6,000 Miles

By Chris Collett

6,000 miles, that’s how far away I am from home! That’s one of the many things I would think about as I walked down the dirt roads of Iraq. This particular road was not special, just the same as any other.  There were watermelon fields on either side of us and every once and a while we would pass a small house usually made of clay or mud.  The road its self was in no good condition.  Years of rain and vehicles wore it down, making what seemed like miniature versions of the Grand Canyon along its backbone. The sun, or as I call it Bob which stood for Big Orange Ball, was high in the sky and beating down on us. I didn’t like Bob.  He was not my friend. It was 137degrees. Not as bad as yesterday but it was not a noticeable difference either.  There was a small breeze but all that did was give us the sensation of someone constantly blowing a hair dryer on you.  Sweat was pouring down my face, mixing with the dirt in the air.  Made it look like we all had been crying, but no tears were shed. Not today, at least.

             We had been walking for about 13 miles before my platoon sergeant said to stop and eat some lunch. We all were pretty happy. Not to eat lunch but to just to stop walking. We had stopped by a small orange grove and since I was a team leader, I told my men to grab an MRE and eat under the trees. There was not much shade there but I guess it’s the thought that counts. Being in a leadership position means everyone under you eats first. I sometimes enjoyed waiting my turn, watching the lower ranks fight over the best ones. When it finely was my turn, the choices were slim but I ended up with a spaghetti with meat sauce. The best one!! During the scuffle someone must have kicked it away by accident. Before sitting down, I walked around checking on my guys to make sure they were doing all right. 

As I was finishing up, I noticed one of our new privates sitting by himself, so I went over and sat down.  He looked up but didn’t say anything. He was just about to open his MRE when I stopped him. I told him that the platoon sergeant had noticed him doing very well today and that he said I was to give him this spaghetti with meat sauce MRE. That was a lie! But he would never know. As we traded, I noticed a slight peek in his spirit. I had made his day.  I saw why as we traded MRE’s. I gave him mine and he handed me his; Pork Rib. When I see Pork Rib, I think about my high school lunch special except 10 times worse.

            I sat down under the orange tree and laid my rifle against it. I took off my sweat and dirt covered gloves and put them in my pocket. I took out my 8 inch K-Bar and in one clean motion cut the top off my MRE. I dumped out the contents on ground and just stared at it. My mind was telling me not to eat it, my body told me you need to. In this MRE there was the main course which was the pork rib, a side dish which was spicy  Mac and Cheese, a ranger bar which was oatmeal based, some spices like salt and pepper, an extra long spoon and a flameless heater. Everything was individually wrapped in brown foil to help keep them fresh.

As I looked it over I decided to start with the pork rib. I opened it with my K-Bar and looked inside. What I saw was nothing new to me. It was about 5 inches long by 3 inches across and about a centimeter in height. It had fake grill marks along both sides as if someone had stamped them on just before packaging. A thin coat of clear fat covered the whole thing, and it was all sitting in a pool of oil. I ripped off a piece and stuck it in my mouth. The taste was of soggy cardboard,  and the fat stuck to the roof of your mouth like peanut butter.

I was taking another bite, when a voice rose up above all the small conversations. “Anybody want a mint chocolate chip cookie?” The bidding had begun. Like high rollers in Las Vegas, people started throwing their bids. Some people started out with “I got a chocolate dairy shake” and others with “I got some M&Ms” I was waiting my turn! Waiting for the right moment, because I had something to offer most others didn’t. One of many perks from being in a leadership position but mainly I wanted that cookie! So I told him that I would give him my Mac and Cheese and to top it off I promised I wouldn’t make him do push-ups next time he messed up. I had won!

As he tossed me his cookie I could tell the excitement was building with in me. Once again I used my K-Bar, but I was careful this time. I didn’t want to hurt it. I gently pulled it out of its wrapper. I could smell the chocolate and mint fumes rising from within it. I was hypnotized! I took a bite and I was gone.  Away from the orange grove and the dusty road; away from all the fighting and stress, to a place of peace and serenity. And quickly as I had left, I was back and it was time to leave. 

I picked up my MRE and was gathering my things, when I noticed a wild dog. She had been playing in the fields next to the orange grove with her pups and was now making her way over to us probably looking for an easy meal. So I tossed her my left over Pork Rib and went to check on my guys to make sure they were getting ready. As I did this, I noticed the dog smell the Pork Rib and walk away. I chuckled to myself as we walked back on to the road. It was another 8 miles to our next destination. We had better get moving!