Day 14...the three musketeers ride again

Day 14…three musketeers once again.  Today I linked up with old and dear friends I haven’t seen in over 20 years.  It was definitely a ‘happening’.  The Happening

 

Today was a short day…barely 180 miles before I stopped for the day.  I left Georgetown and elected to turn inland for a while to visit Ft. Bragg, NC.   

 

I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC (Fayetteville) from 89-90 with Joint Special Operations Command and it was an excellent assignment for my career.  I had a beautiful young wife and two daughters, one still in diapers.  I was in the exciting world of Counter Terror Operations and I had the world by the tail. 
One of the benefits of being stationed at Bragg was that I got to spend time with my friend Steve Parsons, his wife Elizabeth, and their kids.  Steve and I had been captains together in the 2^nd Ranger Battalion for two years and shared many noteworthy adventures.  We looked through his photos as we reminisced and I was amazed at how young we looked.   How is it that we were given so much responsibility at such a young age?  Steve and I trained together, exercised together, suffered together during war games and I was there when he first dated his future wife.  The Parsons are some of the best people on earth.  We’ve been out of touch for quite a while and I was determined to give it the old college try to find them. 

The house in Fayetteville in which we lived from 89-91

 

Between Georgetown SC and Fayetteville NC is a lot of nothing in particular.  I went on the back roads and traffic was light.  I saw fields of grass (for hay) lots of corn and beans and several tobacco fields.  Susan is allergic to growing tobacco so it was a good thing she wasn’t with me today.  The air, I noticed, was especially pungent with the odors of fertilizer and of 'essence of paper mill' as I drove my way north and east.  Occasionally it would make me long to be downwind of a west Texas cattle feed lot just to clear my sinuses. 

Tobacco Field

Hay Field

Commercial Pine Forrest

 

Upon arrival at Fayetteville I noticed an immediate change to what I remembered.  First, they have revitalized the old downtown area and it no longer looks like a battle zone.  There is a big, beautiful museum for Airborne and Special Forces on Hay Street…unfortunately it was closed on Monday but I could tell from walking around that it was a special place.

 

Then began the drama of finding my friends.  I burned a lot of data bytes on my iPhone and finally found a person that could get me a good phone number.  Shortly after lunch I rolled up to their house and got a big hug from Liz.  Since Steve wouldn't be home until after 5pm it was decided that I'd stay the night so we could get caught up and look the photos of our families that are now all grown up and out of the nest.

 

Liz and I visited bad talked about our kids until Steve came home.  I also took some time to go to the Fort and visit a place I remembered from long ago.  It was the old Longstreet Scottish Presbyterian Church and cemetery.  It is totally surrounded by shooting and artillery ranges in the depths of the fort and as a historical sight, it is off limits for the troops.   For me it is a special place and I really enjoy visiting.  As cemeteries usually are... it is quiet and peaceful.  I had to jump a chain link fence to get in, but I did it.  One thing I noticed was that a large tree had recently fallen across the fence and knocked several gravestones down.

The Marker for Fannie Monroe who, according to the epitaph was very much missed by her family.

The Monroe brothers who both died in the war

 

Afterwards we all stayed up late looking at pictures and remembering old times when we were young and slender.  Amazingly, while we have aged, we have not changed appreciably.  We were able to reconnect like it had just been last week when the military moved us a continent apart.  I guess good friends can do that.

Together Again!

 

Tomorrow starts week 3 of the trip and I’m off to Charlottesville, VA.