Echo Five Echo

I was in Okinawa from June 1996 until August of 1999. The last past few months in Oki I was basically dodging the system. I had orders to go to another unit for a few months, NOPE! My unit wanted me to do PT even though I had already done my final physical, NOPE! Received word from the the brass that I had to do PT anyway, FUCK THAT, I went on terminal leave. Just hung out without having to do shit.
Finally admin says to me, "Dude, you have ONE WEEK left in the Marine Corps, we gotta get you outta here to terminal." My sweet n' sour chicken ass would have stayed right there in Oki if I could have. Boarding that plane was one of the worst moments in all of my life. I was leaving home, and didn't know If I was ever going to be able to go back.
Okinawa, to me, was that one fantastic dream that you have where you just don't want to come back to reality. I still have dreams that I am still there. I have my first car, the Civic, and I get to drive around this time. Yet the only place I want to go is to King Taco, right outside of the gate. I dream that I re-enlist but am not able to get back to Oki (really happened), so I made a deal with someone high up on the ladder to make my next duty station somewhere in Japan (wish it happened).
It's not the same anymore. The people (J, K, M) and some of the places still exist, but those moments in time are gone. Now,I kinda don't want to go back. I want to preserve the memory rather than update it.
Some nights I say to myself, "I'm going to get some taco rice and cheese, come back to the room, pop "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" into the VCR and enjoy my meal..." Then I wake up...