The Good Soldiers

I recently got done reading The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel. It brought back memories and stirred up emotions that I had already set aside. I've been reading war stories since I was in the 3rd Grade and it was exciting to read one about my unit and events that I actually took part in.
Its a good read and mainly focus's on the troops that we lost in the Battalion. Some information is skewed but I think that is with anyone telling a story you can't always get the facts straight. I'm just as guilty. If you read this blog or read it during the time when we were in Eastern Baghdad, pick up the book and you will probably be able to recognize things in which I talked about in some of my posts.
Mr. Finkel talks more so about the injuries that the Soldier's suffered in which I was a little afraid to talk about. Mainly because I didn't know if the families were reading, and I didn't know how what they had been told about how their Soldier was wounded or killed. I left a lot of detail out of the Sept 4th post, but I did this after talking to a couple of the people that were there.
I remember the reporter that wrote this article in the Stars and Stripes, when he came to interview us, my roommate Ume and I agreed to not say "Shit." to him about the extent of the injuries that our guys had and what we had seen when we first got to them.
One point in the book towards the end he talked about the vehicle that had taken our last casualties of the deployment. I remember looking in the vehicle with Simmons the Rocket Magnet and wishing that I hadn't. The smells and the image immediately posted itself in the fore front of my mind.
I talked to a couple people from my last unit who are currently in Iraq now and they had mixed feelings about the book. I think David Finkel did a pretty good job of telling our story. A lot of people when they were first in the Battalion talked about how fucked up it was and how it was the worst unit ever. I think a majority of us after seeing how the other units operated out there changed our minds about it. I think that we followed a higher standard. I know that some of the Soldier's that moved on to different units missed being with 2/16IN.
I enjoyed the book and I encourage you to read it as well. Its a story about- The Good Soldiers. Its the story about our Good Soldiers that didn't make it home. A lot of times in the news and in war stories you don't get to hear those stories.
Below are some pics that I had found on that disc that Garrison had made for me many moons ago.
DEUCE DEUCE OUT!!!

Hannibal holding a Dragunov SVD sniper rifle, that Setz had found in a home search. The rifle was hidden in a piece of furniture with a removable panel.

One of our many search and clear missions off of a tip where we stayed and looked in shit for hours in the searing heat and never finding anything.

The mission that never went. This was another one of our attempts to do the Barrier mission that would later cost the lives of Joel Murray, Randol Shelton, David Lane, Duncan Crookston, and would cost Joseph Mixson his legs.

Joel and I conversating about something I can't remember but the other pictures I have leading up to this was us at the gate talking to Iraqis. I want to say this was the day that Kuwait and Iraq played each other for some Soccer title and Iraq won. Everything was closed up early for this even the gas station.

September 4, 2007

Two years have passed since the men in 2-1 took their final ride. In the lead on a hot September day they drove right into eternity. SGT Joel Lee Murray, CPL Duncan Crookston, CPL David Lane, and SPC Randol Shelton may they never fade from the memories of the peoples lives that they touched.

2-16IN recently redeployed to Northern Iraq. I know that the men from 2-1 will once again be sitting in over watch to see them safely through their deployment, as they did with ours. Not to long ago Val sent me a link to a website for David Lane please take your time and check out. It paints a nice picture of David who was the goofy one of the group, definitely the goofiest guy out of the whole platoon. He had the ability to make anyone laugh no matter how tired or mad you were David could put a smile on your face.

I recently spent sometime looking at a memorial page for Joel Murray. How much Joel had touched peoples lives and how much his wife loves him. Its truly heart warming to know that love like that exists in real life. Its an attestment to what a great man he really was.

I was planning on trying to make a trip up to Schiller Park Illinois to visit the Shelton family but my plans fell through at the last minute. The next time I have some time though I'm going to go and try to meet the people that raised such an outstanding young man. He wasn't afraid to stick up for people, and he knew how to have a good time, and he also knew how to make that time enjoyable for everyone. He was the guy everyone wanted to be around, he was dedicated and loyal. I don't think there was a day when he ever missed going to the gym. I certainly do miss his drunk dials to me to let me know how much he loved me. Randol Shelton the legend of Charlie Company.

Duncan Crookston the resident genius of the Company. One day I will actually find that video of him doing the Rubik's cube in under 2min. As I type on my lap top now and every time I turn it on I'm reminded of him. He helped me upload all the music on to it. He helped everyone with something. He started out as my driver but he was way to smart for that position. Though I liked him there because I knew I could count on him. Thats why they made him the RTO because he was smart, and they knew that they could count on him. Crookston was severely wounded in the blast, yet he lived and fought long enough to be reunited with his family. He finally succumbed to his wounds the day before his 20th birthday on January 25, 2008.

SGT Joseph Mixson was blown from the vehicle. He was the only member of the 2-1 crew to survive. The explosion took his legs but it didn't take his spirit or his sense of humor. The last time I saw Mixson was at the Regimental ball before I left Fort Riley. He partied just as hard as before September the 4th.

I miss these men tremendously, not a day goes by that I don't think about them. I talked about legacy before and that's part of the reason why I will always post so that these men will never be forgotten. Take some time and click on some of the links I've posted and get to know these men. If they didn't stand up to believe in something then who would? You believe in something or you die for nothing, and I know these men believed in what they were doing, for a love of country and the man to their left and right. They loved us as we loved them.

To talk about their losses I also have to mention the bravery of those that came to their aid. In that they loved their brothers so much that it didn't matter that there was fire, or bullets sailing through the air and explosives that might go anytime, they risked their lives to get the men out of the vehicle. We all knew, had it been us they would've done the same, and that we could not live a life knowing that we didn't do all we could to help our brothers who were in need.

Never Forget!

God bless the families of these brave men, and the men of 4th Brigade 1st Infantry Division that have deployed again to Iraq. May they come home safely.

Happy Birthday Joel

We will never forget you Joel. I think about you a lot. I know we all do. You touched so many people in your life. Godbless you and your family. Happy Birthday friend.

SGT Joel Lee Murray 09July1981-KIA 04SEPT2007 Baghdad Iraq

http://roodawg.blogspot.com/2007/09/in-loving-memory.html

http://joel-murray.memory-of.com/

http://roodawg.blogspot.com/2008/09/legacy.html

http://roodawg.blogspot.com/2008/05/never-forget.html

Tips for those Considering the Army

When you go to basic training you are going to get yelled at so grow some thick skin real fast. Don't take it personally just suck it up and drive on.

I thought I would take the time to write down some random thoughts for young, or old men and women who are considering joining the Army or have already signed up.
1. Remember that you are VOLUNTEERING as we liked to say in the Marine Corps "U Signed the Muthafuckin Contract. Don't go to basic training and cry like a bitch and talk about "This is not for you." YOU VOLUNTEERED! We are not just going to let you go because your a huge pussy and miss your momma, there are repercussions for not honoring your service!!!!!!!
2. If your crazy, stay the fuck away from the recruiters office, we don't want your emotional pill popping ass! Don't need you don't want you. If you decide to come into the Army and can't hang and want to play the crazy card, guess what? Our mental health specialists talk to quitters like you everyday so they know when your bullshitting, and when we find out we are putting a black mark on your permanent record so good luck with getting a job in an overly competitive job market.
3. Don't plan your ship date when your wife or girlfriend is 9 months pregnant and will have your child while your at basic. Thats probably not a good time eh? Your heart might shrink and you will want to go home.
4. Here is a good one.... Get your ass in shape. If you've been sitting on the couch stealing oxygen and playing Call of Duty 4 thinking of how cool it would be to run around with a M-249 SAW and shoot everybody, and eating twinkies and Big Macs all fucking day and get winded when you goto take a shit you might want to do some running and some push-ups and sit-ups.... Excercise? Look that shit up its good for you. You get in a little shape before you come to basic training it might prevent you from crying like a bitch after you did 3 push-ups. Oh ps, all that shit your character on Call of Duty is wearing, in real life its close to 60-80lbs of equipment and in the countries we are in now it can get upwards to 140 degrees out. If your almost passing out after a shower in your air conditioned home...... psssst you might want to workout. You are joining the Military for Christmas Sakes!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Remember this YOUR NOT GAY YOUR JUST A QUITTER. How about you research our policy on that before you come and try to pull that shit. Your Drill Sergeant just might decide to call your parents and verify your story....... Hope they aren't hearing that shit for the first time.
In all seriousness make sure that all of your personal affairs are in order. If you are married and have bills to pay make sure you have a plan. Its just like starting any other job your not getting paid as soon as you get here, your pay catches up to you. Its not easy but its not that hard. All you have to do is stay motivated and follow these 3 rules.
Do what your told.
Do what your told!
GOD DAMMIT do what your told.
You follow those 3 things and you will be just fine.
The military is an opportunity to try and turn your life around, nothing pisses us off more than when you come here and try to do all the same shady shit you have been doing your whole life.
Seriously get into some semblance of shape... For real. Your Recruiters are supposed to make sure that you pass some sort of physical fitness test before you can ship. I know from experience that this shit doesn't happen. If your recruiter is not doing this for you he is setting you up for failure. Basic Training will get you in shape, but if you come here with a good base it will be easier for you.
You are not alone when you get here and miss home, everyone else does too they just handle it differently. Maybe you have never been challenged your whole life and have been on the teet for to damn long. Do something for yourself, make something of yourself.
I've been doing this for 12 years and it is a great life and I love it. Sometimes it sucks but thats life.
Good luck in your future endeavor and if we do happen to meet in the IET environment, trust me I've heard your story. If you have questions about what to do or what to expect in the IET environment feel free to ask and I will help you succeed. Honestly that is what your Drill Sergeants are for is to help you succeed.
DEUCE DEUCE OUT!!!!
You will be physically challenged these are called flutter kicks.

Friday Joined in Smoke session with the Privates, numerous push-ups, flutter kicks, and other exercises until reached muscle failure. At the end of the day went on another 4mi road march 38lbs finished in 52min.
Today Ran 3mi my time was disgusting so I won't post it first time I ran since getting bronchitis so not to bad.

19 Forever

Duncan and Droll

Today would have been Duncan Crookston's 21st birthday. He would have been of legal age to go bar hopping and partying. Unfortunately on September 04, 2007 Duncan was severely wounded in EFP strike that severely wounded SGT Joe Mixson, and killed SGT Joel Murray, SPC David Lane, and SPC Randy Shelton.
Duncan fought for his life for 4 months until his body succumbed to his wounds. It was not lack of spirit by any means because Duncan showed that he was as tough as they come. A true warrior. He died in the presence of his beautiful wife, his mother, his battle buddy SGT Joe Mixson.
As his mother said in a letter sent to family and friends, he will forever be 19. I think about him often and wished that I would've expressed to him how much I admired his skill, intellect, intelligence, and warrior spirit. He first came to my squad right before we deployed in support of OIF. Everyone marveled at his genius, and later at his bread making skills when we were in country. He was so smart that when our shit bag RTO Mavity didn't return from RnR Duncan was the only logical choice to be in charge of the Platoons radios. I was so pissed off when they took him from my squad. He was my driver at the time and also my Grenadier. When he died I often wished that it was Mavity in his place as which it should have been. I really wished it never happened but if it had to be someone not him. He should have been in my truck with me.
Duncan was nothing shy of truly amazing with the heart and stamina he possessed surviving as long as he did so he could get home and be able to see his family one last time before he passed away.
I post here to keep his memory alive and to remind people that rough men do stand ready to violence on their behalf. Duncan was smart enough to go to any school he wanted but he chose the Army and he chose the Infantry. If there were not patriots like Duncan ready to answer the call this country would cease to exist.
Here is the letter that his mother sent out the day he passed away.

Dear Friends and Family,It is with great sadness I write to you today - Duncan passed away at 3:346 p.m. today after the decision was made to stop heroic measures. Duncan developed another infection over the past two days, the effects of which were causing him a great deal of pain and causing him to run a fever of 108* F overnight. The doctor who treated Duncan said he had never heard of anyone surviving such a high fever, and that normally the body did not allow itself to sustain such a high temperature for even 15 minutes, let alone the 2 hours Duncan suffered with it. The doctor said it was an indication the hypothalamus of the brain, which regulates body temperature, was damaged. He also advised us even though Duncan survived, he would have permanent and widespread brain damage that would eventually cause his organ systems to fail, and that his kidneys were already dialysis dependent, and he was quickly becoming ventilator dependent. Meaghun and I were asked to make a decision, and we chose to allow Duncan to die a dignified and peaceful death, so he was given a morphine drip and taken off the ventilator. He died about 45 minutes later surrounded by his beautiful wife, his mother, his battle buddy Joe Mixson and the hospital chaplain he had come to know during his stay. It is the closest thing to a "good death" one could ask for a young man who fought so hard and long, only to have the limits of his body betray him. Once we knew there was no chance of any sort of quality of life, we felt we could not ask this brave young man who lived life to its fullest to spend his remaining days hooked to machines with no chance of recovery.Words cannot express the gratitude we feel towards all those who offered support and prayer to Duncan and our families during the past 5 months. We can take away from this experience the knowledge that good people exist in this world, that evil is worth fighting or that reason, and Duncan was a proud example of a good person who did not stand by and allow it to flourish by doing nothing. Duncan would have been 20 years old tomorrow - he will be forever 19 now, and forever missed.
Love, Lee Crookston

Forever 19, Happy Birthday Duncan. You will never be forgotten.

2008 in Review

2008 is behind us now.

I started 2008 at FOB Rustamiyah, and if memory serves me well shortly after midnight there Garrison burst through my door in a thong that said "I love my Soldier" and jumped into my bed. The rest of the men were gathered outside snapping pictures. I don't know where those pictures went but they will probably resurface if any of those guys read this post. I was there for the first snow fall in Baghdad in roughly over 60 years. That was the same day we escorted a bunch of nuclear waste, that was a fun day let me tell you.


A good man's body succumbed to injuries he had sustained 4 months earlier the day before his 20th birthday. Duncan Crookston the resident Charlie Company Genius will never be forgotten.
Things were relatively quite in our sector and we were doing barrier missions and setting up check points on one of the worst routes in Iraq at the time. We were trying to get that stretch of highway in our area safe for all those that passed through it. Many a night we were out there laying down jersey barriers and building checkpoints that the Iraqi's and us could use to set up traffic control points. There was still the ongoing mission of grabbing high value targets in which we favored over the barriers. We reoccupied the COP and felt safer out there than we did at the FOB since the rocket and mortar attacks had increased.
Then only days before handing over our sector to the 4thID we rolled out into the streets in mid day to find all the check points abandoned and nobody on the roads. We hit a mosque and found loads of weapons and IED and EFP making materials. We stirred a hornets nest and on the drive back to drop the cache off the Rocket Magnet (Simmons) lead vehicle was hit with an EFP and RPG. Rendering the vehicle useless so that we had to get out and hook it up to tow. Once that crew dismounted the small arms fire picked up and we started to fire back at suspected enemy locations to din the fire long enough to get the truck hooked up.
During this uprising two more Task Force Ranger soldier's were killed and others severely wounded. Sadr's uprising and ending of the cease fire were in full effect and everybody came out to fight. The day after the Mosque raid and ambush we headed back into sector and got into a short skirmish just minutes away from our COP which ended after our 1st Platoon opened up on a wahabi that had just fired an RPG at them with a .50cal. Later that night my Platoon raided the Mosque down the street from us that we had been waiting to hit forever and a day. It was a dry hole and then later we were summoned to help out our sister company, and also relieve some National Police that were holed up at their compound. D co lead the way and it almost seem like every 5min you heard an IED blow up. No casualties as we monitored their net and sped to link up with them seeing all the destruction that nearly missed them in their wake. They began shooting anything suspicious which paid off after several more explosions. Only days before we were supposed to be relieved we were caught up in a huge fire fight. As dawn broke RPG wielding terrorists braved the roof tops to fire down on our Dco sent into get a platoon from one of our sister companies. Hannibal let fury ring from his 24o and mowed them down. We were sent down to pull security on the exfil route and it seemed as if everyone with a weapon wanted to come out and play, we continued movement once the rest of the convoy was ready to go and steady shot our way off of a 2mi stretch of road. Some of the terrorists Hannibal would shoot would be dragged away from their machine gun at the end of the road and another would jump behind it.
2nd Platoons last days in sector would be spent on COP security and the other platoons going out into Indian Country. A couple of weeks later we were on birds headed for home and reunited with our families. Its hard to believe that just last March we were in a pitched battle only days before heading for home.


Reunited with our families most of us took block leave to get reacquainted. Some of missed the camaraderie of the people we had just spent 15 months with. As is true in the Army, they built a great family and then separated them. Some getting out just last month and others getting out this month and in the next couple of months. Some stayed on for another tour, and some are actually already back in Iraq.
I bid farewell to Kansas which in hindsight was stupid because Fort Jackson flat out sucks, and now I realize that my place is on the line getting Soldier's ready to go to war. It wouldn't be so bad if I actually had more time to spend with the family but right now the job that I'm in doesn't offer it. Quite frankly none of them are to excited to be here. I asked for it and I got it, well doom on me.
I have had the opportunity to open some more doors though and we will see which ones I can actually get through. I've gotten to spend a little quality time with the family which I'm thankful for. I miss the old friends from Riley, and I wish I still had the opportunity to lead those that stayed on back there.
The world is a pretty unstable place leading into 2009, we have a new president that has promised us change, we will see what happens. We could certainly use some change.
To everyone I wish a happy New Year and hopefully this one is better than the last. To all my friends and brothers in harms way stay safe.
DEUCE DEUCE OUT!!!!!

Reunited with SGT Joel L. Murray on his birthday shortly after arriving home. He was laid to rest in Fort Riley Kansas.