Let Me Tell You About Pete and Harry

Pete and Harry were some bad motherf***ers. Pete was half Chechnyan and Harry was full on Iraqi. They were my two favorite interpreters on my second trip to Iraq. Why were they my favorite interpreters and why do I choose to remember them like this? Because when you take a step back and realize all that they risked, you'll have some inkling as to how brave and courageous these two men are.See, being an interpreter or "terp" for short is not what we'd call a "safe" job. Pete and Harry both had their families in Iraq. Their families were at risk should the wrong assholes find out who Pete and Harry were, hence the reason I'm still calling them Pete and Harry. Pete is safe now, as far as I know, he immigrated to the United States, became a citizen and enlisted in the Army. Harry last we spoke, had plans to move to the United States soon. But while we were there, they and their families were in grave danger. We worked alongside as part of a training team for the Iraqi Army.Now I'm going to break it down for you, you've heard of insider attacks, right? Shit happened in Iraq too, it was always a risk. The Iraqi army personnel knew who Harry and Pete were and no doubt there were some dirty ass shady mofos in the unit that we were training. How do I know? We found a few assholes that were on our wanted list in that unit. Both the Marines and our two terps wanted to smile kill these mofos, but you know, the law of war and all. These were bad dudes, dudes that'd killed Americans not a year earlier, guys that could have killed my friends when we were there in '05-'06.And they knew who Pete and Harry were, knew where they were from, knew they had families. Pete and Harry didn't have a PSD (Personal Security Detail) when they went home on leave. They just had their AK-47's. Let all of that marinate and sink in.Did this stop Pete and Harry from doing their job? Nope. When we would get mad at the Iraqis for f***ing off on the range or any other training, Pete and Harry were there to ensure the message was received if you catch my violent ass drift. By upholding our standards and not slacking, they didn't make a lot of friends among some of the Iraqi soldiers.One time an Iraqi threatened us with an insider attack and Pete hauled off and beat his ass like a rented red-headed stepchild mule. No questions asked. Pete and Harry were and still to this day are loyal as f***, despite how much danger they and their families were in on a daily basis. Those are some badass f***in dudes, who I'd go to war with every single day.Editors Note: Obviously no, that's not their picture up top because we're not going to show you their picture if they're potentially in danger.