Afghanistan, 2011. My squad all bought onesies for some reason. Mine was supposed to be a dog, but somehow looked more like a cow haha. Patrick Hawkins, the dude on the right, was going for the 'Where the Wild Things Are' outfit, minus the crown. Pat was KIA in 2013. I'm weird about posting pictures of him because I don't want to seem like I'm capitalizing on his death, but he's in just about every picture I am from those days and I'm tired of not sharing here and there if I feel like there's a positive message that can go with it. So here goes: I post a lot of really heavy stuff on here sometimes. But a huge amount of my time in Ranger Battalion was filled with times like these, and almost always with Pat. Goofy-ass kids doing goofy-ass things. We weren't grizzled 40-year-olds in some epic Hollywood production, we were 22 and passing the time like 22-year-olds do when we weren't working. It was a blast at times, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. #rltw