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Old 12/16/2007, 04:33 PM
Harleyguy Harleyguy is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Georgia
Posts: 472
Quote:
Originally posted by victor_c3
I served in Iraq from FEB04 to MAR05 as an Infantry Platoon Leader with 2-2 IN / 3BDE / 1 ID.

I can't really speak for any other Iraq vets, but I don't enjoy driving fast cars or anything that gives me an adrenaline rush like I used to before I went to Iraq. Driving fast (or anything else that gets my adrenaline going) puts me back into my "Iraq mode" and I kind of start to bug out about a lot of things. It's the last thing I want to intentionally do to myself. Getting a fish tank and just mellowing out for a while is the best thing I could have done for myself.

I came back from Iraq in 2005 and I spent a huge ammount of my Iraq money restoring my '79 Corvette. I did a body-off restoration, rebuilt the transmission myself, and installed a 465 HP engine into it. I finally got it on the road after about two years of work this August. I drove it about 40 miles on the Autobahn from Nuremburg to my house after getting the brand new engine tuned up. I parked it in front of my house, put a for sale sign on it, and I haven't driven it since. I got out of the Army earlier on 31 OCT and moved back to the US. I didn't manage to sell the Corvette before I left Germany so I shipped it back to where I'm going to be living. I'm currently planning to just keep it in my garage for a few years until I feel like driving it again. I'm hoping that I'll be able to enjoy it like I used to before I went to Iraq some point in the future.

In short, spending my money on my car was a huge mistake. I will probably never truly enjoy it.

Combat does and those sorts of experiences can do some weird things to you. Getting the fish tank will be a great move for you mentally. It will give you something to focus on instead of the war and your memories and it will be relaxing just to sit in front of.

I'm willing to bet that everyone else who is "hating" on you for not being a Marine or for not getting the Viper or whatever has never been to Iraq and has never experienced real combat.
I REALLY understand what you’re saying, and I'm sure I'm making the correct decision. One of my main goals when I get home is to spend as much time at home with the wife and kids as I can, and I think this is the way to make that happen....


On a side note I'm not a Marine, I'm a Grunt "ARMY STRONG"
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