September 29, 2003
Burger King
P: We were driving to BIAP the other day---someone cooked up a reason so we could go to the PX and Burger King (believe it or not). We took orders for something like 50 Whoppers. On the way down the airport road traffic suddenly stopped because there was an IED on the road. As we pulled over, we heard that a sniper was engaging the convoys ahead of us. All that for a Whopper.
This war, is unlike any other. Forget what you know, or what you think about war, this war is the ultimate culture clash. Take 130,000 soldiers with their technology and their pop culture and drop them into a country that has been largely isolated for more than ten years and you get something that even Hollywood couldn't dream up.
The strangest thing is the ability to communicate so easily to home. The Palace doesn’t have a real Internet connection yet--there is one public machine in the TOC for all the guys, but out at Charlie Battery, they have an internet cafe. Guys spend their free time posting themselves on Hot or Not and meeting girls on Books for Soldiers. There are also a few Thuraya satellite phones floating around. Nothing is more bizarre than watching a soldier argue with his wife about which bills to pay as a firefight plays in the distance. The irony is, all the technology in the world can't bring them home. You feel close, but in reality, you are further away than you thought.
