Letters, Part 3

Disclaimer: Same as before.

23 May 2005

Dear Jennifer,

Sorry if the paper is a bit messy, I've written bits and pieces of this in our hide (uh where we usually hide out and shoot or observe from) since the 23rd when this thing is dated over the past few days.

I have to say that it's a nice picture you sent me. It really brings out your eyes, which I think are quite beautiful. I've taken to keeping the picture in my helmet when were on patrol and in my shirt pocket when we're on the base.

That is a neat story about those two lawyers in your office. Eight years of a lot of sexual/romantic tension between those two? Whoa, that's something else. Reminds me of a couple teachers I had in high school years ago.

It's kinda neat how people you work with in the military can be almost like siblings to you. The guys in my section are like that, their like seven other brothers, in addition to the sister and brother I already have.

As I promised I included a picture too, this is one of me and the guys, labeled so you can tell us apart.

So what's your family like? Do you have any brothers or sisters? And what sort of music do you like?

Sincerely,

Rusty

Maalab, Ramadi
Iraq
27 May 2005, 0510

"Man digging in the road." Carwin said from behind the M24's telescopic sights.

"Got a guy pushing a wheelbarrow." Gossard added, steadying the ACOG's crosshairs on the wheelbarrow man. A burlap sack concealed the object, whatever it was

Rusty sat behind the powerful spotting scope, "350 meters range." Rusty remarked, "Got a guy carrying a bag..."

"Got him." Keck said, raising his M4.

Wheelbarrow man moved the bag revealing two unexplored artillery shells with wires sticking out.

"Confirmed IED." Rusty said.

Three clicks as three safety catches were disengaged.

"Ok Carwin, we're firing on your shot." Rusty whispered, "Send it when ready."

The kid definitely took his training to heart, Rusty noticed, he was applying a steady squeeze to the trigger, slow and deliberate as he exhaled.
The M24 cracked loudly and a split second later Keck and Gossard's rifles fired as well, sending their smaller but no less lethal 5.56mm rounds down range.

Carwin's man hit the ground like a pole axed mule as the heavy 7.62mm round from the M24 tore into his heart. Gossard's man fell with a head shot and Keck's target with a neck shot.

"Good hits." Rusty said. One IED emplacement team wasn't finishing its mission today.

"If anyone goes to retrieve that IED shoot them." Rusty remarked as Carwin wordlessly worked the bolt on his M24.

They didn't have long to wait. Two men walked from a nearby alleyway, first peeking around a corner and then walking towards their fallen comrades.

"Two guys acting shady..." Rusty observed, out of the corner of one eye he watched Carwin start tracking one of the two men.

"I got the tall dude that's walking fast." Carwin remarked.

"Shorty's mine." Gossard replied, raising his own M16A4.

"Looks like they're thinking better of it..." Rusty remarked as the men halted in their tracks and he swore that he lip read one of the men shouting Kanas.

The two turned to flee and Rusty said, "Let 'em run."

Porky was on the radio, calling to Corregidor to get an EOD team on site for that IED. The other snipers were standing overwatch now.

Once EOD had finished its mission the snipers began to run down to the convoy, joining them on the ride back to base.

JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
7 June 2005, 1100

"Good morning, Ma'am." Jen said as she passed by Colonel Mackenzie, who was currently in civilian clothes.

"Jen, I'm a civilian now, except if I'm drilling, so it's Mac for now." Mac replied. The coin having landed on tails meant Mac would retire, however she found out, as she was doing her out processing there was a Marine Corps Reserve position open in Europe so she and Harm could still be together in London and Mac could still serve, albeit in a reserve capacity.

"Ok Ma...I mean Mac." Jen replied, "Sorry, force of habit."

"It's ok." Mac replied and then asked, "What have you got there?"

"Oh just a letter I got as part of that pen pal program." Jen replied, holding up Rusty's latest letter, "He's an Army National Guard sniper from Florida."

"He sent a picture?" Mac observed, as she noticed a photo was also in Jen's hand.

"I sent him one and he sent me one in reply. It's one of him and his sniper section. They're in Ramadi working with the Marines." Jen explained showing a picture of eight National Guardsmen in dusty desert fatigues and carrying rifles in front of a plywood hut.

"I see." Mac remarked, curious as she set the cardboard box with her personal effects down on the ground to look at the picture. She also noticed there was writing on the back of the picture, describing each of the men in it.
Jen pointed at a muscular fellow with a half crown of dirty blonde hair and a couple days of beard stubble who was a dead ringer for Woody Harrelson's doppelgänger. "That's Staff Sergeant Keck, he's the sniper section leader and he's a SWAT team member from Orlando, Florida."

Jen then indicated a tall, somewhat powerfully built dark skinned Hispanic carrying an M4A1, sunglasses atop his head. "That's Specialist Vincent DiStephano, an EMT and firefighter in civilian life, he evidently thought I was a guy..."

Mac chuckled at the thought.

Jen continued, pointing at a brown haired, compact fellow of medium height with a widow's peak, "That's Specialist Jeff Gossard, he's a commercial diver in Jacksonville, FL when he's a civilian. He's the one who thought I was an eight year old girl."

Mac chuckled again, "A little off base."

Jen pointed at a skinny young man in his late teens with a totally shaved head. "That's PFC Billy Carwin, he's the youngest guy on their team. Rusty says he's the quiet one, because he's the most junior."

Jen pointed out a slightly potbellied fellow standing 5'9". "That's the guy they nickname Porky, but his real name is Specialist Richard Porter, he's a jack of all trades on the civilian side, mostly does a lot of construction work."
Jen pointed out a slightly shorter fellow next to Porky, with black hair and brown eyes and a lean, but athletic build, his Desert Combat Uniform hanging slightly loose on his frame.

"That's Rusty, he's the assistant team leader and also a college student, studying civil engineering at the University of Central Florida." Jen began.
"He's the one you're writing, right?" Mac asked.

Jen nodded and continued on, pointing out a fellow around Rusty's height carrying one of the M24 bolt action rifles, he was a lean, hazel eyed fellow who wore a Realtree camouflage ball cap.

"That's Specialist Rush Paulson, Rusty calls him a classic good ol' boy who loves to hunt and fish and works for Florida Fish and Game." Jen replied, reading the notes on the man in the back of the picture.

"And the last fellow is PFC Antonio Rivera, he's studying journalism at Rollins College." Jen began, pointing at the other sniper section baby, as Rusty's notes on the picture referred to him. The man was a short, dark skinned Latino with a Puerto Rican flag tattooed on his right forearm.

Mac replied, "I think it's neat he's willing to share all these stories of his with you. It's always good to have someone to write to when you're under those circumstances."

"I think so. And he actually sounds like a decent guy." Jen replied.
Mac's lips curled up in a smile, "Think he might be taken?"

"I didn't ask." Jen said with a slightly shy grin.

"It can't hurt anything to ask." Mac replied, before picking up her box to take down to her car.

Jen smiled to herself and went back to her desk and during her lunch break began to compose her letter.

7 June 2005

Dear Rusty,

Your letter arrived yesterday, and I do like the fact that you reciprocated and you sent me a picture to. I wonder if you should become a writer instead of an engineer because the way you write makes everyone in your section come alive.

Regarding music, well I'm a pop music fan, but I also do appreciate a lot of classic rock as well. I listen to almost anything as long as it's good.

As to my family, my mother and father are divorced. Mom ran out on us and my Dad threw himself into his Ministry (yes cue the jokes about a Minister's daughter) to cope. I don't have any siblings, but I have a sort of niece named Mattie, a teenager who lives with me next door to Captain Rabb. It's a long story that I'll tell you someday.

What about you? What's your family like? Huge or tiny? And is there a Mrs. Puckett or future Mrs. Puckett in your life?

Sincerely,

Jen

TBC