laughed.
“You little son of a bitch, Ryan, I told you not to tell anyone about my cats,” Navarro joked. “As for you, Top, I’m not the one they call Rosie.”
After waiting for the back and forth to die down, Ryan continued, “Navarro and I served together in Third Battalion and had some wild times as we worked our way up from private to sergeant on our first hitch. Endured a lot, especially the night we pretty near froze to death on Mount Yonah while in ranger school. The temp was a minus five degrees with wind chill figured in. Had to be one of the worst nights of my life, and that includes all the combat I’ve been in over the years.”
“What combat, you little leprechaun? You bailed out on us before 9/11 and missed all the fun. Shit, man, the Seventy-Fifth’s been on so many deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, you’d have to be a mathematician to count the number of times they’ve had their asses in the way of flying lead and ordinance,” Navarro jested.
“Rosie can vouch for me, Catboy. He and I have had our own excitement and it doesn’t much matter to abullet whether the skull it’s heading for is under a green or a tan beret, now, does it?” countered Ryan.
Navarro paused a moment and then replied, “Naw, I guess it doesn’t. It’s just that I would have liked to have had you with us when Bravo Company hit the Haditha Dam. That was quite a show. Went on for a couple of weeks. We endured everything Saddam’s army could throw at us, including artillery, mortars, and rockets. We were outnumbered several times over and the enemy never seemed to run out of men. They just kept coming at us. No matter how many of them we killed, more came. A few times we had to call in air support and dump ordinance almost on top of our own positions. When all was said and done, though, we walked out of there with several hundred enemy KIAs to our credit and the Euphrates River valley was no longer in danger of being flooded as a means to hinder our progress.”
Pretending to be serious, Ryan replied, “I would sure like to tell you about all the adventures Rosie and I have had, but as you know, we are the ‘silent warriors.’ Can’t tell you where we’ve been, what we’ve done, or where we’re going. If I did, then I’d have to shoot you.”
“Horseshit,” Navarro countered. “You seem to be forgetting who you’re talking to. You’re still spewing the same line of crap you did when we jumped into Panama. You were full of bull then, and you’re still full of it. But hell, even so, my brother, I still love ya, and it’s damn good to see you.”
“Right back at you, Catwoman,” replied Ryan.
“Oh, for the love of Jesus. This is getting downright sickening. Why don’t you two just plant a couple of bigsloppy kisses on each other’s asses and get it over with?” Rosie chimed, rolling his eyes in mock disgust.
“Yeah, you’re right. It is getting a little thick. Come on, shit birds, let’s go over to the shed. I want Ryan to meet the rest of my crew.”
Navarro hopped aboard the truck and rode the short distance to the range shack with them, where, after introductions, the three men began examining the materials to be used for breaching and shape charges.
Rosie called to the medic, “Hey, Doc, do you have any extra IV bags of saline fluid available?”
The medic answered, “Roger that, First Sergeant. As a matter of fact, I do. I figured you’d probably want to use a water-impulse charge for breaching through a couple of metal doors. You always do.”
Rosie winked and gave a thumbs-up. He looked at Ryan and said, “I never have to worry about Doc. He’s always one jump ahead of me. Asking him if he has something is like asking him a question I already know the answer to.”
Looking over the inventoried demolition, Ryan was anxious for a chance to grab what he needed. He waited for the operators to leave the shack and watched as they set up to blow their first charge. As soon as he
“You little son of a bitch, Ryan, I told you not to tell anyone about my cats,” Navarro joked. “As for you, Top, I’m not the one they call Rosie.”
After waiting for the back and forth to die down, Ryan continued, “Navarro and I served together in Third Battalion and had some wild times as we worked our way up from private to sergeant on our first hitch. Endured a lot, especially the night we pretty near froze to death on Mount Yonah while in ranger school. The temp was a minus five degrees with wind chill figured in. Had to be one of the worst nights of my life, and that includes all the combat I’ve been in over the years.”
“What combat, you little leprechaun? You bailed out on us before 9/11 and missed all the fun. Shit, man, the Seventy-Fifth’s been on so many deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, you’d have to be a mathematician to count the number of times they’ve had their asses in the way of flying lead and ordinance,” Navarro jested.
“Rosie can vouch for me, Catboy. He and I have had our own excitement and it doesn’t much matter to abullet whether the skull it’s heading for is under a green or a tan beret, now, does it?” countered Ryan.
Navarro paused a moment and then replied, “Naw, I guess it doesn’t. It’s just that I would have liked to have had you with us when Bravo Company hit the Haditha Dam. That was quite a show. Went on for a couple of weeks. We endured everything Saddam’s army could throw at us, including artillery, mortars, and rockets. We were outnumbered several times over and the enemy never seemed to run out of men. They just kept coming at us. No matter how many of them we killed, more came. A few times we had to call in air support and dump ordinance almost on top of our own positions. When all was said and done, though, we walked out of there with several hundred enemy KIAs to our credit and the Euphrates River valley was no longer in danger of being flooded as a means to hinder our progress.”
Pretending to be serious, Ryan replied, “I would sure like to tell you about all the adventures Rosie and I have had, but as you know, we are the ‘silent warriors.’ Can’t tell you where we’ve been, what we’ve done, or where we’re going. If I did, then I’d have to shoot you.”
“Horseshit,” Navarro countered. “You seem to be forgetting who you’re talking to. You’re still spewing the same line of crap you did when we jumped into Panama. You were full of bull then, and you’re still full of it. But hell, even so, my brother, I still love ya, and it’s damn good to see you.”
“Right back at you, Catwoman,” replied Ryan.
“Oh, for the love of Jesus. This is getting downright sickening. Why don’t you two just plant a couple of bigsloppy kisses on each other’s asses and get it over with?” Rosie chimed, rolling his eyes in mock disgust.
“Yeah, you’re right. It is getting a little thick. Come on, shit birds, let’s go over to the shed. I want Ryan to meet the rest of my crew.”
Navarro hopped aboard the truck and rode the short distance to the range shack with them, where, after introductions, the three men began examining the materials to be used for breaching and shape charges.
Rosie called to the medic, “Hey, Doc, do you have any extra IV bags of saline fluid available?”
The medic answered, “Roger that, First Sergeant. As a matter of fact, I do. I figured you’d probably want to use a water-impulse charge for breaching through a couple of metal doors. You always do.”
Rosie winked and gave a thumbs-up. He looked at Ryan and said, “I never have to worry about Doc. He’s always one jump ahead of me. Asking him if he has something is like asking him a question I already know the answer to.”
Looking over the inventoried demolition, Ryan was anxious for a chance to grab what he needed. He waited for the operators to leave the shack and watched as they set up to blow their first charge. As soon as he
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