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December 26, 2005
I am an Anachronism of One
This evening I discovered that my old army unit doesn't exist anymore. A troop, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry was apparently rolled into some other outfit in a scheme that I haven't yet figured out.
I was transferred to A troop when the army decided to disband my first unit, 3rd Batallion, 73rd Armor. Both of my army units are kaput.
Why should this bother me? I loathed 99% of my time there. Most of my "leaders" were masochistic fucks who reenlisted because nobody in real life would tolerate their bullying. Still, I miss some of the old crew. I just spent the last few minutes goolgling some of them (my old room mate is here --he just made E-7!--If you get this, Breaux, email me at james at falseauthority dot com).
I guess when you endure misery with others it creates some sort of bond. Even when you didn't actually endure the same misery. I've now lost my access to partners in commiseration.
Nine days from now marks ten years since I left for basic training. Nothing I did exists anymore. Not even a decade and I'm already an anachronism.
Posted by james at December 26, 2005 07:58 PM
Comments
It's not your typical "loss", but it's a loss nonetheless...and we mourn our losses.
Posted by: jodi at December 29, 2005 04:03 PM
Shared experiences do leave an indelible mark. Perhaps a reunion at some point, to the size and scale of your choosing. The inheriting units (usually) always have some kind of heraldry geek around. I know my AF unit has seen it share of comings and goings as far as names and locations are concerned.
Posted by: Adrian at January 6, 2006 12:31 PM