[color=1a7b30][B]Name:[/b][/color] Elijah Dodgers [color=1a7b30][B]Nicknames:[/b][/color] Dodge [color=1a7b30][B]Age:[/b][/color] 22 [color=1a7b30][B]Gender:[/b][/color] Male [color=1a7b30][B]Rank:[/b][/color] Cpl [color=1a7b30][B]Ethnicity/Nationality:[/b][/color] Caucasian/American [hider=My Hider] [color=1a7b30][B]Physical Description:[/b][/color] [INDENT]Standing 5'9" with brown hair and green eyes, Eli is of average but sturdy build. With outdoor life in the semi-arid desert of the Texas Panhandle being the norm until the Nam, he is well tanned, and in good shape. Basic has hardened his frame. [hider] [img]http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq341/tomlegg_photos/ASASR.jpg[/img] [/hider][/INDENT] [color=1a7b30][B]Skillset:[/b][/color] [INDENT] Eli has a couple tours under his belt at least, giving him some familiarity with the VC, the jungle, and operation of his weapon systems. He as proven to be capable under fire, and has demonstrated leadership capabilities among his peers. As such he has recently been minted as a Corporal and given charge of a few others. With a youth spent outdoors, a gun in hand, hunting, exploring, and being in dangerous country sometimes, has attributed to his survival in the jungles of Viet Nam. M16 Expert M203 Qualified Land Navigation Qualified Army hand to hand[/INDENT] [color=1a7b30][B]History:[/b][/color] [INDENT] Elijah was born in Borger Texas in 1945. His father was Dale Dodgers, a WWII vet. His mother was Helen who was the daughter of a displaced farmer from the dust bowl. Dale spent most of his time working the oilfield and carbon black after returning home from military to provide for his wife and son. Eli attended public schooling in Borger. He gained a few friends, and even had a girlfriend, Regina Warren. For a time, Regina was all he was about, and intended to marry the girl until the Draft came along. His dad taught him to shoot and Elijah took to hunting and fishing with his grandfather and father (When he had the time). During his school years, he was a typical kid of the day, when he wasn't parked next to the radio or TV, he would sometimes venture down to Electric City, the small township that had sprung up around the steam-based powerplant that had been erected to power the Phillips-Chevron Refinery as well as the oilfield drilling locations in the area when his dad was a boy. By the time he was old enough to go to Electric City, it had been all but abandoned. Exploring old houses and structures was a fun activity, and occasionally he found something nifty while he was there. More than once he'd found a rattlesnake there, but he'd learned how to handle them, and was always careful about such things. Something of a loner because of this, as mentioned before he had only a few friends, maybe enough to count on one hand. But those that he had were good ones. Occasionally he would spend time with his cousins, of whom he had several, which between his friends and family allowed him to be decently well-rounded and instilled the value of family. He still maintains a sense of independence and self-reliance. It was during the last year or so of high school he took an interest in Regina Warren, a dark-haired girl with blue eyes who'd grown up in the same town. At first she turned him down, but with charm and persistence she finally decided he was serious, or at least seriously interested in her. The two started seeing each other outside of school, a little at first, but then more so, even going out on dates. By this time, Eli's mother had become a working woman at the local J.C. Penny's. Better that than the alternative, as inflation soared. Being well old enough to take care of himself, Eli was left to his own devices much of the time, especially with his father becoming increasingly absent from his life, spending more time at the local watering holes after work, and often stumbling home drunk. This meant it was much harder for his parental unit to wrangle in his 'extracurricular' activities. This gave him something of a badboy vibe, which Gina was drown to, and Eli probably didn't do much to dispel it. Just before graduation, his father wound up running his car off the bridge of the Canadian River on Highway 136, after traveling down it the opposite way in a drunken stupor. The car dropped a couple stories below and crashed into the river. Unable to free himself, his father drowned, leaving his mother a widow. A month later the Draft came through, and pulled him away from his mom and Gina. At first Eli resented the military and the draft pulling him away from his little life in Borger, sometimes it was the thought of home that kept him going, as well as the letters back and forth. Basic training kept him pretty busy, and was a distraction needed. After that he attended training at Fort Benning for training regarding the new 11th Air Assault Division. Serving with the 11th, he gained several tours, but wasn't entirely happy about the 11th being rolled over into 1st Cavalry Divsion (Air Mobile) but since then not a whole lot has changed[/INDENT] [color=1a7b30][B]Equipment:[/b] [/color][list] [*]M79 grenade launcher - "Thumper" - 5 grenades, 3 smoke [*]M16A1 (w/ brass deflecter, newer model), "Rebecca" - 3 extra magazines (1 mag empty) [*]Colt 1911, 4 extra mags (one loaded in weapon) [*]M1942 machete, scout carry (small of back) [*]Gerber Mk II fighting knife [*]Jungle fatigues, boots, boonie hat, OD Bandana, [*]Canteen, e-tool, poncho, 50' 550 paracord, FAK, other soldier sunderies [*]pictures of mom and Regina [*]couple cans of "dip", pack of cigs, zippo lighter, pack of playing cards [/list] [/hider]