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    OIL History 2015: A Decade of Competition and Camaraderie

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    This is the 10th installment in our ongoing oral history project. You can read previous chapters here. After final proofing and editing, it will be published in The Book of OIL: Volume Five (2015). Look for it on Amazon.

    Celebrating 10 Seasons

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    2015 marked the 10th season of the OklahomIraqis League. It was special, and, behind the scenes, Cliburn had been thinking about it for years.

    ​CLIBURN: Every summer, I reach out to guys asking where they'd like to have the draft party. In 2012, I text Pyle about it and mentioned our 10-year draft. 

    PYLE: I gave him my opinion about the 2012 draft, but I reminded him that we needed to do something big for the 10th season. 
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    CLIBURN: So I was brainstorming ideas for quite a while. 

    PYLE: The thought of a SECFOR reunion had briefly crossed my mind a couple of time before celebrating Killman's life, but when a large number of us gathered to celebrate Killman's life, reality set in that we need to be reuniting on a regular basis. Once again the OIL served its original purpose of providing a means of bringing everyone together.

    DUFFY: I think everyone realized the need to get the band together after SECFOR brothers Joseph Killman and Michael Tenequer passed away.

    CLIBURN: True. After the tragedy of Killman's and Tenequer's deaths, my thoughts turned from having the best draft party to having the best reunion. 

    DUFFY: And, since expanding by 14 teams in 2014 had turned out well, Cliburn wanted to expand again.
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    The OIL Honors Our Fallen This Memorial Day

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    I posted the following on my personal Facebook timeline. I did it because it's something I don't think a lot of people know and, the more people that know the difference between the holidays, the fewer awkward moments I'll experience when someone thanks me for my service on Memorial Day. 
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    But OIL manager Lance Zerger, who has completed three combat tours himself, provided an alternate take on the subject that I thought was worth sharing:
    Dear Fellow Veterans,

    I hear some of us get offended or upset when people thank you for your service during Memorial Day weekend. Maybe the people that are thanking you for your service are really saying this:

    "Hey man, I don't know how to say this but I am sorry for your loss, I am sorry for all the things you went through or the fact that you lost a friend over there. I can't say sorry because those words seem hollow so instead I will stick to thank you. I am sorry you lost a brother, sister, daughter, son, father, or mom. A grandparent etc.."

    Some of you, keep saying it's more than a three-day weekend, and you're right, but let's stop the witch hunt that answers every Memorial Day well-wishe with, "It's more than drinking beer and cookouts!" Think about it: what do most veterans do when they meet up? We drink beer and cookout. Why can't America do the same? I mean, we fight for their freedom . . . their freedom to celebrate this weekend however they want, even if they choose not to celebrate at all. I mean, we are the "Land of the Free," after all.

    So this weekend, take a different perspective when people thank you for your service. Just simply say thank you and use that opening to tell them about a person you knew that paid the ultimate price. Humanize the true American Heroes instead of chastising the general population for trying to do the right thing in a difficult and awkward situation. Enjoy your weekend.

    Pictured below is 1LT Brandon Landrum and SFC Isaac Lawson, who I had the pleasure of serving with down range. God Bless and until Valhalla, gentlemen. This beer and weekend is for you.
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    1LT Brandon Landrum and SFC Isaac Lawson, click the image to learn who they were

    Good point, Zerger. I'll be thinking of both Landrum and Lawson, as well as SGT Jeremy King. After the jump is my memory of the day he died.