Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The week before we graduated basic training we were on a FTX (field training exercise). It was our last and hardest FTX till graduation. We were out doing mock patrols and we were running around reacting to contact in the woods. Mottesheard fell asleep and we forgot to do a head count so we accidently left him in the woods! It wasn't until about an hour later that we were eating chow and someone said, "where's Mottesheard?!". We looked around wondering where he could be. We looked in the distance and saw someone walking into our mock FOB (forward operating base) and we quickly realized it was him! We all kept asking "what the heck?". He came up to us and started apologizing, but we knew it wasnt his fault. We all laughed about it and then got in trouble by the drill sergeants. We made a joke that no matter where we were going we had to do a, "Mottesheard count". Someone would yell, "MOTTESHEARD COUNT!" and he would yell back, "1 MOTTESHEARD, ALL MOTTESHEARDS ACCOUNTED FOR". I'll never forget that moment. He was a great guy and he'll always be a brother to me in the army. I can't even imagine how many lives he has touched. My condolences to his mom and dad. He was an amazing soldier and I am lucky to have met him.
