Date: 2007-06-13
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The trappings of town are especially strong in Damascus. I woke at 6 when Wally walked in, flipped on the noisy overhead light, made coffee, and started playing his guitar. He directed me to the local laundry, and i stepped across the street to Cowboys, where I had breakfast with Larry. Larry talks to every hiker who comes through town, so he is acquainted with many of the interesting people I have met along the way, including Tyvek and RamboRon. Larry gave me his history of incarcerations, and his experience of finding God. People in Damascus love to talk about God and Jesus and the Bible. There is a church on every corner, with some catchy signs like, "Jesus loves you - come play games with us!" I took pictures of several of these signs. When Laura gets them developed, I'll post them for your viewing pleasure.So I finished breakfast, laundry, resupply, packed and checked out of the MRO hostel, updated this journal at the town library, and let Jeff Patrick fix my Sweetwater microfilter in his workshop at the outfitters store. He replaced nearly every component - the handle, the pump, the intake, and the scrub brush. And he would not accept any money for this service or the parts. I would have had to buy a replacement for $80 had he not rescued and rebuilt my filter. Thank-you, Jeff.After a stop at the post office, I was finally ready to hike. But the gathering clouds unleashed torrents of rain, and I made a dash to The Place. The rain persisted, so I ended up staying the night, for $4. Mismatch and Spider were still there, resting their shin splints and sore feet.Around 6:00, I went down to the Old Damascus Mill and had a beer with Craig Williams, Sargeant of the 82nd Airborne Division. This guy has been off fighting the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia for the last 12 years. He has not been in the states for the last 6 years, and would not be here now, except for his current mission of delivering the belongings of his dead friend Chad to the uncle of the deceased soldier, who had died in Craig's arms in battle. He had been staring at his plate of lunch for 4 hours without touching it. He wanted someone to talk to, and I was his willing listener. He told me of the men he had killed, and of the men who had died with him, and of the times when he should have been killed, but survived. He described in graphic detail how he had blown the brains out of an afghan general and taken his Rolex, which he had just given to Betty, the hotel manager, just before I walked in. He told me that he could not function in society as a civilian because he is trained to kill. If he were to survive the wars and return to the states, he would continue to kill people. This is what the Army has made him, a lethal weapon, trained to kill. He does not want to be here, and cannot wait to get back to his platoon. Yet he does not expect to live another 4 months. He described the methods of war used in Bosnia, and said that he and others always saved their last bullet for themselves, rather than be captured and tortured. He personally knew the soldier who had Osama bin Laden in the scope of his rifle, but was ordered to hold his fire. He described his weapons, and how he had used them to kill people for looking at him the wrong way. I asked him if he planned to kill me, too. But I guess I didn't look at him the wrong way, because he spared me. He said he had not had a beer in six years, and had six years worth of back pay. Over there, you can get any kind of drug you want except alcohol. He had a small bag of weed, but no papers or pipe. So I rolled up 6 joints for him, and we sat under the deck by the river, with the rain coming down hard, and smoked until long after last call at the bar, talking about war and life and death. At times, I offered some story from my own experience, but he would just cut me short, saying he didn't want to be bored by my bits about hikers, or children, or places I have seen. Nothing in my 40 years of life comes anywhere close to the drama of his own recent experience. I thanked him for being blunt and honest with me. Why waste his time here with details of my life? He is a dead man walking, and will walk no more after his return to Iraq.Here is some news. 21,000 additional US soldiers are being deployed along the Iranian border of Iraq. These are not peacekeepers. This is not a police action. These are soldiers preparing for combat. Sgt. Craig Williams, just home from the front line, is convinced that war with Iran is imminent. We were bamboozled into an unjustified war with Iraq 5 years ago, and now, without authorization from Congress, we are preparing for another unjustified war with Iran. Listen up, all of you Repugnicans who support your Jesus-loving warmongering president and his master Dick. Here are your family values - you are committing our children, our taxes, and our country to perpetual War for the Sake of War. You are taking people out of society and turning them into instruments of death and destruction. The ones who survive and come home will still be what you have made of them - trained killers. You leave a legacy of violence for generations to come by voting for George W. Bush. Think about this before you write that check to your political party, candidate, or church.