As someone that was 19 when 9/11 happened, and the only reason I didn’t join the military is because I’m stubborn and know I don’t follow orders well, thank you for your service.
I’m happy you made it back, and I’m sorry for any friends you may have lost along the way.
My husband was with 3/1 as well. We lived in the little trailer park base housing and I will never forget convoys pulling up along the main roads in front of housing and putting up concertina wire. All ATMs, stores, everything closed down until they were certain there were no threats to the military bases. It was scary.
Kinda wild to think I was from the very beginning and was there almost at the very end.
Our generation's Vietnam. My entire living memory is of knowing that somewhere, Aussie Diggers were operating overseas with US troops, to protect us from something I only have the vaguest memories of.
I remember seeing it on TV when I was 4, and my parents in a state of utter shock. I can't imagine what i would've been like to be standing to, wondering when the next attack would arrive.
I never joined the Defence Force, but I've got plenty of mates who did, some of whom worked with the US. Did you ever cross paths with any Australian Defence Force personnel?
Nice! My mates always had positive things to say about US troops, too. I think one of them worked with some Green Berets once. They were crazy good, but also crazy, apparently xD
I don't know how you or anybody you served with can stay positive about the military after the last couple decades. I would be so fucking mad at the government for literally everything they do and how casually they throw lives away. You go from a bullshit war started over lies and misinformation so they can get oil money, and the destruction and death caused by that invasion Sparks the wave of hatred that leads to this attack, which then triggers another invasion that ends up accomplishing pretty much fuck all other than getting people killed, especially considering that the country which was largely responsible for the attack (SA) got away with it Scott free and is still an active trading partner with the government because they have...... Oil and money
I have a question for you since you were super involved in the middle east. (Skip to the bottom with the brackets if you don't wanna read much).
I am beginning a project to make an animated Series called "Caliber" made to really focus in on the aspects of war in the middle east (because I feel like we're hella forgetting all the fucked things the US soldiers alone had to go through), taking place in 2025 in a world where the 2021 pullout was fake, and soldiers were still fighting, but just unknown to the public (a tribute to my grandfather, who fought in Korea in 1956 and in Lebanon in 1957, but was undocumented and forced to keep quiet most of his years, making so much of his time there unknown for me), there is more but I dont want traceable things online to tell any of the other major plot points, because I have the whole thing pretty well planned out.
I plan to make this series go really in depth on the aspects of the US soldiers, their struggles as they're constantly put in danger, their jokes as they've been on "high alert" for a long ass drive and got bored, their longing for home and plenty of other things. I also would like to interview refugees who lived in the area, sympathizers, anyone I can talk to on the matter.
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That being said, could I learn some of the stories you have that you lived through during the war? Not particularly all the popular things movies showed like Hurt Locker, American Sniper, Lone Survivor, 12 Strong, and all those other movies, but actual stories that can show the human behind them, the ones that hold the passion and feelings that were there. Not just a story that glorifies the US Marine Corp, but a story that shows their lives. It could even been the lighthearted things, the funny moments, the deep conversations, just the feeling when you manage to go home for a bit.
Any story that you could share would be perfect, because they'd all be true.
The way I'm writing it is, while the 2021 pullout still technically happened there were around 1000-2000 US marines that were still around, and still actively fighting, just probably a lot more considering the forces got SEVERALLY cut apart. They'd be mainly fighting for some corrupt unknown profit that the government has, although they wouldn't know what. Probably getting very few orders from the mainland (As in the US), and just, go around finding trouble spots, looking for noteable people, maybe trying to crumble terrorist regimes from inside, or cause them to split and fight amongst each other. They'd basically be a bunch of marines off a leash and have no clue what to do. Making the military force more separate from the Mainland's military. The only thing connecting the two would be Ammo and gun shipments, food, and the occasional replenishment of soldiers.
If you'd like we could go over to DMs so we could talk more in depth!
The US was just attacked. Your default reaction is similar to if it was a nuclear strike. And you're too busy mobilizing to really know what is going on.
I'm imagining that scene from Independence Day when Area 51 has to scramble right before and during they get attacked and everyone is just running around (not trying to make light of it, just saying how chaotic it must have been, I guess).
I was on a submarine in the Pacific ocean when it happened. We tried to rush to the Persian Gulf but we were diverted to Guam to load Tomahawks instead.
Ended up surveiling the coast of Africa near Mogadishu for about a month.
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u/[deleted] 14h ago edited 14h ago
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