As usual, it was brief. But he sounded very energized. He is excited about his upcoming R&R. He even took time to talk to E. and to ask about her (he hasn’t in a while – apathy usually sets in several months into a deployment). I asked him if he wanted me to insure his truck for R&R – he wasn’t sure he would be capable of driving in the States. Apparently he has to drive like a maniac in Iraq; he said the Iraqis play "chicken" with American troops on the road. Iraqi civilians are supposed to pull over when Humvees and tanks come through; when they don’t it’s a threat to troops, who have to treat them as possible suicide bombers. J. said many of them won’t pull over until a soldier gets out of the turret and aims, readying for attack lest a car get too close. It was during this particular story that we got cut off.
So I got to thinking, maybe I’ll drive during his R&R.
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