FINAL UPDATE: I'm trying to track down the Marine(s) in these Desert Storm photos so that I can return them to their owner!
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Original post - https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/htqrlb/im_trying_to_track_down_the_marines_in_these/ First update -https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/hvx5qs/update_im_trying_to_track_down_the_marines_in/ Original Imgur post - https://imgur.com/gallery/wRrEWOU New Imgur post - https://imgur.com/gallery/nidLhy4)
Well, here is the update to the Marine photo album saga! I honestly don't even know how to begin here. If I could sum up the night into one phrase, I would only say "it was an extremely humbling experience," but even that doesn't fully articulate just HOW. MANY. EMOTIONS. were going through me all evening.
To introduce you to everyone, the album belongs to Mr. Joey (last name redacted). Just like in the photographs, his smile truly is bright and wide, and his laugh matches perfectly - head back, eyes closed. Then we were joined by Mr. Robert (also redacted), who was in several of the photos. He smiled through our entire dinner (hell, we all did) and always checked to make sure I understood any of the terms they were using as they were answering my questions. We were also joined (to Joey and Robert's surprise) by Mr. Paul (I bet you can guess what goes here), who made the trip into DFW just for this dinner from Amarillo. He was cutting up all evening, in a way I'd only expect from service members, and it was brilliant and made my face darn near fall off, I was smiling and laughing so much. Paul surprised the others, and we sat inside at a local pizza chain and got to know one another. After greeting one another, they embraced my family and me as if we'd all known each other for ages. My husband and I took our teenage son, and we were joined by his parents, my father in law, Charlie, being a veteran himself. Though I didn't have much to contribute to the conversation myself, these men treated my father in law like he was one of their own... and I guess in a way, he kind of is. I'm learning that about the military in all of this. It may not be perfect, but the camaraderie is definitely very real!
They told me about their time in the war. They talked about what it all looked like after the cease-fire, and the process it was actually getting home. I learned that, sometimes it's accidents and "young and dumb" mistakes, or lack of experience, that actually causes near death experiences on or off a battlefield, even after a cease-fire. I learned that even the most hardcore, take-no-shit Marines can still miss their friend(s), no matter how much time has passed, and that they'd do just about anything to ensure the safety/happiness/*insert countless other positive descriptive words* of one of their own. There were times I could tell that emotions were running a little high - a photograph would catch someone off guard, someone's breath would catch, a tightness around the eyes - and we'd just move on to the next one.
I did get to ask about some of the pictures that I was always staring at (Like the one of them all around the table by the pool. A ton of people asked and took guesses, and they confirmed that it was Saudi Arabia)! Most of them weren't even of anything that would be considered "spectacular" by any standard - it's not like he was snapping pictures of major world wonders or tourist attractions. He took pictures of things he wanted to remember, and in all of his photos, he's smiling. Even if they hadn't bathed, or they'd just been in a tense situation. When I was telling them why I loved these so much, Joey looked up and said "We were told that some 80% of us might not make it back, so I took pictures of everything. We just went out there and had the time of our lives, because we thought that might've been it for us, you know," and I had no response for him. Just awe. And in almost the same breath, he told me a story about growing up and hearing about wars/seeing them on tv and in movies, and there's always the guy that gives out the candy to the local kids that end up following him. He said that was always a dream he had. In the album, there is a picture of him with several kids, after finally being able to fulfill that dream (picture of him holding that album sheet is included). He wanted to use the small packs of Wrigley gum and give each kid a stick, but initially they each wanted a whole sleeve of candy lol. He finally managed to get it sorted out, and I thought it was incredibly sentimental that he still holds that memory 30 years later.
The S T O R I E S, guys. I felt like I was dissociating for a while. This didn't feel real sometimes. Sitting around this table, seeing the smiles, hearing the laughs, and knowing that I was a part of it, it was incredible. These are all very successful men now, with families and careers in different fields. I don't think I've finished processing everything just yet. I CRIED on my way home last night, from sensory overload I think, and I've been crying off and on this morning as well. I have so much more I want to say, but I really just don't have the words yet. It was magical. They felt like old friends. It's so surreal that it only took 3 days to find them, because they've been in my backyard the entire time. My son sat and listened, and he enjoyed himself. We went to dinner at 7:30. They closed at 10 so we moved to their tables out front, and we sat there until well after midnight, continuing our discussion and banter.
Overall, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've been cooped up, socially distancing, since March, and the chairs and being in jeans was a little rough since I have some staples in my back currently, but I have to say that the experience was absolutely worth it. I didn't mind getting together with them to snap some pictures, though I'm sure that people will have a lot to say about it. I don't mind. Some experiences are bigger than us. I told these gentlemen that I would like to stay in touch with them, and they agreed, so we are going to do just that. In the end, Joey got his photo album back after 25 years and got to have another little hang out with Paul and Robert, the 3 of them got to tell us some war - and other - stories, my father in law got to shoot the breeze with fellow veterans and show us his plethora of military knowledge, my husband had a supporting role, sitting there letting me be excited and was so happy for me, my mother in law and son both watched and listened, and just took in the whole experience, and it was an amazing time. Thank you to everyone that took the time to share (and to read this update that I'm SURE is all over the place right now lol). Thank you to everyone that posted in all of the Military and Veteran groups. And thank you Joey, Robert, and Paul. It was such an honor to meet you guys.
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