just another vet

In memory of Walter Erik Volkenannt

I just learned today that a friend of mine, Walter Erik Volkenannt, died a couple of years ago of a heroin overdose. We were in basic training together. His parents have since set up an addiction recovery center in his memory. I really don't feel like typing right now, so I am just going to reproduce the post I left on his memorial page sign in book.

My heart goes out to Walter Erik's family. I was in basic training with him. I recently found our basic traing year book and was reading things people had written in it when I came across a message he had left with his home address and number. I googled his name just to see if anything came up. We became friends after having ammo dump guard duty together. We used to sit around and tell wild stories about our lives before the military. Neither of us was very happy to be there. But we got through, and moved on. I hadn't thought about him or basic training in years. Today is the 4th of July, and I just wanted to remember my buddies from the military. I used to have a picture he drew me. I wish I still had it. He helped me make it through basic training. He was funny, a little reckless, and a good friend. It tears my heart out to read about what path his life took after basic training. I have been reading lists of soldiers killed in Iraq for months, looking for friends names. He wrote that I should look him up some day. I never dreamed I'd find this instead.
We were so young and crazy in those days. I went into the Army to escape the drugs and violence back home. He was the only person I could talk to about my past. We joked about the things we had done and told over exagerrated stories of our explotes. But mostly we just talked. I remember how we smuggled a Heavy Metal Magazine from the PX once and it was a treasure to have in basic. I still have it.
I wish I had found that yearbook years ago. I wish I had had the chance to tell him thank you for being my friend.

His message in my yearbook:

Drug Buddy #1,

Legalize Mother Nature! (pot leaf drawing)
Dude it's been cool chillin' with you in Basic. (all o's with peace signs in them)
Keep in touch.
Maybe someday we can trip together.
PEACE
Volkenannt
Drug Buddy

I hope you finally found peace.

the irr, or "that was in my contract?"

so i've been reading some newsites and blogs talking about the individual ready reserve. for those of you that don't know how this works i am going to share a story with you.

i joined the army in the early spring of 1993. like most young folks i knew then, i needed college money in a bad way. so i joined for four years. when i got to my unit i learned something that really pissed me off. you actually are obligated to 8 years of service even if you only sign up for two years, which is the minimum enlistment. i learned this while talking to a friend one day. he had joined up in the 80's, served his time, and was out when desert storm started. he got called back. back from his life, his wife, everything.
you see, they kinda gloss over that when you sign up. i have dug through my records and cannot find anything that stated this when i signed up. i am sure it was part of the endless paperwork i signed those first few days, but i guess it is lost to time. not that they gave me time to read anything. it was an assembly line: sign here and here, don't take time to read it, just keep signing. regardless, i was pissed to learn this after the fact. i am serious. no one ever told me or any of my friends that we were obligated to the military for eight years. we had to find out from others in our units. you would think this would be important enough to mention at the beginning. but they just want you in, cause then they have you, and well then, what the fuck can you do.
thank the goddess my eight years ended in 2001. i got my dd214 and now they can go fuck themselves.
but it still disturbs me that this happens. i would bet money that the same thing happened to those folks that are being called back. when you are on irr status, you are supposed to keep in shape and keep some uniforms at the ready. yeah right. most people i know got out, sold all their military shit to the surplus story and got fat. we served our time. i think this is bullshit.
i feel for my brothers and sisters who are being called back. i could not leave my wife and the life we have built to go fight for oil profits. some folks got out and joined the reserves. fine, they commited themselves. the rest are just getting fucked. and since now that enlistment is down, more will get fucked by this.