CRC, part 2, or the Rotary Club goes to war.

There were hundreds and hundreds of people going through CRC prior to going overseas. Most were military people but many were civilian contractors, about 40 percent. The civilians were headed over to do a variety of things ranging from passing out socks to police advisors to mechanics etc. Most were men with a scattering of women. There weren't to many young people. The young ones were the military. The civilians were mostly old guys like me. One police advisor I met was 69 years old and the average age was probably in the mid 40's. That is one thing I've noticed over the years looking at photos. It seems that a lot of the people who choose to go overseas are older; the classic examples being the Vietnam fighter pilot who joined a Guard unit to be a infantry squad leader at 53 and the military doctor in his 70's. I wonder if this differs from other wars.

There was one group with more than a few women in it but just as many old guys. They were the interpreters. It looked like a meeting of the Rotary Club in an Arab neighborhood in Detroit had decided to volunteer en masse; a most remarkable group of people. One of the women I talked to had children at home and another was a grandmother. Both had decided to go overseas for patriotic reasons. They wanted to help out the US in an hour of need. There were no guarentees about the conditions they would work in either. They said they were as likely to go out with troops on patrol as be on a big sprawling base, granny or young mother status notwithstanding. They went where they were told and they went to help the country.

Ain't that a remarkable thing. And ain't they admirable people.