Scar stories

MY ARMY STORY Part IV By Ken Scar On my first mission in the war zone, outside FOB Tillman, on a ridge bordering Pakistan less than two hours after being ambushed in a river bed in a canyon in front of and to the left of me here. FOB Tillman can be seen as the light splotches in the distance in the upper right corner of this photo. AFGHANISTAN I knew I was guaranteed to go to one of the war zones when I joined the Army – I was counting on it, after all - but when it became real it became very real. The 7th MPAD received orders to deploy to Afghanistan about a year after I arrived at Fort Hood. The Army spent the next nine months preparing us. We were sent to an endless series of briefings, psychological exams, and medical appointments; got issued weapons, body armor, and brand-new uniforms (the Army required a different-colored uniform for Afghanistan); practiced roll-overs in vehicles, had our teeth checked and our hearing tested, and got pep-talks from p...

MY ARMY STORY Part V By Ken Scar ------------------------------------------------------------------- My kids and I in my front yard on the my last day in uniform. We took this photo using the timer on my camera, then I went to my bedroom, took off the uniform, and hung it by a hanger on my closet door, where it remains. RESERVES The 7th MPAD’s homecoming was anticlimactic. I had covered other units’ returns on Fort Hood that were full of formations and fanfare, with rock music playing and a big reveal of the returning Soldiers, family members rushing the parade field, bands playing, generals giving speeches, balloons and banners . . . the works. Since our unit was so small we didn’t get any of that. Our busses pulled up to our office building on Fort Hood to a small crowd of our friends and family waiting on the loading dock. We stepped out onto the parking lot, assembled into a formation in the god-awful Texas heat, and were releas...