Shaffer
03-17-03, 11:01 AM
KUWAIT CITY — Sitting in the dust, smoking cigarettes, the Marine Corps engineers were flinging complaints about the normal things: wind, women, booze. Or to be more precise, the absence of the latter two and the unending presence of the first.
The conversation rambled for a few minutes, mostly avoiding the topic on everyone’s minds. No silly questions about how they feel about going to war; no silly braggadocio on their part about how ready they are to kill.
Then one of the Marines brought up his family and how his father, several uncles and both grandfathers had seen combat in various conflicts.
Now, here he was near the border of Iraq, ready to add a chapter in his family history.
A couple of other Marines shared similar stories, and so did I: My grandfathers served opposing militaries in World War II. My father fought in Vietnam.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13596
The conversation rambled for a few minutes, mostly avoiding the topic on everyone’s minds. No silly questions about how they feel about going to war; no silly braggadocio on their part about how ready they are to kill.
Then one of the Marines brought up his family and how his father, several uncles and both grandfathers had seen combat in various conflicts.
Now, here he was near the border of Iraq, ready to add a chapter in his family history.
A couple of other Marines shared similar stories, and so did I: My grandfathers served opposing militaries in World War II. My father fought in Vietnam.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13596