A Day to Remember Things

Hello, and happy D-day to you all. It is 67 years today since the invasion of Normandy, an event that ultimately led to toppling of Nazi rule in Germany and the suicide of the disgraced Adolf Hitler (of course blaming everyone but himself til the very end). Today is also significant for me because it was on this day 5 years ago that I completed the gas chamber in basic training on Paris Island. I remember standing in line outside of the shack that they pumped full of the gas and hearing the other recruits whispering, the majority of them exceedingly nervous. Of course I was older than most of these kids, and a bit more experienced. I felt no real anxiety, but I was certainly ready to get it over with. Some of the recruits were talking about how fitting it was that it was 6/6/06, which is how I remember the date. Of course I thought it was silly comparing a simple 10 minute contamination simulation to the number said to represent satin, but I just let the whole thing go. It's interesting that this memory would hit me at this moment because the other night as I drifted off to sleep I was thinking a little about my contract (6 years) coming to an end, and although I couldn't do the math in my semiconscious state I remember thinking that I was nearing my one year mark. In fact, this remembrance of where I was exactly 5 years ago reminds me that I passed that mark almost a month ago.