Eric in Iraq

Via Duncan's recently-updated website, I've discovered Eric Thigpen's blog. Eric, like Duncan, was in kung fu with me years ago. While I was going to UK, I bumped into him a few times, including during an astronomy class we happened to have together, and at the movies (I forget which one, but basically he snuck up on my right while I was babbling away to Margaret and tried to scare the shit out of me by grabbing my shoulders. He was rewarded with a cool "What do you think you're doing?" level gaze, until I realized who it was).

He's in Iraq now. I didn't even know he'd joined the service.

From his most recent entry:

Part of me feels like I owe the Iraqi people an apology for my lack of service. One of my biggest regrets to date is the day I witnessed the car bomb in Hilla. Over 100 were killed no more than a few hundred yards away from where I was standing. In a moment of uncertainty someone made the call to return to our base. I often wonder about the civilians that lay dying in the streets that we abandoned as we ran away with our first aid kits, weapons and training. We squandered an opportunity that day to do something great for someone else. We’re all going to feel deaths sting some day and if I had to choose between slipping away from this life in a sterile hospital room or being killed while trying to give life to someone else, I would honestly prefer the ladder.

I've added his LJ to my blogroll.