It's official...

[wardancer]

So Zeke , you made the move up to Idaho ?

[Zeke]

So Zeke , you made the move up to Idaho ?

I did, indeed. I'm in Nez Perce country.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

I did.

At this point, I have a BA and an MPA.

You'd think the job market for relocation would be better?

Exactly, hope you find that in your search.

It now has been 13 years and 10 years from my time in Afghanistan and Iraq now, man time is flying.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

About 10 years ago, outside western Baghdad, we captured an Iraqi financier. The Iraqi we captured said in perfect English, "I have 14 million dollars in the trunk". We had him open the trunk. And sure enough, there it was. The money was not all tidy and neatly bundled like in the movies. It was all crumpled bills thrown in the trunk. The whole trunk was completely full of money.

We got a call on the radio we had to let him go on his way.

Just another day in the desert.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

Working on my truck to drive to San Diego next month. I look forward to seeing my old stomping grounds again as it has been awhile. I will check out some of the tribal casinos and other places as well, even sin city. hehe....

[Ndnsoldierboy]

I made a copy of what an Iraqi dinar looked liked then that was in the trunk of the Toyota. Also, soon after we caught the financier, the Iraqi government got rid of the Saddam Hussein money and made new dinar bills. The Saddam money is now worthless on the official market but people still collect foreign money like me. I even have some Taliban currency that can't be used as well from Afghanistan.

***I forgot to add this. The money in the trunk was a mix of Iraqi dinars and US dollars.***

[Ndnsoldierboy]

30 years ago today, I earned the title, Marine. That title can't be bought, or inherited.

It is one of many days of which I am proud of in my life. Went to war with the Marines and deployed all over the world. We lost Marines in peacetime and war, and I will never forget those who gave their lives, as some of them were my friends. I served with Marines who were in WW II, Korean War, Vietnam, Beruit, Grenada, and the first Gulf War of which I was in.

My Brother would join a few years after me which made me proud he was there as well.

Semper Fidelis, U.S. Marines.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

On this day in 1998, the Army sent me to Fort Leonardwood in Missouri. I went active duty after spending time in the Army Reserves. I spent two weeks in MO, and then got sent to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, home of the 25th Infantry Division. I loved Hawaii and had a great time there. The women, the beaches, brews, good friends I made there, weather, women, did I mention the women?

[Ndnsoldierboy]

I had forgot I had this coat made in Afghanistan in 2004. It was in my storage locker.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

August 1988 the Marines got sent to fight the Yellowstone fire. One day we were heading out in 5 ton trucks. We are going down the highway and there is a bison running along the road as we are moving along. The bull cuts across the road behind our truck as we were last in the convoy, and the bison slams into a Ford Minivan headfirst. His horn is caught in the grill of the van, he violently shakes his head, tears apart the grill of the van. He gets his horn out of the grill looks up, and darts off the road into a meadow. The van is left in the middle of the road with steam coming out of the radiator and lots of damage, but the bison walked out without a scratch. All of us who saw that display of power just laughed and cheered cause that bison was tough.

Just another day in the corps, Semper Fi.

[gilisi]

August 1988 the Marines got sent to fight the Yellowstone fire. One day we were heading out in 5 ton trucks. We are going down the highway and there is a bison running along the road as we are moving along. The bull cuts across the road behind our truck as we were last in the convoy, and the bison slams into a Ford Minivan headfirst. His horn is caught in the grill of the van, he violently shakes his head, tears apart the grill of the van. He gets his horn out of the grill looks up, and darts off the road into a meadow. The van is left in the middle of the road with steam coming out of the radiator and lots of damage, but the bison walked out without a scratch. All of us who saw that display of power just laughed and cheered cause that bison was tough.

Just another day in the corps, Semper Fi.

hahaha then the commercial comes on..."Built ford tough"

great story NSB

[Ndnsoldierboy]

hahaha then the commercial comes on..."Built ford tough"

great story NSB

Being in the frontlines we saw lots of stuff.
I will post more later. Animals in the desert and jungle mountains and even the ocean.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

My Brother killed a 12 foot cobra in Saudi Arabia back in1990. Him and another Marine were digging a defensive fighting position, the cobra was under the sand when it came up. He killed it, skinned it but could not keep the skin as it was starting to smell bad, and was ordered to throw the skin away.

I ran into a few Cobras in Iraq in the spring of 2006 west of Baghdad. We were looking for weapons caches and in a small canal I saw two cobras. It looked like they were dancing. But, it was two male cobras and they were in a fight for a female cobra. They were intertwined and constantly pushing each other down until one gave up. Could not stay to see who won the fight. We had other things to do.

Ran into a couple rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, Fer D' lance, bushmasters, one anaconda, unknown snake in South Korea, and a even Nile Monitor in Egypt, that was about 6 feet long until he got ran over by a local taxi driver in Sharm el Sheik. That was a big lizard.

***Forgot to add Akamada and Habu in Okinawa.

[Ndnsoldierboy]

The anaconda was around 13 feet and the Cobras were 3-4 feet. The Akamada was 8 feet. Bushmaster and the Fer D' lance were 3 feet long. Rattler was about 4 feet.

*** countries of Panama, Okinawa, Iraq and here in the states. ***

[Ndnsoldierboy]

While in the jungle of Panama, we saw lots of bugs. Killer bees, army ants, mosquitos, flies, and chiggers. Tiny blood suckers that burrowed in your skin once they crawled on you. They were nasty. We had Marines got medavac cause they had so many of them in their skin. I used the bug repellent the Marine Corps issued us. For the most part it worked. I had some bites on me, but not enough to be taken out of the jungle when we were on patrol.