Letters, Part 2

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Camp Corregidor
Ramadi, Iraq
3 May 2005, 1130

"Ok, spill it, what's with the letter writing, Rusty." Specialist Jeff Gossard remarked as he set his lunch tray down onto the table.

"What's to tell. I got a letter from that Any Soldier program and I wrote her back." Rusty replied.

"What, some eight year old?" Gossard remarked.

"Goss, I doubt an eight year old would have good penmanship like this." Rusty remarked with a roll of his eyes.

"Or she could be a he." Porky offered, after swallowing a fork full of food.

"Or could be some frumpy old bat of a secretary." Keck replied sipping water.

"Didn't know you liked cougars, Rusty." DiStephano quipped.

At this Keck burst out laughing mid swallow of water and started coughing. Rusty whacked him on the back a few times before remarking, "Can't have you choking to death before we go on patrol tonight."

"Kiss ass." Porky joked.

"Hey, like they say amongst us snipers, try not to look important, the enemy might be low on ammo." Rusty remarked.

"Nice distractor." Keck commented, "But on the original subject, weren't you the guy who said 'I wonder if she's as beautiful as her penmanship.'."

"You might be bitterly disappointed if she's a frumpy old bat." Porky remarked.

"Or an eight year old girl." Gossard added.

"Or a guy." DiStephano quipped.

Rusty shot the rest of the section the finger. And the rest of them laughed.

"Hey Army," Hartzl remarked from the edge of the conversation, "If you wanna end the debate all you gotta do is ask the girl if she'll send a picture."

The loudspeaker of the nearby mosque just outside the front gate blared, "Kanas. Kanas. Kanas."

"What do you think of getting that tattooed on my bicep." DiStephano remarked, "In Arabic."

"You'd probably get mistaken for a terrorist." Rusty quipped.

"Har Har." DiStephano dead panned.

This time the entire section and a few nearby Marines laughed at DiStephano's expense.

3 May 2005

Dear Jennifer,

I got your letter at mail call yesterday when I came off a mission. I'll tell you I had to smile when I saw it.

To answer your questions first off, I am an infantryman by trade, a sniper more specifically. Forget any of that lone hunters of men garbage in movies, we work in teams, and my section, call sign Assassin is no exception. Those other seven guys are like brothers to me, they may drive me bats sometimes but brothers do that.

I currently am in college for Civil Engineering, and I enjoy it. I'm considering graduate school, but I'm not sure about that yet.

I figured I'd tell you about the guys. First off there's Staff Sergeant Keck, our section leader. In civilian life he's a police officer in the Orlando Police Department and a SWAT sniper. My team includes an all around handyman and ancient weapons collector, Richard Porter, we all call him Porky, a Cuban American from South Orlando who's a fireman and EMT named Vincent DiStephano, and a newbie named Billy Carwin.

I hope this doesn't come off as creepy but do you think you could send a picture? Most of my teammates seem to think that I'm corresponding with one of three people, an eight year old girl (Gossard thinks that), a guy (DiStephano and Porky think that), or a 'frumpy old bat' (Keck's own words). I happen to think you're around my age (I'm 23) and on the attractive side of the fence. I'll send a couple of mine.

Do your coworkers ever drive you nuts? Wonder what they're like?

Sincerely,

Rusty

JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
13 May 2005, 1415

"Which one do you think?" Jen asked Tiner as she held a picture of her in uniform with her hair done up and a second with her hair down in a red spaghetti strap top.

"Hmm, they're both nice." Tiner said, stroking his chin.

"You're not helping, Jason." Jen replied with a semi-serious glare, "If you had to decide because someone had a gun to your head, which would you pick."

"Jeez, Jen, morbid much?" Tiner replied.

"Humor me?" Jen asked.

"Ok, the one in uniform." Tiner said, "It brings out your eyes."

"Thanks, Tiner..." Jen began.

"Ahem." A voice sounded behind them, the two petty officers turned to see Gunny standing behind them, "There you are, Tiner. About that file..."

"I dropped it off with General Creswell fifteen minutes ago." Tiner replied.

"Good." Gunny remarked, and asked, "What's going on here?"

"Just trying to figure out which picture to send Rusty, uh, I mean Sergeant Puckett." Jen replied, blushing slightly.

"Go for the one in uniform." Gunny remarked after he looked over the two pictures, "I think it brings out your eyes."

"Thanks, Gunny." Jen replied.

Gunny walked out of the room with a mild smirk, as he watched Jen get back to writing her letter and motioned for Tiner to follow him for another task he had.

13 May 2005

Dear Rusty,

Thank you for your kind words. And no, it didn't come off as creepy at all. You'll find my picture in the letter. Both my best friend and my supervisor thought that my picture in uniform was the best one to send. I hope it looks good.

Well as far as my coworkers go, my best friend at work is Jason Tiner, he's going to law school and OCS soon to become a JAG this summer, so I'll have to salute him soon. Gunnery Sergeant Galindez is my supervisor, and he's a rock solid Marine but I think he's a big teddy bear under that Marine exterior.
Well at the risk of the 'long story' disclaimer I am happy to say that the office's longest running sort of romance is now official. Two officers I work for, Captain Rabb and Colonel Mackenzie decided to get engaged. They've worked with each other for almost nine years and almost everyone swore there was just this incredible tension between them. Actually it's now Ms. Mackenzie (soon to be Mrs. Rabb), since they flipped a coin to see who would retire and who would stay in so they could get married.

Stay safe out there. I've been to Afghanistan and saw my boss, Lieutenant Roberts lose his leg to a mine.

Sincerely,

Jen

Camp Corregidor
Ramadi, Iraq
24 May 2005, 1940

"Will you wipe that shit eating grin off your face, Rusty?" Keck commented, "I get it, we were wrong and you were right. Even the best can be wrong sometimes."

"Not grinning about that, Keck." Rusty said as he tucked the photo into his helmet.

"How cliche can you get?" Gossard quipped as he watched Rusty do so.

"Oh come off it, Goss." Rusty quipped, "See, my intuition can be trusted."

"Don't forget, City Bar and Grill, aka Shitty Bar and Grill...the place you recommended we all eat at and get our last beer before we deployed?" Gossard countered.

"Hence why we were trying to save you from getting worked up about a frumpy old bat." Keck remarked as he donned his own helmet and grabbed his pack.

Porky picked up the M24 in its soft case and slung it on his shoulders before commenting, "She's definitely a cutie."

"I think so." Rusty replied as he donned his helmet and grabbed his pack.

"Alright, quit the jawing," Keck said, "Let's get going."

"Roger." Rusty said and he and the other seven members of Assassin walked towards the gate and into the streets of Ramadi.

TBC