My crazy uncle
Mar. 13th, 2008 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonionayI talked to my grandma tonight. She's 88 and doing great, though it took a long time for her to get my new phone number down. She's also in a wonderful assisted living facility and is keeping herself active and creative, for which my gratitude knows no bounds.
Anyway, she told me that my uncle was in an accident in Iraq. To which I responded, my blood starting to boil "He's in Iraq?" He just got back in August, but it wouldn't surprise me if he charged right back again. I know he wants to go to Afghanistan. But no, he has a bad ankle from when he was in Iraq, and had surgery on it recently.
He was put under general anesthetic, and immediately sent home afterwards. He didn't like this, but although his friend who was supposed to help him didn't show up, guess what he did? He drove himself home. From Long Beach to whatever LA suburb he lives in. And it doesn't surprise me one bit. Gah! He's like my grandpa.
Anyway, she told me that my uncle was in an accident in Iraq. To which I responded, my blood starting to boil "He's in Iraq?" He just got back in August, but it wouldn't surprise me if he charged right back again. I know he wants to go to Afghanistan. But no, he has a bad ankle from when he was in Iraq, and had surgery on it recently.
He was put under general anesthetic, and immediately sent home afterwards. He didn't like this, but although his friend who was supposed to help him didn't show up, guess what he did? He drove himself home. From Long Beach to whatever LA suburb he lives in. And it doesn't surprise me one bit. Gah! He's like my grandpa.
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Date: 2008-03-14 04:31 am (UTC)iswas your uncle doing in Iraq?no subject
Date: 2008-03-14 06:26 am (UTC)To be more precise, I think he was working at a long-range surveillance station near Kirkuk in northern Iraq and dealing with border-hopping insurgents. Of course, he told Grandma he was going to be in some safe place. I wonder if she believed him.
My uncle's a great guy. He's the uncle who took care of my grandparents even though he was the scorned black sheep, while my other uncle -- the successful, made-dad-proud yuppie-- ignored everyone. He's a big, honest, well-meaning Boy Scout who gets very passionate about what he believes in. Unfortunately, he's also got on big Red, White and Blue blinders, so what he believes is highly filtered. He was in the army as a Ranger for most of my life. Since he left the army due to repeatedly breaking his legs while jumping out of airplanes, he's drifted around, tried to be a teacher, EMT, park ranger, National Guard instructor and immigration official. Never married, never settled down. In his heart, he wants to help his country. So of course, even though he's 50-odd years old, he was eager to go to Iraq, and finally they let him. He served his two years, though, and got back in August.
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Date: 2008-03-14 10:24 pm (UTC)