Ghost Troop Home Page    April Fools Part 1

 

Monday, April 21, Elysian Fields, Texas, letter to Lieutenant Colonel Terry Ferrell, Commander, 3/7 Cavalry

Dear Colonel Ferrell,

One of two things happened the Saturday morning you and your men were holding the Baghdad airport.  The first is that a soldier who volunteered for Operation Desert Storm was trying to follow things too closely through CNN, and got his wires badly crossed.  I hope this is the case.  The second is that your unit was hit hard.  I believe that this is the case, and have believed it since it happened.  A CNN reporter began exclaiming about the explosions coming from the airport, which your squadron was holding.

I figured the interview you gave an hour later, in the early morning was a public affairs ruse to deny information to the enemy.  You struggled to keep your self-control, but I didn’t have too, so I cried for you and your men.

The last news I heard from your unit was Wednesday, April 9.  A CNN reporter said that you had told the squadron that no one would feel safe again until you returned to your home base of Ft. Stewart, Georgia.  I wish you and your men good health and spirits until that homecoming.

I began my Army service with the 1st Cavalry Division in 1977.  I finished it a military intelligence captain buried in a general staff.  I preferred the cavalry to the staff.  First love is first loyalty, I guess.

I have spent the last two weeks wondering about you and your men, and have decided that I have spent enough time idle.  Tomorrow, April 22, I will ride my touring bicycle east across the Louisiana border.  I expect to see the Atlantic Coast and Ft. Stewart within three weeks.  My touring life will be a lot like field life.  Up early, toil through the day, pitch camp, then eat with a hunger.  Stay up as late as you can, watching the stars, dreaming your dreams before you dream, smoking ‘em if you got ‘em, because the smoke mellows your blood and your blood is young and can take it.

Each morning I will ride into the rising sun.  I will take this for a happy omen.

Respectfully,

Eric H. May

Captain, MI

 

Ghost Troop Home Page    April Fools Part 1