Food Part 1

This is one of the items I carried in the inside pocket of my flak vest in the off chance that a sympathetic Iraqi would want to sell me a chicken.  During the initial weeks of the invasion our infantry units moved so fast that the supply convoys carrying our chow and water were often left behind; unfortunately that meant that we usually ate once a day, and sometimes even had to split MRE's with our fellow Marines.  A combination of desert heat, carrying a full combat load, little sleep, and poor nutrition is one of the best diet weight loss plans I know of!  I remember one day Doc Lowry and I were sitting in out fighting hole and we decided to split one of our precious MRE's.  It was one of the hamburger (and I use that term loosely) ones so along with half a patty and a piece of "Russian bread" (as I always called it) we also got eight combo pretzels each.  I'll never forget that; in fact, at times it got so bad that we even ate the Charms candy that came in the condiment packet- that's when you know you're starving!  Anyway, I drew this diagram on the back of an MRE main meal box, writing right to left, as that is how Arabic is read. 

Doc Lowry

This is a picture of one of my closest friends in Iraq, Nick Lowry, also known affectionately as "Doc".  It was taken on top of the Right Side Bank in Diwaniyah, about a mile or so from Camp Got Some.  He was 2nd squads Corpsman and joined us when we arrived in Kuwait before the invasion.  Like all Marines in a small unit setting, we were initially skeptical about this outsider as he was yet unproven to be able to "suck it up" and hang with us grunts in the field.  The most common problem was when our unit would get a Corpsman from a Navy hosptial or from the Battalion Aid Station who had spent too much time "in the rear" and not in the field.  This usually resulted in them falling out on long humps or foot patrols, especially if they were carrying packs.  

Doc Lowry soon proved to be more than able to hang with 2nd squad.  Friendly and soft spoken, Doc won my respect as a friend after one of our many training evolutions in Kuwait.  Our squad had just finished practicing immediate action drills; rushing towards the enemy, gettind down in the prone, firing, getting up, sprinting, getting in the prone, firing, getting up- repeating the process until the threat was eliminated...  Doc Lowry was rejoining us as we conducted our post training brief; he was no doubt as tired as the rest of us and could have walked to our group but instead Doc was in a full out sprint, wearing combat gear and carrying his 1st aid pack which weighed at least 40 lbs.  We all watched Doc as he sprinted several hundred meters towards us and finally stopped at our little huddle, panting for breath with a wide grin on his face.  This Doc had what it took. 

Doc further proved himself during our subsequent tour in Iraq: fighting in our first ambush against the Iraqi army, lending me his M-16 when my SAW jammed in the middle of a firefight against a unit of foreign jihad fighters from Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, as well as Doc conducting countless patrols with 2nd squad throughout Diwaniyah.