Halloween

Holidays in Iraq come creeping up without recognition. Without the autumn chill, brown leaves strewn underneath you feet and decorations crowding grocery store aisles there is no sense of Halloween. The chill here is mild, lost in the roasted dirt and the smell of warm water in stagnant ponds left on the concrete recesses after the last storm. The DFAC has paper pumpkins hanging from the ceiling, but there is no excitement from kids getting ready to trick-or-treat. There are no nights off, no wild abandonment as you dress up as someone else and pretend that life is sweet.
So to get into the spirit of celebration I solicited help from one of the Medevac soldiers. We made some masks, a cat, a bat and a bunny. The magic was lost inside the rooms of blinding white fluorescent lights.
So I went down to check on the Infantry soldiers.
“Is anyone dressing up tonight?” I asked. “Yeah, as soldiers,” one replied with a chuckle. “We can’t wear anything, we’ll get yelled at for being out of uniform,” another soldier chimed in.
At night the soldiers barbecued and waited with wild enthusiasm for the Oregon vs. USC game. Their only costumes there were an Oregon jersey and a hat with an O. One soldier lounged on a bench with his robe over an Army shirt and shorts. Everyone sat outside for a while. They laughed, pitched some shit and chewed on their steaks. Happy Halloween.