(no subject)
I don't think i've actually sat down and thought about Iraq for a while. I've realized some things that I guess I forgot about.
Me and my guys were so close to death so many times...and we laughed about it...we said, "we'll laugh now and cry later down the road." It's true...I think we are all finally starting to feel the emotional affects now. Divorces, PTSD, psych evals., etc...
We've seen so much...and we've been through too much. War sucks...it really does.
What sucks the most is that we can't even say a lot of things...due to the war still going on...I understand why...but I wish I could get my stories out there.
Story time...
#1
I was heading down the road. It was actually one of our huge missions to Al Ramadi (the worst place in Iraq). We were heading down one of Iraqs highways (Iraq only has 4 of them) and all of a sudden...BOOOM! the earth is shaking, sparks are flying...the echo of the blast bouncing around my ribcage. I get up in my turret and charge my .50 caliber machine gun. I then flip my Night Vision Goggles down and on and start to search. Not even making the connection that hundreds of pieces of shrapnel just whizzed within inches of my head. I set the flare off and hear chatter from all directions on the radio. Every gunner sets off a flare and checks the surrounding areas for anything...ANYTHING that moves. Luckily everyone on this one is alright...but we did have to haul the truck into the nearest base. I was later approached by a member of EOD and told how lucky I was to be alive....that IED was about 10 ft away from me. Yet, the army didn't feel I was close enough to receive the army Combat Action Badge.
#2
We were driving down one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq. I was a gunner for this mission too. We were the second Gun Truck this time and we were providing security for a bunch of civilian drivers (pieces of shit that they are), most of them were American. We had just turned onto the road and about a mile onto it...all of sudden on the radio... "IED! IED! Gun truck 1 is hit! Oh shit we're on fire!" then the radio breaks. I then see this huge ball of flames shoot into the sky. We speed up so fast that the little skin that's showing on my faces is waving in the wind. We pull up right beside the burning vehicle and see the doors are open. and they are on foot. We pull up a little more and look for them...and eventually find them...We pull away from them so that we can provide frontal security on the convoy. I spot a vehicle on my right about 2 o'clock. The muzzle of my weapon pointed straight at the vehicle ready to blast away at the piece of shit that blew up one of my closest friends. I shoot a flare warning that son of a bitch to back away...I know I can't do anything...why? because the civilians back home would have a field day with it. Even though that's the only vehicle near the area....and I'm almost certain it was them. Anyways...eventually another convoy of security and recovery vehicles show up. I yell out some information to their gunner as what's left of the ammo is going off from the burning carcass behind me.
If those guys were a second later...(and yes that is the right amount of time)...they would be dead. A second after they all got out...is when the huge explosion happened.
One of my really good friends was in that vehicle...Thank God he's alright...i don't know what I would've been like after that if he had died. Honestly, I would be a wreck....
It's sad that there are things I had to leave out of those two stories due to Operation Security...there are stories I'm not even allowed to tell...not until this war is over...maybe not even after that...who knows...
I dunno...I guess it is all hitting me now...how close i've been to being dead...how close some of my great friends have been to death. Yet, i'm still here...i'm still living...still breathing...
I'm not very religious...but Thank you God...
Me and my guys were so close to death so many times...and we laughed about it...we said, "we'll laugh now and cry later down the road." It's true...I think we are all finally starting to feel the emotional affects now. Divorces, PTSD, psych evals., etc...
We've seen so much...and we've been through too much. War sucks...it really does.
What sucks the most is that we can't even say a lot of things...due to the war still going on...I understand why...but I wish I could get my stories out there.
Story time...
#1
I was heading down the road. It was actually one of our huge missions to Al Ramadi (the worst place in Iraq). We were heading down one of Iraqs highways (Iraq only has 4 of them) and all of a sudden...BOOOM! the earth is shaking, sparks are flying...the echo of the blast bouncing around my ribcage. I get up in my turret and charge my .50 caliber machine gun. I then flip my Night Vision Goggles down and on and start to search. Not even making the connection that hundreds of pieces of shrapnel just whizzed within inches of my head. I set the flare off and hear chatter from all directions on the radio. Every gunner sets off a flare and checks the surrounding areas for anything...ANYTHING that moves. Luckily everyone on this one is alright...but we did have to haul the truck into the nearest base. I was later approached by a member of EOD and told how lucky I was to be alive....that IED was about 10 ft away from me. Yet, the army didn't feel I was close enough to receive the army Combat Action Badge.
#2
We were driving down one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq. I was a gunner for this mission too. We were the second Gun Truck this time and we were providing security for a bunch of civilian drivers (pieces of shit that they are), most of them were American. We had just turned onto the road and about a mile onto it...all of sudden on the radio... "IED! IED! Gun truck 1 is hit! Oh shit we're on fire!" then the radio breaks. I then see this huge ball of flames shoot into the sky. We speed up so fast that the little skin that's showing on my faces is waving in the wind. We pull up right beside the burning vehicle and see the doors are open. and they are on foot. We pull up a little more and look for them...and eventually find them...We pull away from them so that we can provide frontal security on the convoy. I spot a vehicle on my right about 2 o'clock. The muzzle of my weapon pointed straight at the vehicle ready to blast away at the piece of shit that blew up one of my closest friends. I shoot a flare warning that son of a bitch to back away...I know I can't do anything...why? because the civilians back home would have a field day with it. Even though that's the only vehicle near the area....and I'm almost certain it was them. Anyways...eventually another convoy of security and recovery vehicles show up. I yell out some information to their gunner as what's left of the ammo is going off from the burning carcass behind me.
If those guys were a second later...(and yes that is the right amount of time)...they would be dead. A second after they all got out...is when the huge explosion happened.
One of my really good friends was in that vehicle...Thank God he's alright...i don't know what I would've been like after that if he had died. Honestly, I would be a wreck....
It's sad that there are things I had to leave out of those two stories due to Operation Security...there are stories I'm not even allowed to tell...not until this war is over...maybe not even after that...who knows...
I dunno...I guess it is all hitting me now...how close i've been to being dead...how close some of my great friends have been to death. Yet, i'm still here...i'm still living...still breathing...
I'm not very religious...but Thank you God...