rlfj: Blog

This is the end of Book 2. I am going to begin posting the PG version of A Fresh Start. I’ll be posting a couple of chapters at a time with that story. I plan to return to Grim in another month or so.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog note, in the 2003-2007 period Anbar Province was probably the most dangerous place on the planet, for both Americans and Iraqis alike. Far more Iraqis died than Americans, and far more died at the hands of other Iraqis than were killed by Americans. An excellent source for this portion of the story can be found in None Left Behind: The 10th Mountain Division and the Triangle of Death, by Charles W. Sasser. Much as the Fourth of the Fourth, Grim’s fictional battalion, was an extension of the very real Tenth Mountain Division, so the fictional Route Indigo was an extension of the very real Route Malibu.

I have had emails from readers who think Grim is being much too hard on himself, is overly dramatic, etc. He is obviously a hero, and he needs to recognize it and just get over his little problems. I understand that kind of thinking, but it is simply wrong.

Post-traumatic stress is a real disorder, and it can happen to anybody in a stressful situation. Some cases are worse than others, but it is a real issue. I have never been in that kind of a situation, but I have certainly seen it in others. I have seen it in a family member who did a tour in Fallujah. Many, many of my readers have reported it also, either in themselves or in relatives. Not everybody can get over it, either. One extremely useful reader became an important editor because he is a psychologist who works with veterans suffering from PTSD. Thank you to Michael-David for his help with PTSD. According to him, what will come up in Book 3 is accurate. What that is, you will have to read.

I would definitely like to thank my military editors for this section of the story. Thank you n12614, bumbyb, tangotulsa, and abac2856. I couldn’t have done it without you. Also, many thanks to the other uncredited readers who would often point out small pieces of trivia that needed to be examined or edited. That’s what makes this so fascinating to me.

We are very near the end of Book 2. That will end shortly. After that I will begin posting parts of another story.

Not a lot to opine on in this chapter. Grim gets a break from the war and spends quality time with his fiancée.

I am sure to hear some grief about the medals given out in this chapter. How come Grim only gets a Bronze Star and not another Silver Star, or maybe a Distinguished Service Cross? This mission was arguably tougher and required more leadership skills than the battles he earned his earlier medals in. One of the things I learned doing this story is that even more important than what you do in a battle is who sees you doing it. With the first Silver Star, Grim was fighting over the body of his captain, and in the second he was rescuing an international superstar. Nobody was watching this battle. That’s just how it works, and fairness isn’t considered crucial. Likewise, the proliferation of medals given to the REMFs was astounding. It got cracked down on, somewhat, but at one point you could get a Bronze Star, or at least a Commendation Medal, simply by flying over enemy territory in a helicopter! Lots of guys in the headquarters outfits did that.

Fun fact: Grim has now been wounded in action three times, qualifying him for a third Purple Heart. Isn’t that enough? There was a ‘three and out’ rule in the Viet Nam era that applied only to a single enlistment. In other words, if during your enlistment you got tagged three times, you could generate enough points to get sent home. If, however, you then re-enlisted, the clock was set back to zero. Fascinating stuff. I heard from several people about a soldier who had nine Purple Hearts and a Marine with eight. Remind me not to stand anywhere near either guy. They define the term ‘shit magnet!’