Mother called to tell me a friend was killed in Iraq, total body count for me at this point:

Dead:
1 Kid I grew up playing baseball with
1 Classmate of my graduating class in highschool
2 Others from my hometown of Florida of roughly 5,000 people.

Wounded:
2 Friends I knew since primary school and grew up working with. Twin brothers wounded on the same day.

I am just looking at the numbers and what are the odds that 4 people I knew were killed in Iraq? The numbers do not compute.

Secondly, a statement from the article made me physically sick to my stomach. His little sister asked why Bobby was in the Army for a school project:

"she asked her bother several questions while he was home on leave. Asked why he joined the Army, he replied he squandered away his high school years being social instead of studying, and did not have the means to pay for college."

Article here:
http://chronicleonline.com/articles/2007/06/07/news/news10.txt

Good topic. No one...I've personally known 3 people who served in Iraq at some point in time but are civilians again. One kid who was in the Marines almost went to work for a private security force in Kuwait, but they fucked him over and now he's a bartender. I know a few other kids who served but not in the war.

My roommate from basic training at Fort Leonard Wood died in Iraq years after I got out. Saw his name in a list of the dead.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=23207

We never kept in touch after basic, just really strange to see him on the list of dead. I am so fucking glad I got out of the fucking military. Tired of being a pawn in someone else's game.

My brother was injured over there. IED picked his vehicle up off the ground, but he only had a concussion and perforated ear drums....he was really lucky. Hopefully, this is his last tour.

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Hopefully this is everyones last tour. Just out of curiosity what are you doing in Germany and where?

I barely even know anyone who has been there. One of my fraternity brothers I recently learned was in Iraq for a year plus back in 2004-05, but I haven't spoken with him since graduation 12 years ago. I just don't know people who are in the military. Some people I went to law school with were in JAG and have been there, but they weren't really my good friends.

I think in addition to other factors, the fact of my age has it that most of my friends are too old to have served, and their kids are too young to be in the military. Plus, where I come from, people don't really join the military. It's just the way it is.

Work for the DoD in Stuttgart...I might be kind of stupid to give out more details....

Regardless, I fucking hate the Bush administration and what he's done to the military... We will be lucky to have any leaders worth a fuck after this war is over.... Most of them will give up and get out, which = no good leadership

I knew a guy who finished a few years ago (Matt), and a guy who's there right now (Paul). Luckily they're both doing well (I haven't heard from Paul in a while, but a friend of mine talks to him almost every day).

If you are working with who I figure you are, wtf curve ball? Don't you guys communicate?

Du kannst nicht reden mich was du hast gemacht? Quatsch! Sagt mir warum! Ich bin sehr ehrlich, wirklich. Ich moechte deine Arbeit im ernst.

edit

this probably doesnt count in the killed category

but the kid right up the street died over there. he was in the rec room and had a massive heart attack. i never talked to the kid since he was in highschool and joined right out of it, and well, i was already like 40

I think you must have me confused with someone else, aber kann ich ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen. Ich arbeite fuer einen US Telekommunikation agentur in Stuttgart. Und jetzt? Du kannst es googlen. Tut mir leid, aber ich muss ins Bett gehen. Es ist halb zwei hier.

nobody killed, only one person slightly who served and is out.

my neighbor, who i grew up with and was my brother's best friend for most of his life, hung himself several months after returning from iraq. he'll never get the credit of dying in war and will always be ignored when it comes to the war dead, but in my mind he died in iraq and came back as an empty shell.

My best friend's husband had bombs go off under his ASV twice. He's ok, but scared to death each time.

Why didn't you bold this part? he squandered away his high school years being social instead of studying. Thats a pretty important part too.[/b]

I have had 3 former students and 2 friends serve luckily no one was hurt.

One of my friends must be one of the luckiest guys that was over there. One time he was out on patrol and was on top when a grenade landed at his feet. The person throwing it forgot to pull the pin. The other time his vehicle was shot at with a RPG and it went through the drivers door and out the other side breaking the leg of the driver, but it never exploded. He got out as soon as his tour was over.

Because I didnt find it as important, nor will I. Are you telling me that its his he basically committed suicide because he didn't study enough in high school, thats life, deal with it?

Ok, deal with this. Fuck you. . I'll make sure to bold this one.

Perhaps if secondary education was not prohibitively expensive he wouldn't have been compelled to serve.

Secondary education isn't prohibitively expensive if you're willing to work for it. My parents did not have any money and neither did. I was able to complete college.

You make it sound like this guy didn't have any opportunities when in fact he did. And as you stated, he squandared them. Sorry, but you can't blame the system if someone isn't willing to work. I'm sorry for your friend, but the system didn't injustice him here, according to all that you've posted.

Just found out this new young kid that started working with me lost his brother last year in Iraq. IED. It really disturbed me. Couldn't stop thinking about how he dealt with such a horiffic situation.

Fuck this war.