My Friend Mo.

A man of courage, commitment, and dedication. He was my friend.

Yep, you know it, it is the Sidekick and me, out on the front porch again. I am sitting here watching a young boy that is closing in on two years of age, running down the porch and back. Man, he has more energy in one hour than I have all day.

I have been thinking today, taking me back to some of my friends I served with. Now, I have been reluctant to write this particular write-up mainly for several reasons. At the end of the day, I honestly don’t feel I can do justice in my writing for my friend. That is just how I feel, but I will give it my best shot.

In June this year, I lost a friend with whom I served in OIF II. Several years after OIF II, my wife would also deploy with him to Iraq.

My friend’s name is Lonnie Morales. We were peers in OIF II. He was the 1SG for Alpha Company Gators, and I was the 1SG for Delta Company Dawgs. Both of us serving in the same Battalion, the mighty 701st. We were on Forward Operating Base Speicher together. When I look back at our short time together, we were all good 1SGs on our perspective units. Whenever one of us needed something, neither of us was ever afraid to reach out to each other, but this write-up isn’t about us. It is about 1SG Morales, my friend.

He was a guy that was loved by his unit and respected by his peers and superiors. He pushed his unit to achieve goals they didn’t think were possible. Mo, as we fellow 1SGs would call him, was the only 1SG in our Battalion of seven units that was a Ranger. Often, I would see him in a gunner’s hatch on convoys. I would see him with a few Sergeants and Soldiers getting his hands dirty, explaining a better course of action to them. Every soldier and leader hung on to every morsel of wisdom he gave. Mo was a man who wasn’t afraid of his surroundings but instead adapted to them and thrived in that harsh, hostile element. He was a consummate soldier; there was no denying that.

One thing that struck me about Mo, more than anything else. No matter how bad things could be in Iraq, there was always one thing that never changed. That was a big grin on Mo’s face. I swear he would smile in a firefight. I never saw him get angry. That doesn’t mean he didn’t get angry; I just never saw it. He was a man that people loved being around. Soldiers, peers, and leaders gravitated toward him and relished when he was around.

For those who do not know, we had him on our podcast around Veterans Day for 2021. The podcast focused on entering the service and what that meant to each servicemember on the cast. He explained in the podcast that he had joined the Army in 1983. He fell in love with the commercials of people jumping out of airplanes. He wanted to be an Airborne Ranger. Mo became that and went to Grenada. One of the things that really stuck out to me was him always referencing his great soldiers. He never left being a leader, and even while explaining his story, he still recognizes his soldiers and leaders, which is hard for some leaders to understand. But for Mo, it was never hard for them. That was just his way.

I know right now his family will miss him dearly. His company will never forget him, Gator 7, their 1SG took them into battle and brought them all home. I promise you that. I know I will never forget him, and as my Sidekick gets older, he will know about him.

I will miss my friend, Lonnie, “Mo” Morales. He lived a good life that ended far too early. But when I think about Mo, I will simply smile because that is exactly what he would do if I was there with him.

This is my Friday’s Thought to Ponder for the Weekend.

The Vet