Chuck and I got up this morning at 5 am to go for a morning run. It is not like running in Michigan which is flat, this is like running in Kentucky. I really should have worked out a little bit before I came here. So the shower was much needed. But at the insistance of the German firemen I threw on my uniform and went outside.
As I joinded the fire evacuees outside I learned that one of the troops enjoyed the German hospitality just a little too much last night. Chuck and I came in pretty early last night but some of the young soldiers from our building stayed out a little later. This morning as we drove from Graf to Vilseck on twisting roads this troop needed to pull over to the side of the road. In the middle her road side activities she became concerned that the police would pull up to find out what the problem is. So she lifted her head and said, "If the police stop just tell them I am throwing up because I am pregnant; I would rather people think I am a whore than an idiot." I think this one will be staying in for the rest of her time in Europe.
So this is all before 8 am this morning. It was going to be a long day. I spent the rest of the day setting up missions for tomorrow. Inprocessing is over and it is time to get to work. Tomorrow we are covering an airborne heavy drop operation and a combined arms aireal exercise involving the US, Netherlands,
France and several other countries. Our troops will move tactically with Air Force forward observers as they call in air strikes involving straffing missions and dropping 500 pound bombs. It will be a grueling day for them but will be totally awesome at he same time. The great part is, it is supposed to rain off and on all day tomorrow. This is real training. The colonel I was coordinating with was completely excited to find any way possible to get our public affairs troops in the mix. You have to love the power of the camera. Like I said earlier, everyone wants to be on TV.
We finally finished with work tonight after 7 pm so Chuck and I decided to take a walk into town to get something to eat. Everything was closed. These people shut up shop early. On the edge of town we found a run down guesthouse. As we walked in an old woman met us at the door and said, "What do you want?" "Food!" She informed us the business had been closed every since her husband died last year. Now we noticed there were a few British soldiers eating so we asked if we could at least have a bier. She smiled and waved us in. We sat down and she started to tell us stories about her life and the Brits joined in too. She had moved to Graf and opened the restaurant just after the war in 1945 when she married a German soldier. As she talked the Brits got in a "brisk discussion" about American vs. British Imperialism.
 |
| Our waitress Helga who kissed Elvis in 1960 |
Yeah, I know. We are in a restaurant that has been closed for years, on the edge of town, drinking a bier with the wife of a former nazi and three Brits who resent the fact America had displaced them in their position of world power. It had that feeling you sometimes get when watching a movie when you are thinking, "Get the heck out of there!" A lucky break for us was when the guy from Scotland started to argue with the one from London and then the one who was born in Wales joined in each "discussing" UK relations. We sat back and watched. It was at this point we decided it might be a good idea to depart. We shook hands with Ian and his UK brothers, waved good-bye to Helga and headed back up the road.
Escape! Little did I realize how right the German firemen were this morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment