William Barrell

“The most noble fate a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war's desolation.” Robert A. Heinlein

Thank you. We all had a part to play, and we all lost parts of ourselves in the process. I see you wrote a book. I like other’s perspectives because we sometimes need to look through a different lens. I spent three very thankless tours embedding with everyone down to the foot patrols, route clearing teams, the door kickers, and the planners and doctrine writers - all trying to share TTP’s as they occurred while also focusing on tackling a huge problem that affected thousands of servicembers in real time. Take care.

This wasn't the time or place, and I regret that. Such meaningless exchanges really are dumb when we both did a heinous job, and my issue is literally history. Later on, EOD rolled with the Engineers as one. In the eyes of folks trained to disarm nukes, Im a rank amateur. I would never besmirch the memory of warriors purposefully. Just know I was welcome in the Camp Falcon EOD hut as a brother.

We have a joke in EOD that we are glorified garbage collectors. In truth, we are First Responders. We rid the world of hazardous munitions and explosives. Not every incident is dramatic. Most aren’t. We pick up the ordnance, transport it safely, and destroy it properly. We do this hundreds of times. There is a chance that one time something goes wrong, and we don’t get to do it hundreds of times anymore. The photo is of the EOD Memorial at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

@RealMarkDEddy @BlastingThrough I was at Camp Ramadi Oct 05 thru Mar 06. GySgt Burghardt was one of the EOD team leaders there, and they had a great CO. Glad to made it home safe, Ramadi and that area of Anbar was not a cake walk.

I was deployed to Ramadi Iraq in 2005, had some great EOD friends we left behind as they continued their tour of duty. My unit came back a year or so later and we heard most of them had been KIA’d after we left. The BN that took over for us was looking to make a name for themselves. I was mad, sad and a bit dejected by the news. We made it through the thick of things through caution and diligence just to leave, and the jokers that took over seemed to have burned the fuse hotter than they could handle.

@TiffMoodNukes Didn’t the Watchmen comic cover this already? Asking for a friend

Don’t Panic, But… 17 earthquakes recorded near Area 51 within 24 hours UFO expert Steven Greer “The ability to hoax an attack on our planet is real” String of deaths among 13 U.S. nuclear and aerospace scientists sparks concern Most technologically and militarily advanced bunker being built beneath a newly constructed White House ballroom

@BuzzPatterson So was Robert Heinlein…

Joseph McCarthy was right.

@MMike8834 @SGTWipper1Each And spit

@SGTWipper1Each And the Damn Llamas always wanna fight!

I stumbled upon animal Twitter. Now my For You feed is ruined.

@dustoff_1sg Awesome, I don’t see that one often, I have seen a lot of the blue/orange Air Medals which is why I asked.

@bomber6b Air Force Aerial Achievement Medal. For flying 45 combat missions while attached to an Air Force Expedition Wing.

Building a shadow box. Didn’t realize how expensive ribbons are these days. Perhaps I should just do the top seven?

I want to give you credit where it is due, but stop trying to sell yourself to the uninitiated as an “IED Expert”… you aren’t. You were an E-5 on a route clearance team, which was critical and important on its own, so be proud of it. As for why I don’t remember you, you are one of hundreds of faceless troops that I dealt with all over theater from early 04 thru 06. I came from the engineers, it is my roots, and I have a fondness for them which is why I requested them as my security escorts and as extra hands on larger operations on many occasions. But do not confuse that with the sacrifice the EOD community made in that war.

@bomber6b @BlastingThrough That's because you clearly sat on the FOB. 458th EN BN worked every single BCT in Baghdad, so, I don't remember seeing you out on the routes either, stud.

@BlastingThrough @RobManess I remember that garbage man analogy well, mainly because it referred to a job that wasn’t always glamorous, but absolutely necessary, and without us working behind the scenes the world would be a dirtier place. Thanks for sharing your wisdom SGM.

@MMike8834 @JimBobJones2010 RIP Brother, we will see you on the flip side.

Taken from us 18 years ago! Dave "Easy" Ezell... the best of us!

@OMGTheWhyFiles Whaaa? Must have this Human! Where do I get this?

"Fear the Crabcat" is about to mean something very different. 🦀🐱

@1True_American_ Never got to see any of the bands live in the 80’s, but I did see Poison, Def Leppard, with Tesla as the opener in Baltimore with my son. Awesome concert!

Poison was my favorite big hair band. I can still sing every word to every song. I even named my cat CC after CC DeVille who I fully believed I was going to marry. 😂 My friends and I waited all day outside in the freezing cold to run into the venue when the doors opened. Front row, center stage. Right up against the bars. The bruised ribs were worth it. Warrant opened for them. It was awesome! Do you have a favorite big hair band? What group or singer do you know all the words to their songs?

@Schwalm5132 @MrAndyNgo No, more like if Beavis and Butthead had a love child with Cole Allen…

@MrAndyNgo Is it me or did the artist make that dude look like Bongino?

These court sketches of attempted assassin suspect Cole Allen do not look like him.

@VladTheInflator @thispostisbased A shape charge… like an EFP? Now I have heard everything… 🤦‍♂️

If you think Charlie Kirk was shot with a 30-06 You're a fucking retard. He was assassinated by Israel with a shape charge.

@EODHappyCaptain Yup, mine showed up today…

Your peer pressure worked.

Because @EODHappyCaptain posted a pic of one, I had to get this magnificent coin before they sell out this weekend at the Memorial. Quality art, well worth the price. Never forgotten.

@GavinNewsom California and Virginia both allow mail in ballots that can’t be validated, compromised voters rolls, and refuse to require ID for proof of citizenship with in-person voting. So, your claim it is a “vote of the people” cannot be verified.

Ron DeSantis just rammed out a gerrymandered MAGA map that openly violates his own state constitution — and leaked it to Fox News before he gave it to the legislature. California let voters decide. Virginia did too. DeSantis won’t. He’s rigging the map because he knows he can’t win on a fair one. Donald Trump started this war on voters. DeSantis is on his knees carrying it out.