It was a cold, rainy Texas day, overcasty to say
the least. But that is generally what you can expect from early December
in the “Great place” called Fort Hood. I just got off the plane from my
second deployment to Iraq and was now marching on the parade field that
I had marched on only 2 years prior, but this time I was looking for my
estranged wife(now X). If you have never seen the Cavalry’s welcome
home ceremony at FT Hood it basically entails about 4 bus loads of
soldiers pulling up to Cooper field and quickly shuffling out to form up
in front of the bleachers where peoples families are waiting to
see/greet them. EVERYONE is ancy as fuck to get out of formation and see
their loved ones, or just to be able to enjoy America again. Usually
some high ranking officer gives a quick speech, yells “CHARGE!” and
PEOPLE LOSE THEIR FUCKING MINDS. It is instant chaos because everyone in
the stands is now rushing the formation of about 100+ soldiers and vice
versa. People are crying from joy, shouting out names, holding up
signs, hugging, kissing, the shaking of hands and picture taking is
happening all around.
But not for this guy! I am trying to find my
wife, a woman with who to this day I have only seen one other time after
this encounter. I spend what seems like an hour trying to find her, and
begin to think that she did not come.
Finally I spot her near the edge of the bleachers
and she gives me a hug that I do not return. I simply say “where the
fuck is my truck?” we have a brief conversation as I gather my bags and
try to find out where she parked my truck. We say our awkward and tense
goodbyes and I immediately head to the PX (mini mall for the military)
to buy a new phone. She decided to end it with me around October when I
was still in Iraq so I at least had some time to look for a place to
live. I’m pretty sure I called/emailed about 50 fucking candidates but
narrowed it down to 2.
“Crystal” was my 1st choice since she
was renting out a 4 bedroom with 2 other roommates in a pretty nice area
of Copperas Cove. After I shell out about 500 bucks to Verizon for a
bill that I thought was taken care of and buy a new Droid I contact her
and set up a time to meet, but until then I am homeless; And have no
clothes that aren’t Army issue since my wife only had one house key that
she didn’t want to give me until she made a fucking copy. So of course I
make a stop at the liquor store since getting my drink on later is of
the utmost importance. I score some clothes from the mall and head over
to meet crystal. Her house is awesome and my potential room seems cozy
so I hand her the first month’s rent on the spot and roll out my Army
issue sleeping bag in the corner and throw the Grey goose in the
freezer. I get to know my roommate “Johan” and “Kelly”. Johan turns out
to be in the same unit as me but he is getting out of the Army soon so
he came back to the US a few months before me. Kelly is going to nursing
school and is engaged to some officer that is stationed out of state.
We chit-chat for a while and before I know it I’m laying down on the
floor of my new room, in a new house, with new people and I’m wearing
new clothes in a new town, but I’m still me, I’m still lonely.
I wake up the next morning and decide to go for a
drive to Austin. While I’m getting ready Crystal calls me and asks me
to be a pal and bring her her laptop that she forgot at home. I agree
since she tells me her work is on the way to Austin anyways. I didn’t
exactly have my phone GPS figured out yet and keep on the highway since I
thought she said it WAS ON THE WAY. Hour and a half later I end up in
Baylor. If you know anything about CENTEX you will know that I clearly
made a WRONG turn somewhere. I see the college and decide to say fuck it
and check it out since I drove all the way there anyways. It was my
first real tour of a college campus and to say that I was culture
shocked would be an understatement. I remember seeing Frisbees being
tossed around, bikes being ridden and an attitude of possibility and
eagerness for life in the air that I had not seen in the last 3 years
that I had spent in the Army.
I don’t think jealousy is the right word to
describe the feelings I felt for these “kids” since I didn’t wish that I
had their lives instead of mine; it was more that I had to look back
and see that the path I COULD have chosen would have been one not laced
with pain, hardship, loss, or death. But it also would have been one not
laced with the honor that a soldier gets from serving his country, or
the experience and maturity that it brought me. Let me be clear about
something, I’ve NEVER regretted the fact that I chose to serve, or even
the things that I did whilst in the Army, but seeing how the other side
lived sure as shit made me reconsider my life choices hahaha. I checked
out the library and their chow hall, which put any military chow hall to
absolute shame, trying to compare the two is like comparing getting
200$ from your grandma on Xmas and shoving broken glass up your piss
hole and breaking it. I saw what I needed to and hit the road back to
crystals place, after all, it was going to be an interesting night.
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