For those who started to read this months ago I'm sorry for delay.

Chapter 8

Basic Graduation

Day 44 THREE WEEKS LEFT February 26, 2002 Three weeks left in this the countdown to graduation.

We are in the final phase of training. The drill sergeants are finally starting to trust us and think of us soldiers, we are thinking of ourselves as real soldiers. We are the survivors, we started with 65 in our group, we are 52 now.

We are training for the last big combat maneuver.

The Forge is 4 days, 40 miles carrying a 40 pound ruck. Along the way we, shoot moving targets the a length of football field away, close-combat firing, hand to hand, evade capture.

Day 45 February 27, 2002
The end is near, three weeks to graduation, we all are more aware of what is happening in the war.

We are all taking training more seriously.
Several of our platoon buddies know someone already fighting, there a few that have friends injured. It reminds me of what Sergeant Sherman said during the fob exercise, when he talked about the dead people on the ground being our battle buddies,

We found out Sergeant Sherman has a brother who took part in Operation Rhino, the first mission in the war. A Rangers parachutist company were the first in the field, they jumped in around Kandahar, softened the field for the Delta company who followed.

Last night we talked about where we might go after training. The Tora Bora operation has the Taliban on the run, Bin Laden escaped in December.

The Talibon government is gone but we're still rounding up Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters with operation Anaconda, in the Tora Bora area.

I will be deployed in the month after airborne training, at the beginning of April, less than one year from the 911 attack. My buddies Les, El and now Ram will all be deployed together in the buddy system. I trust them to have my back as I will have theirs. The saying is 'two is one, and one is none.'

Day 51 March 6, 2002

Two weeks left
After the Forge, after this it's downhill to graduation.
We still have our normal PRT with roughly a quarter of the company retaking the APFT instead. Most of us passed I came in at the top of the company this time.

This morning we sat through in a SHARP sex signals class. The class instructors were funny which made it more more fun than the typical sexual harassment class.

In the afternoon, we turned in our issued gear and cleaned weapons, again.

One week left

We we get haircuts because hair was near normal civilian length, apparently the distinctive haircut is as important as the uniform to show we are soldiers now.

Some of us lost weight so they went to exchange uniforms to fit.

I gained enough muscle that I exchanged up a size.

We we are sick of basic training, the drill sergeants want us out so they could go on leave.

We make the mistake of starting to relax, thinking it is safe to goof off or to let your guard down. That was a mistake, they are everywhere you go there is a drill sergeant there ... and they can still smoke you up, and will.

We are close now, they want rehearsal for the ceremony.

Two days left.

Today, we had a long morning rehearsing for graduation with our whole company. We ran through both ceremonies three times each so we can nail it when it counts!

At the end of the day our CO came out to address us.

We are told 'remember we're a warfighting organization we fight, and part of how we win wars is through intimidation.'

That afternoon, 'Looking for volunteers,' Drill Sergeant Sherman announced, one innocent morning, two days before graduation.

This was the same Sherman who, nine weeks earlier, had bashed the trash can lid on our beds yelling 'Rise and shine, what the fuck you lazy asses doin' sleepin' when I got a full fuckin' day planned for you?'

I was certain that was a rhetorical question back then by now I knew rhetorical questions and ones you need to answer. This was the latter.

Now he needs a favor, Fuck him.

Family veterans had warned me to never volunteer for anything, so I was surprises when

Rami raises his hand.

'Here drill Sergeant' he shouted and elbowed me to also volunteer.
I thought this was a dangerous action, but slowly my hand crept up hand.

About four of us - including me, Rami, Dariel and Les, who never seemed to be out of sight – volunteered for this mission.

As far as the rest of the company goes they dispersed for various assignments, mostly involving cleaning and painting shit that didn't need either.

Sherman approached us. I'll admit he still scared the hell out of me.
'You're going to be the honor guard for a retirement ceremony.' He glanced at his clipboard for his next line. 'Change into class A's, and low quarters (shiny black dress shoes) Report back here in twenty. Questions?'
And for once, a drill sergeant actually paused to see if we had any questions.
Les always had a question. 'My class A's (he paused) haven't been pressed ... might be wrinkled ... ' and his voice trailed off in that way he had of making any statement sound like a dumb question and irritated the shit out of everyone. But, he had a good point. I hadn't considered this.

Sherman considered this before saying, 'I don't give a shit. Not like anyone's going to notice.' And sent us inside the barracks to change costumes.

guard.
One day left.

Family Day, I haven't seen my family since New Years. Mami, Papi and my little brother and sister drive down from Newark. Abuela Rosa and me hermana Celia came up from Miami.

We got day passes for the afternoon to show our family the base. We couldn't leave the base so I walked them around the base and we got lunch together. It was nice to see everyone again. I guess I had been lonesome.

Day 65 March 21, 2002

Graduation Day.

And then, just like that ... graduation. Holy shit! We made it.

We woke up early, hike to the parade field before the ceremony.

The ceremony highlights featured a group dressed up in historical Army uniforms and another group with heavy weapons and full combat gear representative of the modern-day Army squad.

It feels great to be moving on to the next stage of my Army training. The actual training was a lot of fun, but it came with a lot of daily sideshows that I'm not going to miss at all. I'm also glad that a lot of my buddies here are going to be coming with me to airborne training.

Graduation was in the morning, family stayed overnight, and left the next morning.

A few of us decided to celebrate with our buddies before going on leave. In honor our families we drank Cuba Libres,

The next morning, I thought I would ask SGT

Harris for advice. 'SGT Harris, do you party?' I asked. 'I never hear you tell drunk stories.'
'I wouldn't tell you guys drunk stories even if I did party, that would be a bit inappropriate,' SGT Harris said. 'And I've been sober for four years, so there's not much to tell anymore.'
'Don't you miss it?' I asked.
'Not really,' SGT Harris said. 'What are the good parts of drinking? You loosen up and stop caring about what people think? I stopped caring about what people think when I got married, except what my wife thinks- I have to care about that.
'What else? Alcohol gets you buzzed? I'm constantly dizzy every day for no reason. Probably from too many concussions playing football in high school. What else you got? Drinking warms your stomach. I have ulcers, so my stomach will fire if I drink iced tea. And I don't go to strip clubs anymore because I have a daughter, so unfortunately now I see all women as real people.'

Les laughed at that. 'And now are you always worried that your daughter will get pregnant when she's a teenager?' Les asked. 'Isn't that always the number one fear for a father?'

'It does seem to be for a lot of people,' SGT Harris said. 'I'm not that worried about it honestly. If it happens, it happens. I never understood the stigma. And what is the big fear? That the kid won't achieve their dreams and their life will be over? 99% of people don't achieve their dreams. Most people just settle down, get some job to pay the bills and have kids. Teenage pregnancy is just getting a head start on real life.'

'That seems like something that's easy to say, but if it actually happened to your kids, you might feel differently,' I said.

'Maybe. So what?' SGT Harris said.

….Little I know that I was soon to be a part of a scenario like this.

'Manaso is just trying to pick a fight because Melissa dumped him,' Les said.
'She didn't dump me,' I said. 'We only went out a few times, she just didn't want it to get serious.'
'You can't get with her,' SGT Harris said. 'She's too skinny.'
Even though we weren't dating, I was upset that SGT Harris was commenting on Melissa's figure. And she wasn't too skinny, but I didn't know how to defend that without saying the opposite. I didn't want anyone to comment on Melissa's figure.

Even though we weren't dating, I was upset that SGT Harris was commenting on Melissa's figure. And she wasn't too skinny, but I didn't know how to defend that without saying the opposite. I
didn't want anyone to comment on Melissa's figure.

I wanted to change the subject. I had started off wanting his advice, but now I don't want to talk about it. 'Can I ask you something, SGT Harris?'
'Shoot' he said.
'If we go to war and you die, would you want your wife to remarry?' I asked, hoping to catch him off guard.
'Alright, I get it, you don't want to talk about it,' he said. 'Um, and yea if that was a real question, yes. I think I would want her to move on. I would hope she finds someone who makes her laugh, would
take care of our kids, and has a small dick.'
Les and I doubled over laughing at that.

'You know, I would want her to be happy, but never fully satisfied,' SGT Harris said.

That afternoon we went on leave.

Les, El and Rami flew home to Newark,

I flew down to Miami to visit abeula and see some old high school friends.