14 April 2013 began a week like any week Veterans may encounter upon a return from a deployment, packing in the visits and meetings with friends and family who have worried and waited to see you safely arrive back on American soil…
A trip out to Boston to see my younger brother had us stuck in miserable traffic trying to navigate Mass Ave and Washington St amidst the already restricted routes for the next days marathon. We finally made it and had a great visit with him as he spoke about the positive volunteer work he has been doing for a church he attends and his thoughts of coming back to Cali (he had lived with me before the deployment). Little did we know that where we sat and ate turkey wraps we were no more than a block or two from a scene of devastation only 24 hours into the future…
First hearing the reports of two bombs detonating at the finish line of the Boston Marathon I was shocked… my mind instantly goes into a logical Marine mode… what was their target, motive… gain from this? Of course it is a highly populated area but the logistical strain that carrying out an attack like this requires is not usually wasted on simply a large crowd… typically there needs to be a symbolic message as well. There just didn’t seem to be that sort of message as you examine a well-known race that features world class athletes from all over the globe… not just the wicked wicked West.
Reports are swirling about a possible suspect of middle eastern descent, but at this point it just doesn’t read to me like the sort of attack carried out by the usual suspects. I could very well be wrong but everything I saw of the scene and aftermath just didn’t seem to fit.
There were initial reports of video showing a man placing a backpack into a trash can, but the descriptions of the blast were not in alignment with this as it was described as a wall of glass exploding out into the sidewalk, meaning the blast came from inside the storefront and not on the side walk itself (glass does not move toward a blast epicenter). Needless to say I will be following the PBA (post blast analysis) with some interest and I will continue to keep my readers informed from a former Counter IED standpoint.
Lastly my thoughts and prayers go out to those individuals and their families directly affected by this attack. I was talking with my mom about how this felt like a post-blast moment in Afghanistan or Iraq… why we train Marines on dispursion (maintaining space between each other) so that a blast claims one and not a whole crowd, and how civilians at an event like this never even have a chance to protect themselves. Despite excellent work done in both Iraq and Afghanistan it is plain to see… the world still contains bad people willing to risk their own life to do bad things to those who have never done anything to them, yet believe in different ideals. With all the budget cuts to our military I hope the right people in the right places remember this when it comes time to cut the number of bullets being shot on ranges, the amount of schooling and training specialists get in CIED and anti-terrorism training and finally how charity begins at home… sending billions to ungrateful countries could be utilized to secure our own.
It is a sad day when my homecoming is highlighted by the actions of a few with a purpose to destroy…
1 Green Marine 