Novel update, had a phone interview tonight

[SaltwaterServr]

As part of the continuing research for my novel, I got to do a phone interview with a friend of a friend who is a retired Marine who was in Fallujah during OIF II. I thought I had a very general idea of the disconnect the front line infantry men had with the general public. Not so much. They don't even have a connection with the pogues except that pogues are one step up on the ladder from the civilians.

Open ended questions are not the way to start. They are only met with skepticism and a wall of silence. He cut off the conversation and that was it. I told him I appreciated his time and for him coming home safe.

About an hour later he called me and we chatted for about an hour. Technical stuff, little things. I asked for additional advice in how I would use forces to assault an abandoned fort complex I had envisioned, for which a plan had been given to me by another Marine. That helped a lot. I think he appreciated the fact that I wasn't prostituting him for a story.

It was a good interview. It's worthy noting that he mentioned when a civilian says "thanks for serving" or "thank you for your service" in reference to them being in Afghanistan or Iraq, it can be insulting since we really don't have clue #1 what they went through. I picked that up in a few books I've read, and it echoed on the phone today.

"Thank you for coming home safe."

 

[gbrittain]

"thanks for serving" or "thank you for your service" in reference to them being in Afghanistan or Iraq, it can be insulting since we really don't have clue #1 what they went through.

I served in the military nearly a decade including time during the recent wars, but I never was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

To me he just sounds like a jerk. That sentiment is not shared by all or even most that have served and deployed from my experience.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I served in the military nearly a decade including time during the recent wars, but I never was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

To me he just sounds like a jerk. That sentiment is not shared by all or even most that have served and deployed from my experience.

No, he was quite gracious. I didn't mean to portray him in a negative light at all. It's more along the lines of most of the media backlash against so much they did, yet none of the accolades when Iraq has a successful election.

One of the things he mentioned tonight, and I just saw again on the news last week, was the reporting of neighborhoods outside of Baghdad without power. He was eating somewhere in a camp when a few journalists were discussing how we hadn't restored power to some outlying villages back in 2005. He said they were discussing a mud brick village about 15 klicks outside of town that he had patrolled through. There wasn't any power there, ever.

The journalists had seen some telephone poles there that were used as a road block by the Iraqi National Forces in 2003 and just assumed there was power there, but the bad Americans had destroyed the infrastructure without remorse or thought to restoration. In the minds of the mediots, a small village that close to the capital HAD to have electricity originally just by proximity and the telephone poles proved it. It was then our fault for not restoring something that wasn't there in the first place. It made a story and they were running with it.

Things like that I think is what kind of soured him to any one looking for a story or trying to show their appreciation. The media threw the military under the bus at every turn not realizing that a war isn't the antiseptic Xbox reality we plug into. Dead checking? What a horrible concept to a journalist, but an absolute practical necessity in a house clearing operation.

I've read a number of books on Iraq in recent weeks, and I can tell you without a doubt that what I saw on the news networks and in the paper were not from "embedded" reporters. The stories just don't match up. Too often the broadcasts or stories shown on the TV portrayed the fighting soldiers as something just short of felons and some folks maybe haven't forgiven the media outlets for such.

Again, he was initially curt (hell, maybe he had a crappy day at work or I interrupted his dinner?) but we really hit it off well in the second phone call. Two strangers on the phone who've never met, talking about very sensitive issues one of us has zero clue about on a personal level don't always necessarily get off to the most flowery of starts. Hopefully tonight was just one of many talks I get to have with him.

 

[arglebargle]

The distance between the front line troops and the 'rear echelon' is a lot more than physical space.

Glad it's working out. You are doing the fact checking and reality testing. It'll make the book that much better.

 

[gbrittain]

No, he was quite gracious. I didn't mean to portray him in a negative light at all. It's more along the lines of most of the media backlash against so much they did, yet none of the accolades when Iraq has a successful election.

One of the things he mentioned tonight, and I just saw again on the news last week, was the reporting of neighborhoods outside of Baghdad without power. He was eating somewhere in a camp when a few journalists were discussing how we hadn't restored power to some outlying villages back in 2005. He said they were discussing a mud brick village about 15 klicks outside of town that he had patrolled through. There wasn't any power there, ever.

The journalists had seen some telephone poles there that were used as a road block by the Iraqi National Forces in 2003 and just assumed there was power there, but the bad Americans had destroyed the infrastructure without remorse or thought to restoration. In the minds of the mediots, a small village that close to the capital HAD to have electricity originally just by proximity and the telephone poles proved it. It was then our fault for not restoring something that wasn't there in the first place. It made a story and they were running with it.

Things like that I think is what kind of soured him to any one looking for a story or trying to show their appreciation. The media threw the military under the bus at every turn not realizing that a war isn't the antiseptic Xbox reality we plug into. Dead checking? What a horrible concept to a journalist, but an absolute practical necessity in a house clearing operation.

I've read a number of books on Iraq in recent weeks, and I can tell you without a doubt that what I saw on the news networks and in the paper were not from "embedded" reporters. The stories just don't match up. Too often the broadcasts or stories shown on the TV portrayed the fighting soldiers as something just short of felons and some folks maybe haven't forgiven the media outlets for such.

Again, he was initially curt (hell, maybe he had a crappy day at work or I interrupted his dinner?) but we really hit it off well in the second phone call. Two strangers on the phone who've never met, talking about very sensitive issues one of us has zero clue about on a personal level don't always necessarily get off to the most flowery of starts. Hopefully tonight was just one of many talks I get to have with him.

Ok cool. I know many soldiers and many of my own family members have served or serve including myself. I know we have all appreciated/appreciate the kind comments from non-military personnel that express their gratitude for our service.

My Dad served two tours in Vietnam as a Marine in the infantry and both times voluntarily. Saw plenty of combat and a Purple Heart to boot. Unfortunately for him the sentiment was not the same for returning soldiers back then as it is now, I know he appreciates those who say "Thank You for Serving".

Perhaps it was your wording, but as written I would disagree that "most" soldiers are even slightly offended by an expression of gratitude by civilians.