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Forty-third Job of Bob - In-country war-culture writer: Iraq, Kurdistan, Turkey Part IV - Date with fate post 62 - Asleep in Munich
This entry was posted on 10/6/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob, Fate Fairies.
Fred told me I would get too tired. We were driving at four in the morning doing a special advertising route for the publishing company. I took the task on as a favor to my old boss in another department. That would be the transportation guys. The agreement with both bosses, current and old, was, I would do the special task after my own production job was finished, and I must recruit the help of another production person. Only us two were allowed to work on the task.
On top of my regular job and the extra weekly task, I worked for another paper in town. It was a semi-weekly advertiser. I delivered 700 small papers twice a week. Don't get too shocked. Some of the papers were delivered in bundles. But none-the-less, this semi-weekly gig involved a great deal of walking. It was just the exercise I needed to get my tired old legs up to another trip to Iraq.
I did the three jobs for a year, rarely slept, and when I did, it was not good sleep. But, this too, prepared me for Iraq.
"I am telling you, Man, you're going to regret the abuse on your body; you are going to fuck something up," my big pal Fred kept saying. Fred used to be a cement block builder. Now we both lifted tons of paper product all night long. He knew the perils of excessive strain on a body. About the only thing we both gleaned from our blue-collar lives was biceps that looked like bowling balls.
The fateful day came that I would leave yet again for Iraq. I would do my own journalist work. I put my jobs on until-further-notice hold. Quietly, I bid just a handful of people farewell (going to a war zone should not be advertised up front; it could be dangerous if the wrong people get wind of your pending arrival). So as not to draw attention to my project, I worked right up to 12 hours prior to my departure.
"You're going get sick or something; you look like hell," my pal Fred yet again reiterated as I shook his hand and said goodbye.
By the time I got to Munich, Germany, Fred was right. I could barely keep my head up. At least Munich airport was run better than London's Heathrow during my first trip to Iraq. Leave it to the Germans and their ubiquitous, culture of..., "order." At my terminal, I found a bench by the window in view of my plane that sat on the tarmac. It waited patiently to leave for Turkey, who is Iraq's northern neighbor. The seating area began to fill up with passengers for the flight.
I laid down hogging the whole bench. The departure desk was only feet away. The German staff of which was made up of cute ladies, giggled at the ruddy American. I was asleep before my head hit my travel bag.
Six hours later I awoke to an empty terminal. The plane was gone. A janitor had bumped my bench with a broom. My mind raced.
"Oh, hell, I will be an ordeal to get another flight to a war zone. Fred was right. I have fucked up."
I ran groggily to the desk. A fight staff member, one of the same young woman who had giggled at me, was setting up for the next flight.
"We, called, and called for you, Herr Kite (the same pronunciation that they used to say my last name Keith when I was stationed in Germany)," she said, looking at me with a stern face and a noticeable pout.
"Jesus, Mother, and Joseph," I said, "I was right on the bench in front of you."
She looked at the bench and pouted again. "You sleep like dead man. Luck' for you, Herr Kite. Der plane leave every few hours to Turkey. We have many relationship with Turkey."
For what it is worth, Turkey and Germany have had ties going way back to the First World War - they were allies in that war. I frequently communicated in German while in Turkey and Iraq. Back when I was stationed in the Army in Germany, whole neighborhoods of Turks sprung up because they functioned as foreign workers. Someone had to rebuild the place after us Americans and the British reduced the place to rubble during World War II. Them Turks had some hellacious watering holes in Germany in my day - those forays into the dark taverns run by the Turks never ended with anything we might have wanted to mention to our moms - but I digress.
I held my breath expecting to have to mortgage my house to get another flight having booked my missed one over a year prior. But, to my relief she said, "I make exception for tired American; we have your bags waiting in Ankara, Turkey. Go now, get on this next flight. No money. But, no more missing flights, Herr Kite." Aside from a walk to the other side of the airport where that next flight left from, I was for the most part left unscathed.
You were right of course Fred, I almost fucked the whole project up right out of the box. I dodged a bullet. And, I was still a couple thousand miles from the war zone.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ulysses Ramirez, 31, San Diego, California (family connections in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin), was killed on Thursday, February 12, 2004, in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Abu Ghraib is about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Ramirez was attacked while on patrol by small arms fire, a rocket propelled grenade, and an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). Specialist Ramirez was assigned to the 670th Military Police Company, California Army National Guard, out of National City, California.
The Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs Web site indicates Ramirez's wife Tracey has resided in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin.
The Orlando Sentinel notes Eric Ramirez was married in August 2001. Ramirez's father is a paster and schoolteacher in Mascotte, Florida, and officiated at the wedding. Ramirez had a daughter and an infant son at the time of his death. The Orlando Sentinel article went on to say Ramirez had been living in southern California since he ended his active-duty Navy service in the 1990s. He was working as a deputy sheriff in San Diego County when recalled to active duty in early 2003. The Sentinel also mentioned Eric Ramirez was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in November of 1972. His family moved to Orlando, Florida in 1973 and then to Sorrento, Florida, in 1977. Both Ramirez's parents have worked for the Lake County, Florida, school system for around 25 years. Eric Ramirez graduated from Mount Dora High School, Mount Dora, Florida, in 1991. Ramirez's wife Tracy's hometown is Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. The Web site policelink.monster.com notes Ramirez's wife was also a veteran of the Navy.
The Los Angles Times notes Eric played played soccer, baseball and football in school. After graduating he joined the Navy and was stationed in Texas; Europe; and San Diego. After leaving the Navy Ramirez enlisted in the California Army National Guard, and went to work for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. He met his future wife in San Diego. At the time of his death, Ramirez had only a couple months left in his National Guard obligation.
At the time of his death Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ramirez was survived by his wife Tracey Benson Ramirez; daughter Isis; son Chase Eric Charles; parents Felix and Maria Ramirez; brother Adel; sister sister Xochil Elmore; and, maternal grandparents, Juan and Juana Gutierrez. Specialist Ramires was buried at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
Army National Guard Specialist Eric Ulysses Ramirez is the 93rd military service person that has been identified by Cool Dadio Media as having Wisconsin connections and that has died in Iraq since the Spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,745 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,481 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1795 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
951 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,195 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
14,239 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin military service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
36 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin military service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
150 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
22 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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