Notes from a Quiet War: Epilogue
After the Donuts After we came back to Fort Hood, I didn’t stay long. They sent me to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for military police investigation training, then on to Camp Humphreys in South Korea. Every so often, I’d hear that some of my old unit had gone back to Iraq for a second […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Twenty-The Donuts
Back Home When we got back to Fort Hood, they’d cleaned our barracks and left a box of Krispy Kreme donuts on every bed. Twelve glazed halos sitting there like a welcome-home medal from the gods of sugar and civilian life. I dropped my bags, sat on the edge of the bed, and finished all […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Nineteen-The Last Days
BIAP I don’t remember the exact day we left Iraq, but I remember the waiting. We were at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP,) killing time, watching movies, daydreaming about home. Everyone was halfway gone already—bodies still in uniform, minds already across the ocean. That’s when I ran into a few more classmates from Fort Huachuca. HUMINT […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Eighteen-Revelation
The Mall of America I didn’t realize it until now—how early we were. Back then, I never bothered to look at the dates. I just knew we got orders in October 2003 and we were in Iraq by January 2004. I didn’t know the war had only started in March 2003. We weren’t the second […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Seventeen-The Gym Tent
Routine The gym was a large tent—metal racks, treadmills, water bottles lined up like trophies. I was on the treadmill, staring at nothing, and the entire place exploded into motion. For a second, I thought it was an earthquake. I didn’t know deserts had earthquakes. The ground moved under the treadmill, and everything fell: weights, […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Sixteen-The Speech
Sergeant Cho For every day on the road, there was another spent waiting. We called it downtime, but it didn’t feel like rest. It was just space—hours to fill before the next mission. We played cards, threw a football, cleaned our weapons until they gleamed, worked out, read, listened to music. After a while, it […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Fifteen-The Freeze
Time Held Its Breath It was near the end of our deployment. We were counting the days. The routine had become mechanical—convoys, chow, gym, sleep, repeat. That day wasn’t our turn to roll out. We were inside the post, half-relaxed, standing outside when the mortars came. The first one hit hard enough to shake the […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Fourteen-The Desert Riviera
Qatar Before I completely lost my mind, my sergeant major must’ve seen it coming. He’d seen the look before—the kind of stare that doesn’t blink, doesn’t focus, just hovers somewhere far behind your eyes. So he sent me to Qatar for a week. It felt like the Riviera compared to Iraq. Clean sheets. Cold air. […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Thirteen-The Care Package
The Deer and the Ramen One day a box showed up with my name on it. It had come all the way from home, wrapped in layers of tape and handwriting I knew by heart. My mom’s. Inside—instant ramen, rice, seaweed, and more Korean and Japanese food than anyone in my tent knew what to […]
Notes from a Quiet War: Entry Twelve-Last Meal
The Day Lunch Almost Became My Last Meal There’s a rule in every chow hall: clear your weapon before you walk inside. It’s shouted, posted, repeated like scripture. I did it. Left the rifle on safe, walked in, got my tray. Vest on because threat was orange; Kevlar at the table because everything felt fragile […]
