Over the River and Through the Bayou

Day 1

Sitting on the Bus at 0530 in the morning waiting for our sister school Rice University to load up the bus so we can get on our way to Tulane. See our NROTC unit is part of the Houston Consortium. Which consists of Prairie view, Rice, Houston Baptist and University of Houston, we do everything together. Anyway I did not make it long past that, sleeping the entire seven hours to Tulane. I awoke with a gigantic crick in my neck and partially energized, only to find our bus was lost. For the next two hours our bus driver snaked his way through downtown New Orleans. We drove past countless fraternities and party houses admiring the trees filled with colorful beads. At one point we had a crowed of drunk college frat guys following the bus, as they thought we were there for Mardi Gras. By the time we made it to Naval Air Station New Orleans it was about 1700. We drove past the ever present military police and proceeded to where we would be staying for the next three nights, it was a Marine aircraft hanger next to the active runway. We made it just in time to see the other NROTC unit we would be sharing the hanger with.

Bald headed white people stiff as 2X4’s marched to and from their bus carrying their gear inside. The school was Texas A&M. Let me tell you, these guys had not seen a laugh in months. As I steal a line from Ferris Buellers Day Off, these guys were so tight that if you shoved a lump of coal in their asses, in two weeks you’d have a diamond. All serious, they were prohibited to talk to us. Well anyway we walked inside only to find we would be sleeping in vintage Vietnam cots that we had to set them up ourselves. Ok picture this you are a future officer in the United States Navy, who has to sleep on a cot older then you are, in a hanger stinking of JP5 Aviation fuel with aircraft whizzing by all-night, and meager Head or bathroom accommodations. Now I don’t know about you but I think that is a load of crap. Still it was a place to sleep, and that’s all most of us wanted to do. We finished setting up our cots and started preparing our uniforms for the next day. Soon after we hit our racks hoping we would not be awaken by an F-18 or P-3 (both navy planes).

I awoke rather unpleasantly five hours later not to the sound of a supersonic fighter plane as I had expected, but to the voice of another Midshipman informing I had been assigned watch duty from 04-0500, and I had 10 minutes to get ready. (For those of you who are thinking I had just won a free wristwatch sorry to disappoint you. Watch in the military is when you walk around a duty station in the middle of the night and make sure no one tries to blow the building up). If there is one thing I really hate it standing watch. Well I walked around and inspected the weapons for an hour patiently waiting for my watch to be over. I remember thinking “I really hope breakfast is good.”

Sheila is back in the Hospital today undergoing all sorts of MRI and catscans. I guess the doctors really don’t know what is goin on with her. Since they don’t know much I know less then them. I find myself worrying about it more than I thought I would. My mind constantly wonders to the “What if” scenario, you know the one with a million and one possible different outcomes and all you can think of are the bad ones. All we can do now is say a prayer for the Babendirs. And leave the rest in god’s hands. Thanks for the support you have been sending Sheila but she is not out of the dark yet.