DRAGOON RIDE - 03/31/2015
No worries, this little feature story is not
about defining why, how, where, whom, or any political decisions, pros or cons,
whatsoever. That would require debate in terms of „What comes first –chicken or
egg?“ On the contrary, due to the fact this experience left me with
heartwarming feeling for a long time coming despite unpleasant storms, getting
soaking wet four times, mud all along the pathways, crowds of visitors, traffic
jams and overfilled public transportation, my smile does not want to, and I do
not wish it to, leave my face and that means something. There are so many
thoughts going on in my head, so let´s please take it as a form of therapy.
Thus, for those, who wish to and for those who want to be a bit closer to the
untransferable feeling if only for a fraction – please, feel free to follow me.
I believe, there has
not been a person in Czech Republic recently, who would miss information about the
Dragoon Ride through Czech Republic scheduled from 03/29/15 till 04/01/15, namely
3rd Squadron “Wolfpack”,
2nd Cavalry Regiment and part of 2nd Cavalry Regiment. This was to reassure U.S. allies of its commitment to the NATO. For
approximately 500 soldires and 118 vehicles it ment about 1100 miles all the
way from Estonia through Czech Republic back to their base in Germany.
On 03/31/15, the
premises of Prague Ruzyně Barracks have been open to public together with the
part of the carpark and the public was able to meet face to face with these
soldiers and was able to touch the Stryker, get in the armored transporter or
literally hop on the vehicles and all that from 10 AM till 6 PM. According to
the first estimates, the number of visitors reached close to 20 000. My
initial plan was to look around for maybe an hour, which, in the end, turned out
to be completely and utterly wrong estimate. Some of us were leaving after good
five hours and only due to other private plans. On top of this, we had the
opportunity to see the premises during normal capacity, as well as when the
capacity during the afternoon rush hours was far beyond comfortable.
American soldiers were
available come rain come shine, during the storms, giving out their pearl white
smiles all around. They answered patiently all curious questions. Their eyes
reflected the fact the journey had been tiring, but they did not hide the
surprise from such a warm welcome. I sadly did not manage to capture some of
the moments on camera just due to the fact it left me speechless and all I
could do was motionlessly watch. For instance when member of Military Police
gave away his arm patch to a little boy, or in other case when two soldiers
were boy-like happy after receiving home made cake from a Czech woman. These
are the moments when I feel a small step towards human goodness, willingness,
solidarity. I only regret one can come across this only in these
once-in-a-lifetime situations. I am sure Czech nation has it deep down inside!
So why do we mainly crush this ability at the expense of letting these positive
qualities bubble up during natural human interactions?
I have to admit it was
quite a surprise to learn how tall the guys were. Having the ability to look
inside the vehicles though, it was clear why it was so. Every single one had
pearl white teeth. Majority was of very young age. I personally saw three woman
soldiers. They all had endurance and patience, willingness to share their
feelings, place of origin (be it Michigan, California or Tennessee, which they
were, to my surprise, able to quickly identify). As it happens, for the
American person the question about the place of origin, birth if you wish, does
not necessarily have an easy answer. For we Czechs are mainly used to
identifying three places max (birth, studies, work) with its individual
combinations. I had goosebumps when they shared each had like one, two or even
10 years till the end of their deployment. Some managed to use the little free time
to see the beauties of Prague (Charles Bridge, Prague Castle) T.R., a very
lovely Stryker driver we had quite some time to chat with, was sorry, he did
not have pictures of his home country on him, otherwise he would have gladly
shared them. I trust he is carrying these in his heart and physically he has
them at his German base. I was witness to exchange of email contacts – natural
human networking in its beauty. If the men and women felt like rock stars – I
am very glad I had a little say in it. Why rock stars? They were stating, that
they would be present at the concerts held on their behalf in their civil
clothes. There was a „Concert for the Convoy“, which intensified easy-going
atmosphere so well, that even I was walking along the muddy road back from the Barracks
while singing out loud together with the rocker on the stage „FIRE! FIRE!“ and
the fact I would most probably belong into the washing machine did not bother
me in the least. Part of the guys also, later in the evening, visited another
concert in the club located in Prague 7. I really hope they all enjoyed it.
After all, the ammunition of beers they were given should last for a looong
loooong time :-)
We may not like it, we
may disagree, but that is about all we can do about it. All I know from a
personal experience, these guys are human beings of flesh and blood with all
their pieces of experience, adventures and worries; soldiers, who are willing
to put their lives at risk, who are away from their families, members of which
they do not see for ages. I personally had been without a physical contact with
my own family for one year back in 2003 and I can say after that person is
never the same again. On the contrary, I pray that our next encounters in the
future bear the same pleasant atmosphere I experienced on 31.3.2015 here in the
Ruzyně military barracks premises. So that we could, when meeting, continue
having the luxury to take pictures, laugh, exchange gifts, move freely and
basically exchange peaceful and positive energy. Last but not least, I do wish
for all these guys to live as much satisfactory life as possible, live long,
healthy and happy life with majority of experience that put smile on their face
and what is also important – so that their return to civil life is as much
smooth as possible. Believe it or not, life has given me a lesson recently that
one will get what one wishes for!
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