“Yeah, well they came and got me to go on this mission. Speedy too. They got him too and we were both just kids. We were teenagers and they don’t take kids on things like this but in this case they had no choice,” he said.

He explained how their training was not only specialized but cutting edge.

“Yeah, there were very few people who could do the technical stuff Speedy and I knew how to do. It was brand new technology. The technology we were using was months old. It was brand spanking new and very, very few people knew anything about it so they came all the way to the desert to get us. And I wasn’t expecting it at all. You know what I was doing. I was just some one-stripe dumbass. I was a private but here they came and got me one day, said how would you like to go to Iran on a secret mission?”

I laughed.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Secret mission? Go to Iran? We were fighting. You and I were fighting at the time so of course I said I’d go. Why not? I’ve got no girlfriend. You’re mad. Go to Iran? Sure. I’ll go to Iran. Speedy said yes too and that was that. We were going.”

“Yeah?”

They were going to rescue the hostages.

“Yeah, we were there and that was the first time I ever saw anyone from Special Forces and I don’t know. It was something else. I was never so impressed in my life with what I saw them doing… how they were and I knew immediately this was what I was going to do. I still can’t believe I was there and got to go. I was barely out of boot camp. I had barely finished my training but do you see, P? I couldn’t tell you anything about them… anything about Special Forces because I didn’t know anything about them except for the little I knew which I also couldn’t tell you.”

I was quiet.

“P, it was classified. You know I told you everything I could tell you but there were some things I just couldn’t tell you.”

Quiet.

“And then right after that is when you came and got me when I was messed up. Remember when you came and got me and I was all fucked up laying in that bed?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, Speedy called you and told you where I was and you came and saved my ass. That happened right after we got back. I was just overwhelmed is all. I don’t know what else to say. I was overwhelmed.”

I stayed quiet because all the pieces were flying into place and my head had started to ache.

Skip to Part 3: Assimilating