Monday mindworks!

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Originally uploaded by ErikHoltan.

Today I am gonna sprinkle in a little Iraqi facts, and history lesson, and I realize that when I went home on leave I told some of these stories to family with mostly a yawn to be had, and I understand, because when I got to the hospital room right before my wife was going to have the baby I wasted no time showing pics of where I was at, AND Missy didn't have the baby til the next day, and so it was nice to hang with her a little bit before labor, but I was so jetlagged, that once they gave her meds in the afternoon, we both crashed and then my kids had to wake me up and tell me it was time for mom to have the baby, and I was asking if I was in Baghdad! Weirdo!
But anyways, I put some pictures of the IZ specifically at Cross Sabers in Downtown Baghdad where Saddam used to have his ceremonies and military parades, and as you can see if you go to my pictures the sabers you might have seen on TV. But there is a story behind those sabers, and also the helmets behind me in this picture. After the Iran/Iraq war Saddam had taken all the dead Iranian soldier helmets, and built this memorial with them falleing out of a net. And he also right as the parade field starts more Iranian helmets were asphalted into the start line with just the tops of the helmets showing. Now as Saddams troops and equipment would go over the parade start they would step on the helmets.
Now in this region, the bottom of someones foot is disgraceful, and by walking over the helmets with the bottom of your feet is what the whole point was. I cannot confirm but when I was down there people said that the sabers on each side of the field were made from melted Iranian equipment from that war! Looking at ALL those helmets was morbid, and to think that stuff was made from melted material was also morbid, but VERY interesting. Also in my pics I am shown doing the Saddam wave from the parade platform, and ironically my buddy Rod, back in MN, who is a Somolia Vet and was in high school with me, and I used to mock Saddam in school doing his sideways was and fake smile to his people, and I was RIGHT THERE able to mock him in the exact spot where he stood doing it, so that was VERY cool for me!
Well, glad I could sprinkle some knowledge into the proceedings, and I am off the the SF compound to kick some ass(Actually, just doing some PDHA training for them)
Later,
Erik