I went and saw the movie, “Green Zone,” starring Matt Damon last night at 9pm with a couple of “battle buddies” that I am attending some training with here at Fort Benning, Georgia.   All of us enjoyed the movie and were particularly surprised at how well the Army dialougue/lingo was portrayed.  Of course, other movies had it down as well, such as, Black Hawk down; but, again, it’s nice to see a movie that makes an attempt at ‘making it real.’  When I speak of the lingo, I mean words like: “Hooah, Sarnt (instead of Sergeant), SITREP (instead of Situation Report), etc. …  Only people / Soldiers in the Army (Military) would catch those minor things in a movie. 

The reason for the not-so-great picture of the Saddam International Airport / Baghdad Int’l Airport (BIAP)  above is to point out another of what ‘I’ thought was a key “attention-to-detail” element of the movie.  That was that they even made sure to include a brief shot of a destroyed Iraqi airliner while Chief Milller (Matt D.) was visiting the airport.  When I arrived at the BIAP myself back in March 2003, there were two destroyed Iraqi airliners on the runway (this is the only picture I could find – taken while in the gunner’s hatch of a M1097 HMMWV).  It’s a small Army, because later, after returning to the States I wound up working with the Officer who was responsible for their destruction…go figure…  This mess of metal had to have been cleaned up prior to the making of “Green Zone;” however, someone insured that it “came back to life” in the theatre… very nicely done…

Of course, throughout the movie, the three of us (one a Chemical Soldier, one a Mechanic, and the other a Supply Specialist) were trying to pick out places we had been during our deployments to Iraq.   Places like the Cross Sabers (used as a vehicle staging area for going back to Kuwait) and the Pool (though I never got to go swimming)…  It feels kind of strange watching those places, and others, on the big screen.

I had intended to read the book written by, Rajiv Chandrasekaran in 2006, prior to watching the movie; however, my friends were wanting to go see it and so off we went.  I will, of course, still snatch it off the shelf of some book store very soon though…  There’s always plenty left out of the movie.  I’m really regretting now that I did not follow everything that was happening in the Middle East as a whole as much as I should have.  I guess I got tired of hearing about it, seeing it on the news, etc. … But I feel now that, having been involved in the conflict personally, that it’s my duty to try and grasp a better understanding of the War and all of the events leading up to it. 

Realizing that we never found weapons of mass destruction, or WMD’s, and that ‘that’ was the reason for our going to war with Iraq, does put some doubt in my mind about our governments real intentions (always has).  All I can say is that, I’m an American Citizen, an American Soldier that volunteered to serve my country, to follow the orders of the Officers appointed over me.  I might not agree with the reasons, the how’s, the why’s… but as a Soldier, I still must fullfill my end of the agreement/contract and simply do what little bit of good I can along the way.  I certainly did not take any pleasure in witnessing some of the events that took place during my time in Iraq (2003 & 2005), but I’ve always hoped and prayed that some lives were spared and changed for the better due to our (U.S.’s) involvement…

I guess, it would be up to the individual reader, researcher, to make up his, or her on mind in regards to what is, or what is not, true in this matter.  I certainly make no claims either way; just simply posted what had been discussed between a few colleagues at work…

First Article is below….

“The Willie Lynch Letter… Origin of the ‘N’ Word & ‘lynching’ …”

The United States Army is an organization, like many others, that tries it’s best to implement an equal opportunity program in-order-to make for a less hostile work environment for it’s troops. Of course, it does not solve each and every problem, but at least, there’s an attempt…

Each unit in the Army is required to have what is called an “Equal Opportunity Representative.” This Soldier is sent to a two week course where he/she learns the basic ins and outs of the concept of equal opportunity as it applies to Soldiers in the Army. At higher levels within the Army there is what’s called an Equal Opportunity Advisor. This Soldier is sent to a 4-month long course in-order-to handle full blown equal opportunity complaints upon graduation. This becomes their full-time job once they graduate.

The equal opportunity ‘representative’ is required to train it’s unit on matters of equal opportunity throughout the year. There are quarterly requirements and anual requirements. There are lecture formats and /or discussion settings as well.

This past week, our unit had a discussion about “disparaging terms.” One of the most well known derogatory, or degrading, terms that comes to mind is the “N” word (I’m not even going to spell it.) When it came to this particular word during the discussion, one of the African American Soldiers gave us a brief history lesson about the origin of that word, and the origin of “lynching” used for hanging someone. He talked about the ‘Willie Lynch Letter’ and shared some of it’s contents with us. This discussion suddenly got very interesting to say the least… I had either forgotten, or never knew, about this man and his infamous (terrible) letter. …

Willie Lynch had called himself the master of a ‘modest plantation.’ He was summoned from the British West Indies to speak to the local slave owners on the James River in Virginia in 1712about the problems they were having managing their slaves. The methods he discribed/advised were some of the most brutal physical, and psychological, methods imaginable. Basically, he advised the slave owners to stop hanging, or ‘lynching’ their troublesome slaves, and instead, start the process of breaking them down. Break them down to the point where all they know to do anymore is work themselves to death for you…

Part of the psychological degredation process was using the “N” word. A word coined by Willie Lynch. A word that, to this day, is still one of the most terrible words ever uttered…

The bottom-line of our discussion about disparaging terms was to be much more aware of what you are saying to others, because your words could have a larger impact than you realize…

More Reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lynch_speech
• http://www.africanamericanimages.com/aai/willie%20lynch.htm
• http://www.openeyesprod.com/calendar_of_events

Image Usage: (about page) – from: dreamstime.com

a random shot of some old books that I have… Making this picture, I didn’t realize that there was a Sherlock Holmes Movie coming out on Christmas Day….

I only have a handful of these old books, most of which came from my grandparents… I think the only one in this stack that I’ve actually read is “The Tales of Sherlock Holmes”… I’m not an avid a reader as I’d like to be…

     I was listening to the radio the other day – National Public Radio (NPR) – and there were some callers trying to win a free trip to see the Diane Rehm Show, get an autographed copy of a book of hers, or something along those lines… 

     They were calling answering some random questions (I forget who was actually asking the questions…).  One of the questions was something along the lines of, “What famous establishment is know for it’s very large number of stray cats roaming around?”  I think it was a multiple choice question, if I remeber correctly.  One of the answers was the Roman Coliseum, and that was the correct answer.  Apparently, there are hundreds of cats that roam these ancient Roman ruins.  It has been said that the great Roman Emperor, Julius Cesear’s, spirit resides in these feline creatures.  Who know’s…

Why So Many?…

     I guess that in the past, no one spayed or neutered these cats so their numbers multiplied greatly over many years.  Also, back in the 1920’s, the ‘gattare,‘ or cat ladies, would always feed these stray cats.  The number of stray cats in Rome has grown so large that a sanctuary was found for them.  Torre Argentina (excavated in 1929) became this sanctuary.   The sanctuary is run by volunteers and has taken in thousands of cats over the years, feeding them, nursing them; and now, spaying or neutering as necessary.  

Next time you’re in Rome, go check out the cats! …..

More Reading:

• http://www.romancats.com/index_eng.php
• http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/lazio/rome-cats.asp

Image Usage: (about page) – from: dreamstime.com

Each unit in the Army is required to have what is called an “Equal Opportunity Representative.”  This Soldier is sent to a two week course where he/she learns the basic ins and outs of the concept of equal opportunity as it applies to Soldiers in the Army.  At higher levels within the Army there is what’s called an Equal Opportunity Advisor.  This Soldier is sent to a 4-month long course in-order-to handle full blown equal opportunity complaints upon graduation.  This becomes their full-time job once they graduate. 

The equal opportunity ‘representative’ is required to train it’s unit on matters of equal opportunity throughout the year.  There are quarterly requirements and anual requirements.  There are lecture formats and /or discussion settings as well.

 This past week, our unit had a discussion about “disparaging terms.”  One of the most well known derogatory, or degrading, terms that comes to mind is the “N” word (I’m not even going to spell it.)  When it came to this particular word during the discussion, one of the African American Soldiers gave us a brief history lesson about the origin of that word, and the origin of “lynching” used for hanging someone.  He talked about the ‘Willie Lynch Letter’ and shared some of it’s contents with us.  This discussion suddenly got very interesting to say the least…  I had either forgotten, or never knew, about this man and his infamous (terrible) letter.  …

Willie Lynch had called himself the master of a ‘modest plantation.’  He was summoned from the British West Indies to speak to the local slave owners on the James River in Virginia in 1712 about the problems they were having managing their slaves.  The methods he discribed/advised were some of the most brutal physical, and psychological, methods imaginable.  Basically, he advised the slave owners to stop hanging, or ‘lynching’ their troublesome slaves, and instead, start the process of breaking them down.  Break them down to the point where all they know to do anymore is work themselves to death for you…

Part of the psychological degredation process was using the “N” word.  A word coined by Willie Lynch.  A word that, to this day, is still one of the most terrible words ever uttered…

The bottom-line of our discussion about disparaging terms was to be much more aware of what you are saying to others, because your words could have a larger impact than you realize…

More Reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lynch_speech
• http://www.africanamericanimages.com/aai/willie%20lynch.htm
• http://www.openeyesprod.com/calendar_of_events

Image Usage: (about page) – from: dreamstime.com

The United States Army (as well as the other branches of military) has increased it’s motorcycle safety standards to the point of creating the ‘Motorcycle Mentorship Program.’  …

Its basically a program where all the riders in a unit get together for a decent length’s ride in-order-to spend the day observing/learning from each other different riding techniques.  This ride gives the senior ranking rider as well as the rider with the most experience (because they are not necessarily the same) a better assessment of each riders’ capabilities, which can reported back to the Commanding Officer (if he/she isn’t a rider himself) in-order-to identify any potential high risk riders…

Prior to this program, a Soldier still hand to attend (and still does today) a Basic Riders Course in-order-to ‘legally’ ride on, or even off, post.  When I say legally, I mean that if a Soldier wrecks on a motorcycle and has never attended the course, he could be held responsible for the medical care cost. 

Beides the Basic Riders’ Course, a Soldier must also wear the proper protection gear required by Army Regulation 385-10 which includes the following:

• DOT apporved helment
• Full-fingered gloves
• Long pants
• Long sleeve shirt
• Over-the-ankle boots
• During the daytime, a light/flourescent colored shirt or reflective vest/jacket
• At night, reflective vest or jacket

Here’s a video of my first bike, a 2009 Green Kawasaki Versys.  I kind of leaning more towards a regular sport bike now, but I guess I’ll wait a bit before I make the switch…   Not the best of vids but anywayzzzz:

Ride Safe!