One memory I have

This picture was take sometime in 1994, maybe March, just south of Mogadishu.

Late morning we pulled into a defensive U shape with the ocean to our back. The order was give to dismount and dig in. Just another suck ass day doing useless shit.

Every 10-15 feet we paired up and started to dig. To our right was Hicks and I believe Anderson. Their hole was dug in maybe 45 minutes flat. One rifle wide, two long, and armpit deep.

As per protocol, one person dug while the other kept watch. Every 15-20 minutes we would switch. Our first 15 minutes was a breeze, until we hit coral. With proper tools digging through this shit wouldn’t have been so bad, but cleaning away with a tiny ass e-tool was no joke.

As the hours ticked by we kept at it, one inch at a time. Small chunks of coral were flung all over the place as we tried in vain to make progress. Every once in a while one of us would chuck the etool and scream obscenities which only made the other laugh.

At some pint we flung off our flack vests, with temperatures hovering in the 120s, the heat was cooking us alive.

By the time we got knee deep in the hole we gave up and rigged this cammo cover in an attempt to get some shade and hide the fact that we did not finish our hole. The downside is this only trapped the heat inside making it worse., it was like a microwave. Trapped in the heat, if we removed it then Sgt Sauers would order us to keep digging.

Big J I’m hoping you have found your peace.