I just wanna thank Facebook for the reminder today....as if this last few weeks wasn’t bad enough...
She was my friend....she was loud as hell! But she was my friend. I worked day Shift in Afghanistan, my days would be made of working in the facility guarding detainees or over seeing a compound for about 12 hours. Then I would have my collateral duty, where I processed all the forms for everyone, Army and Navy, to get qualified as a Correction Officer Journeyman, through the Department of Labor.
So after I finish my shifts, where I am threatened, treated like crap, sometimes have crap or spit on me, it’s time to relax right? NOPE! Every day I have to go to the Navy admin office and work on paperwork, and this small town boy from Southern Illinois, gets to spend a few hours a day with this loud mouth girl from Yonkers!
She was my friend....she was loud as hell! But she was my friend. I worked day Shift in Afghanistan, my days would be made of working in the facility guarding detainees or over seeing a compound for about 12 hours. Then I would have my collateral duty, where I processed all the forms for everyone, Army and Navy, to get qualified as a Correction Officer Journeyman, through the Department of Labor.
So after I finish my shifts, where I am threatened, treated like crap, sometimes have crap or spit on me, it’s time to relax right? NOPE! Every day I have to go to the Navy admin office and work on paperwork, and this small town boy from Southern Illinois, gets to spend a few hours a day with this loud mouth girl from Yonkers!
She was feisty! She loved to dance! She was LOUD! Oh gawd was she LOUD! She was caring! She was compassionate! She loved her daughters! She was my best friend! She loved to eat!
So in an environment where we would be under an attack almost daily either from the Terrorist outside the gate or the ones inside; she was the one willing to listen to everyone, and be a buffer before we would implode.
In some instances we were probably to blame for her PTSD because she was dealing with her own issues and here we were compounding on top of them. She was everyone’s counselor that needed it, but I’m not so sure we shared with her equally and let her tell us her issues and for that I’ll always feel regretful.
She was the first person I called after I reconnected with Elizabeth. She was my first call after we got engaged....she promised me she would come to the wedding. And the night she took her life we talked on FB messenger for several hours the night she promised me she was going to be ok. The last words she typed to me were “Little! I’m fine! PTSD is definitely real! It’s a complete bitch! But I’m fine Little! I can’t wait to see the girls tomorrow! I love you Shipmate!” She took her own life that night....the first of 2 females I served with to commit Suicide out of 15 total.
Facebook graciously deleted my conversations a few years ago, and I can no longer read her funny comments to me or see her selfies she sent. My backpack with my external hard drive broke when I got to Atlanta...and of the two pictures we took together, I don’t have them anymore.
I follow her daughters on Social Media, because they were all she ever talked about, and it’s bring me joy to see them so successful.
I miss her every day. I can’t help but to think about her everyday. She is one of the reasons I’m going to fight the Navy! Because she wouldn’t have allowed me to give up.
I love you and miss you Aleida Bordas!
#IHaveNotYetBegunToFight
So in an environment where we would be under an attack almost daily either from the Terrorist outside the gate or the ones inside; she was the one willing to listen to everyone, and be a buffer before we would implode.
In some instances we were probably to blame for her PTSD because she was dealing with her own issues and here we were compounding on top of them. She was everyone’s counselor that needed it, but I’m not so sure we shared with her equally and let her tell us her issues and for that I’ll always feel regretful.
She was the first person I called after I reconnected with Elizabeth. She was my first call after we got engaged....she promised me she would come to the wedding. And the night she took her life we talked on FB messenger for several hours the night she promised me she was going to be ok. The last words she typed to me were “Little! I’m fine! PTSD is definitely real! It’s a complete bitch! But I’m fine Little! I can’t wait to see the girls tomorrow! I love you Shipmate!” She took her own life that night....the first of 2 females I served with to commit Suicide out of 15 total.
Facebook graciously deleted my conversations a few years ago, and I can no longer read her funny comments to me or see her selfies she sent. My backpack with my external hard drive broke when I got to Atlanta...and of the two pictures we took together, I don’t have them anymore.
I follow her daughters on Social Media, because they were all she ever talked about, and it’s bring me joy to see them so successful.
I miss her every day. I can’t help but to think about her everyday. She is one of the reasons I’m going to fight the Navy! Because she wouldn’t have allowed me to give up.
I love you and miss you Aleida Bordas!
#IHaveNotYetBegunToFight
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