I joined the military and started bootcamp toward the ends of August 2001. queue 9/11 3 weeks later and the war on terror. I was part of Air Defense and maintained the Patriot Missile launch stations. Landed in Kuwait on February and crossed into Iraq the day the war started (March 20th, 2003). Before going to Iraq, I dont believe I have ever met an Iraqi before. So as a unit, we all had this devaluation of what the people of Iraq were like. As a unit, we had racist connotations towards Iraqis.
It wasn't till some day in March/April we were leaving one site to head to another and our convoy had an accident among ourselves. It was outside of a small town, i cannot remember it's name. While we were waiting, a lot of townsfolk were walking past us. They were on their way to work in the fields. As a result, we had to get out of our vehicles and be on guard.
As we were getting ready to leave, I see this Iraqi man smoking a cigarette. I only had two cigarettes left. He must have saw the desperation in my eyes as I craved for a cigarette not wanting to smoke my last ones quite yet. He comes up to my truck and spoke very well English, "Would you like a cigarette?"
me, "yes, please"
him, "are you American or Britain?'
me, "American" as I point to my American Flag patch on my arm.
him, "Thanks for being over here" lights my cigarette and walks away.
That moment drastically changed the way I viewed the people of Iraq. That moment also drastically changed the way I viewed and sympathized for everyone else around the world not from the United States.
dullawolf132 karma
Not a question, but a little story about Iraq.
I joined the military and started bootcamp toward the ends of August 2001. queue 9/11 3 weeks later and the war on terror. I was part of Air Defense and maintained the Patriot Missile launch stations. Landed in Kuwait on February and crossed into Iraq the day the war started (March 20th, 2003). Before going to Iraq, I dont believe I have ever met an Iraqi before. So as a unit, we all had this devaluation of what the people of Iraq were like. As a unit, we had racist connotations towards Iraqis.
It wasn't till some day in March/April we were leaving one site to head to another and our convoy had an accident among ourselves. It was outside of a small town, i cannot remember it's name. While we were waiting, a lot of townsfolk were walking past us. They were on their way to work in the fields. As a result, we had to get out of our vehicles and be on guard.
As we were getting ready to leave, I see this Iraqi man smoking a cigarette. I only had two cigarettes left. He must have saw the desperation in my eyes as I craved for a cigarette not wanting to smoke my last ones quite yet. He comes up to my truck and spoke very well English, "Would you like a cigarette?"
me, "yes, please"
him, "are you American or Britain?'
me, "American" as I point to my American Flag patch on my arm.
him, "Thanks for being over here" lights my cigarette and walks away.
That moment drastically changed the way I viewed the people of Iraq. That moment also drastically changed the way I viewed and sympathized for everyone else around the world not from the United States.
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