University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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THE REALITIES OF THE MILITARY 'lihe explosion that shattered the leg ofArmy Capt. Ciates Brown wasn't anything like the theatrical blasts ln-'d pictured at hoine. 'Ihere was no cloud of fire or drainatic chaos depicted in llollywood movies and that he had coine to expect before his deployment to Iraq. Brown, lansing graduate student, was traveling in a convoy in the southern part of Baquba, Iraq, when sud- denly lns I linnvee ierked and iolted to a stop, surrounded by a showering cloud ofdust and sand. An lmprovised Ifxplosive Device, or IIQIJ, had been planted underneath the road and exploded beneath the captain's feet. lt lelt like our I lunivee had just fallen off a six-foot drop, Brown said. At first I looked over at the driver and was like, 'I7ude, what the hell did you just do?' Then I looked around and it slowly sunk in what had happened. Although he didn't know it at the time, the pressure forced outward from the anticliinactic bomb had frac- tured l5rown's lower right leg in seven different places. lt was only after a dull pain began throbbing in his feet that Brown said he even considered he was hurt, and it never crossed his inind that he would never be able to run again. The reality of the explosion that would keep Brown lroin his dream ol competing in the Boston Marathon is insi one ol the inany niisperceptions he said the public had about violence and warfare in Iraq. The romantic or gory y iews of soldiers' lives don't tell the whole story of every day lile in the inilitary, something veterans said they wished would change. Meredith lsleykanip, assistant professor of sociology, O8 - O9 W JAYHAWKER said society's lack ofexposure to the military was part of the reason behind mistaken views about troops' daily lives. When a military is volunteer-based, fewer people are exposed tothe military lifestyle than when a draft is in place, she said. lt would be nice ifthe general public had a better ff overall sense of what the military is, how it operates and what the rules are, Kleykamp said. One technicality Brown said most civilians didn't un- derstand was how IED-related injuries occurred. Accord- ing to globalsecurity.org, most injuries caused by IEDS aren't caused by shrapnel, but by a pressure wave given off by the primary blast, which usually has the power to shat- ter bones and inflict severe internal damage. But technical knowledge wasn't the only aspect of war Brown said the American public didn't understand. He said the belief that soldiers and Marines had Rambo- esque attitudes of kicking in doors and shooting M-16s was far from the truth, and troops with that outlook of heroism and bravery were quickly disabused. When something happens that's real, whether it,s an IBD or shots fired at you, that's when you realize that the thing you seein the movies, something that's just go- ing to 'make a man of you,' it's actually for real, Brown said. You realize that people don't come back, and your priorities shift from proving yourself to making sure you and your guys get home alivef' It was after watching a piece ofa Humvee fly through the air from an IED explosion early in his 2006 deployment REALIZE THAT PEOPLE DON,T COME BACK, AND YOUR PRIORITIES SHIFT FROM PROVING YOURSELF TO MAKING SURE YOU AND YOUR GUYS GET HOME ALIV9, GATES BROWN, ARMY CAPTAIN that the seriousness of the situation sunk in. The violence came in short bursts. Although the platoon was hit by five or six IEDS during his time there, Brown said he was the only casualty it suffered. During the stretches of calm, Brown said it wasn't uncommon to see troops playing football or taking advantage of the satellite internet the base provided. Brown's wife Marty, a physical therapist and KU Medical School graduate, said it was the humdrum of everyday life in Iraq that surprised her the most. I was expecting him to be in the thick of things all the timej' Marty said. That's what I thought of war. Dan Parker, McPherson senior and former Marine, said the public didn't know how low the level of intensity was in the majority of the country because media coverage focused on the violent areas. It doesn't make good copy to show people sitting around Skypeing or playing football. It doesn't make headlines, Kleykamp said. Brown said he was open to questions about his time overseas, but only if students were open to different answers.

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