The Broken Soldier

Not really. That bitch sucks.

I’m not yelling. Though maybe I should be. I am angry. As are most in the Fort Knox, KY Warrior Transition Unit I imagine.

I’m mad because a dog and her dip shit handler tracked mud all over my tres chic modern WalMart carpet. And if that wasn’t enough, the 1SG insulted my alma mater. Something about sports. (Like I give a billy-be-frigged about sports.) I pretended to, however, to channel the lukewarm anger I felt at the violation of what little privacy we have. Violated because some fuckhead in Bravo tried to night-night himself with prescription meds.

Two of my neighbors claimed to feel they’d been raped. I wouldn’t go quite that far. I would, however, question what impact this evening’s festivities had on stemming future suicide attempts. This seems like much too little much too late. A “Big Army” PR stunt hidden in Company shit-sandwich-eating interpretative dance (take one down, pass it around, errr, eee eee errr, eeh er eeh err) meant to give the appearance of action to onlookers. But all it really did was stress us, we who don’t really need more stress, at 10 pm on a Monday evening.

Addendum: Since writing this post I’ve learned the young man’s OD was unintentional. He’s okay, more or less, but his condition was touch-and-go for a while. I’ll update when more info is available. Say a prayer for him and his family.

Had my spinal nerve stimulator implant surgical consult on Wednesday. The guy was late by over an hour. I was getting a bit hot. Hot as in angry. Then in walked a fella bearing striking resemblance to 70s magician Doug Henning.

It took me a minute to settle down and allay my Doug Henning prejudices. I was in pain, and frankly, that he looked so much like Doug Henning made me feel uncomfortable (like he was looking at me in the way that cartoon characters look at one and other when trapped on a deserted island without food). After listening to the sales pitch, asking questions and receiving good answers, I’m opting to have the procedure. Two leads jut from the device, similar to a pacemaker and most everything else Medtronic makes, which are placed along the spinal pathway carrying pain info to the brain. Most of his patients have good results and few, if any, side effects or device failures during its 10 year life span.

The two lead approach allows for coverage of not only the leg pain, but for back pain as well. Most patients report a decrease in pain of 20-50%. For those suffering from severe chronic pain, you know what that means. For those who don’t, it can be the difference between functioning and not.

Things may be looking up. I’m optimistic (guardedly). If I can stay in the 3-5/10 pain scale range, there’s a lot I can still do. Time will tell.

The title is, for the most part, the purpose of this site. Army folk fuck up, they get credit for it. “Stetson,” “Hugh,” and any other idiot commit their stupid opinions to this site and to the Web for all posterity, they get credit for it. In this spirit, and in the spirit of fairness, when someone or some group does something right, they too get credit for it.

Avis Car Rental. We used them during my wife’s ten day visit. Decent vehicle. Good military rates. Good service.

At turn-in, the folks at the Louisville International Airport Avis distinguished themselves from the expected ‘good.’ My wife was distraught having dropped me at the Fort Knox WTU Barrack’s elevator, unsure of when she’d see me again, just an hour earlier. Her mascara was running. She was, I’m guessing, clearly distracted. The attendant noticed the Fort Knox pass sitting on the driver’s side dash. “Your husband’s at Fort Knox?” he said. “Yes.” Without any additional prompting or info, the attendant called to his co-workers, all of whom helped Sarah speed through the process.

Sometimes small things are supererogatory. Sometimes a kind word or courteous act can have a profound impact. Often the benefit far outweighs the cost. For those who serve and their families (who in a sense also serve) shows of such kindness and genuine concern can make the difference between stiff upper lip and complete collapse.

From the desk of the BabyJesusHorse:

“Guys, this is a fantastic web page for any veteran/next-of-kin looking for service records. It even includes links to VA health care and instructions on how-to request different types of military service records.”

The URL:

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/medical.html#medical-claims