Final Jeopardy

SPC Bailey Bullock
166th Engineer Company
2nd Platoon

There is a growing sense of finality here on FOB Sharana. Things are on the downward slope; missions are coming to an end, footlockers are being packed, and cargo containers are being loaded. We are now down to less than 50 days, and the reality of our return home is setting in. Of course we are all ready and excited to return to our family, friends, and lives back home, but I can't escape a sense of sadness at the same time. There is no question that a deployment is a unique situation with its fill of challenges, sacrifices, and hardships. But there is no denying the bond that it creates within a unit. Despite differences and aggravations that unavoidably occur when a group of people are constantly around one another for an extended period of time, there is a bond, a permanent link, that occurs at the same time. There are sayings that have no meaning outside of our group; there are jokes that will forever be inside. There are memories of experiences we shared which we will all carry with us. These things now belong to us, are a part of each of us, and they will be from now on. We have gotten to know one another well and are now so used to each other. I know I don't speak only for myself when I say that it is going to be hard to leave these people. We have become a part of each others lives, and when we get home and that is gone, it will be tough.

In my last entry I questioned how this deployment has changed each of us. I believe it is this bond that has done the changing. I know that months down the road, we will all fall back into our routines at home and work. Life will be as it was before. But I truly believe that each of us in this unit will not be as we were before. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we are going to come back different men and women than the ones that left home almost a year ago. What I mean is that I believe this bond will forever add something to who we are. We will come home more than we were when we left.

I know this is a break from my normal style, but I want to take a second to explain the title of this entry, because it has been named in honor of a soldier I have served with over here. He is SSG Richter, and he came to the 166th Engineer Company from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). He and a few others will be the first of our unit to return home (this is due to the fact that IRR soldiers have different deployment orders). In fact, they have already left us and are heading home now. SSG Richter and his – and my – buddy SSG Mabry are big fans of Jeopardy. From what they have told me, they usually watched it together when they were both actually here on FOB Sharana at the same time, which has been a challenging feat to accomplish. The other night we were sitting in the chow hall, trying to eat the food, and the night's episode of Jeopardy was brought up and whether or not the they were going to watch it. The statement was made that it could be their “Final Jeopardy.” That's when it hit me. Our lives and experiences over here will soon be coming to an end. The routines and habits we have developed will stop. The friendships we have developed, as they now exist, will change. Some of us will still be relatively close to one another, geographically speaking, but things will never again be as they are now. It filled me with a sense of impending loss. We are all soldiers, so we will "man up" and deal with this change just as we dealt with the adjustments to deployment life, but we will feel the loss just the same. I now know it is part of it, but it is an unpleasant part, and one I didn't see coming. I am honored to have had this opportunity to serve with men such as SSG Richter, SSG Mabry and many others, whom I now call friends. I will miss them.

While SFC Sanderson couldn't physically be here for the photograph, it's amazing what can be done with Photoshop!

From left to right: MSG Bernard Carnes, SFC Shane Sanderson, SSG Osten Richter, SFC Louis Stephens