Conquering the Wall

A few days ago, a friend of ours, Isaac Martinez (we call him either just Martinez or Tina) left Fort Drum to be stationed in Colorado. Over the last couple weeks, we've had friends over to say goodbye to Martinez and to celebrate their friendship together. Martinez served in Afghanistan with Mr Eckstein and  the rest of the fellas and they've all been closely knitted for the last two years or so.

About a year and a half ago, right before the unit deployed, the guys were training and came across an obstacle course called Mystic Obstacle Course. In this course the final task is to climb over this six and a half foot wall with your vest on. Martinez was the last in line when everyone went through this course so, he didn't have anyone to give him a little boost over the wall. He just could. not. do. it. So, ever since then the guys kept talking about Martinez going back to the Mystic Obstacle Course and "conquering the wall". What better opportunity to do that than the night before he leaves this unit and joins a different one in Colorado? Last Thursday night, a handful of his closest friends and I got together and went to the wall to watch him conquer that wall!

 

And so it began. Martinez strapped on the worlds heaviest vest (seriously) and tackled the wall. Easy Right? Wrong. He could make it up the wall without the vest- no problem. That vest is what weighed him down. We were out there for a good hour at least. It might've been 2 hours. And finally...

Tada!

In the end, he needed a bit of a push but that's why we were there! To tell him he could do it and support him. I think it meant a little more to him than just climbing a wall. It was good to be a part of something like that, to watch someone struggle and conquer something. It might've seemed small to us, but it was a huge triumph for him. We'll miss Martinez up here. Even his dry sense of humor.