At the Crawfordville Burger Barn, Dave and his buddy Tom Foshee sat at a wooden picnic table and enjoyed the rather pleasant spring weather.
"Things are getting to you too, aren't they Dave?" Tom asked.
"What things are you talking about." In all honesty Dave had no idea what Tom was hinting at.
"The country, Dave. It's changed for the worse since we've been back - or haven't you noticed?"
"If having very little debt to speak of and barely making a living is what you're talking about, I guess I would say its changed. Yeah its changed a lot."
Tom nodded and continued.
"I bet you think I have a good job at the mill. If you thought that you would be right. That is until yesterday."
Dave looked up and said, "What happened yesterday?"
"Those damn foriegners who own the place sold out to an American company which pays less and has fewer benefits. I had 20 years built up towards retirement. I had to give up about half of that to hold on to my job. There are some who are unluckier than me. Several long time people with seniority were 'thrown under the bus.' I've been wondering what was the purpose of our spending 18 months in Iraq defending a bunch of illiterate assholes in bathrobes."
"Me too, Tom. I've been thinking a lot about that since I came home. A lot."
"Are you mad Dave?"
"I'm really mad Tom, but what can we do about it?"
"What time does your shift at WalMart end on Monday, Dave?"
"About five o'clock."
"Good, go home, shower and change clothes and take a ride with me down to Mobile. Don't worry about money. I've got enough for both of us at least for now. I'm going to introduce you to some people who have some different ideas about what Southern boys like you and me need to be doing with our lives. Are you interested?"
"It sure doesn't sound boring," Dave said...
INDEX TO COMPLETED CHAPTERS: 2 3 4 5
If I'm not writing fast enough for you, send an email to miket@thomsontalks.com and prod me on.
T
