kitty pi

Good News on a Bad News Day

In what I consider to be fantastically good news on an otherwise awful news week, my son called last night to say he got his first set of official Army orders.

If you haven't been following along, my son is in the Army in basic training and will graduate September 22. He is (going to be) a Cavalry Scout. You may know Cavalry Scouts best as protrayed by Robert Duvall as the character (Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore) in Apocolypse Now! Yes, he said "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" and yes, I am vehemently anti-war, but that's the job my son chose and I give you the example as a point of reference only. They have a long and illustrious history which began in the Civil War where they rode horses and did reconnaissance missions.

The Cavalry Scouts of today hold onto their traditions and history with pride. They wear the 'saber', an emblem of two crossed swords and their dress uniforms include yellow kerchiefs around their neck, the hat and spurs. When you get your spurs, I guess it's a really big deal. They still do reconnaissance missions only they do them in Abrams or Stryker tanks and Humvees now instead of on horseback.

Anyway. So, back to the good news. He is going to Schweinfurt. Germany. That's in Europe! I am going to go to Europe, y'all. Mr. Q doesn't know this yet, but we are going even if we have to beg, borrow and steal to do it. But the really good news, to me, is that the squadron he will be attached to spent 12 months in Iraq and recently got back. So, that means he won't be going to Iraq any time soon.

Hopefully, the good news stays good news. I know that I am excited that he will get to see beautiful parts of the world and I still pray that he won't see combat, at least in Iraq.

Just wanted to update you, in case, you know, you'd like to share my excitement. Also, I needed a brief break from the news. I am seriously getting upset by how horrible the situation is in New Orleans and Mississippi. And the awful stampede in Iraq. I just don't have the words. It's hard to comprehend. All of it.

posted by Anita at 3:19 PM