March 16, 2003
“Headquarters has been talking trash to 1st Platoon all week,” said PFC Michael Coleman, an A Company Headquarters radioman.
“Hey, First Sarnt, how you doing?” PFC Terence Pendergast of 1st Platoon said to First Sgt. Ortiz.
“I’m doing fine, but you’re going to get real hurt today,” Ortiz said.
The week before, Headquarters had beaten 3rd Platoon, a.k.a. “Blue Platoon,” and 1st Platoon, or “Red Platoon,” had beaten 2nd, known as “White Platoon.”
“There’s been a lot of talk, a lot of anxiety about whether we’d move out. We didn’t know if we were going to be able to play this week,” Coleman said. During a warm-up game between last week’s losers, White and Blue platoons, Coleman blasted tunes from a couple of speakers off his laptop. All the NFL favorites: “Eye of the Tiger” and “Welcome to the Jungle.”
Then the big game got started on a stretch of sand just west of A Company’s camp. Headquarters vs. Red Platoon.
Stubby from maintenance scored the first touchdown for HQ in minutes.
“It was easy,” Stubby said later in a post-game interview. “I just run in the end zone and caught it. Bad defense.”
Spec. Johnny “Smitty” Smith Jr., one of the Fisters – artillerymen assigned to call in fire-support for the tankers — scored second for HQ, receiving a long, deep pass over the heads of two defenders.
Then Red Platoon rallied with two touchdowns by Spec. Carlos Johnson and Spec. Saengsavang “Vee” Visounnaraj. Johnson caught it short, and with good blocking from the right found a path up the middle. Vee caught a long pass.
“There were two people right on me, but I got out and scored,” he said.
The game was tied at half time. Lustig went out to rally Red Platoon’s squad.
“Within the limits of what you can do, I want you to make ‘em mad,” Lustig said. “When they get mad, they get sloppy.”
In the second half, maintenance Sgt. Robert Courtney playing center scored a spectacular touchdown for HQ as Red Platoon tried to sack HQ’s quarterback, Staff Sgt. David Williams, another one of the Fisters.
“They blitzed in. He blocked, he rolled off the block and went down the end zone and I hit him,” Williams said.
“I jumped over three defenders and got it,” Courtney said. “It was outstanding.”
Johnson scored again for Red Platoon, tying the game at three touchdowns. HQ’s PFC Jesse Curtis scored, pulling HQ ahead. Then, in the last minutes of the game, HQ’s Pvt. Robert Baxter sealed the victory when he intercepted a Red Platoon pass.
“We tore their shit up!” HQ players yelled after the defeated Red tankers. “Go home and shut your fucking mouth!”
“They killed us with the short game,” said Lt. Maurice Middleton. “They used their linemen to come off the line and they marched it down the field like that.”
HQ quarterback Williams was charitable. “It was an intense game. It could have gone either way.”
“We’ll settle it when we get back to Fort Stewart,” Middleton said.
“There’s always another time,” Williams said. “Until then, we have the bragging rights.”
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:19 am on Friday, March 16, 2007
4 Responses to “March 16, 2003”
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March 16th, 2007 at 4:08 am
The calm before the storm. Sorta like this year only different.
alphie, are you headed for DC to get your ass stomped for trying to slime The Wall?
March 16th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Bill’s Nibbles // Open Post — 2007.03.16
March 16, 2003
The calm before the storm.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:12 am
Bill’s Nibbles // Open Post — 2007.03.16
March 16, 2003
The calm before the storm.
March 16th, 2007 at 7:49 am
March 16, 2003
Jules Crittenden.