Korea!!!
I would wake up in the morning and see someone important and say in a loud voice “It smells like poop here!” I still think the word poop is funny especially when adults use it. It had more stink but less garbage than mexico. I was a half a day ahead of the states so I made phone calls in the middle of the night. I spent 2 of the 22 days in korea on an army training facility. I never got to go to Seoul. Katusa’s (Koreans in the Army) told me that to really experience korea you must see Seoul. I went just outside of camp casey in Tae Du Chong or TDC as it is commonly reffered to. It was pretty cool. The food was terrible. There is a product worth exporting from korea but its probably just cheaper to make it here. Let’s Be is a sweet coffee in a can served both warm or cold. That was really the only stand out product. We did a lot of reading magazines and listening to CD’s that was awesome. I was in a two man team, 200nd squad Alpha team. I was on every single detail in Korea for that reason. In the last week my team leader broke a tooth and had to go to the dentist. I was now 2nd squad alpha team leader, a one man team of me. Let me tell ya that team was never run so efficiently. So I will change my resume to reflect that I have acted as a team leader on a deployment. During the second week in Korea boxing matches were being set up. Parson’s ran his mouth about kicking my ass. At 22 pounds I was given 6 to 1 odds. Sgt. Barr put $1 on Jones to win. I was amped. Nacpil (pronounced nakpil) filmed the entire fight and the two other fights that occurred in Korea. The barracks were full and the undercard just ended. The tension was palpable and the audience (half the battalion) was electric. The fighters were introduced. “In this corner weighing in at 156lbs. Specialist “rocky” Jones.” The crowd goes wild. “And in the black corner weighing in at an atrocious 22lbs. Specialist “Sad Catfish” Parsons.” I got a cool nick name because most people liked me. Parsons got a goofy nick name because he grew out a real silly looking mustache that combined with his facial features caused him to look like a sad catfish. The fight was over before it started. I came out swinging and punched parsons in the face 4 times. Parsons began to cower and after realizing he was getting his ass kicked he wanted to wrestle. During parsons wrestling match he lost a glove and was dragged into the other room. The audience was rabid and I was declared winner. Parsons however had other plans. “He’s coming back in to finish the fight.” “Jones already won. But if he wants to go again.” I was asked if I wanted to go again and that was an emphatic yes. I already had him on the ropes and he lost his cool. Parsons charged me as I had him in the first go. I deflected his punches and started raining hooks and jabs. I caught him a couple of times and he bent over. When he bent over I stood him back up with a right uppercut in the face. Parsons hit the deck. He got back up and we repeated the same old song and dance two more times before. The medics threw the towel in for him. He quit defending himself and had a mouse over his eye. The medics who were always eager to practice their trade wanted to cut it open. Now I don’t care what kind of fighter you are or at what level your fighting, you might win the prize money, you might go to Disney land, hell you might even kiss the ring girl. But there is no greater feeling than the medics carrying your opponent off down stairs in front of your battalion for treatment. It’s the macho of machismo. We toured the JSA (joint security area) at the DMZ the next day parsons was not to be found in a single picture due to 2 huge black eyes one of which was massively swollen. I asked parsons for a no hard feelings pic but he wouldn’t have it, and was insulted. Rocky still had every detail and parsons still didn’t. But I earned my chops and everyone loved me for winning. And I got something from Korea that no one can take away. What its like to be tasked out to clean latrines, baggage handling, and picking up trash.
Tags: Danny Jones
