One of the most powerful experiences of my deployment was my first close call. As with anyone who has had a near death experience, it deeply affected my outlook on life. On my first patrol in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, south of the city of Fallujah, my five man team was ambushed. We took heavy fire from an insurgent machine gun team, my team leader was wounded and support was over two kilometers away. Even with my four well trained and very competent friends there in the fight with me, I felt very alone.
We managed to fend off the attack and make our way to safety, and my team leader evacuated and received the medical treatment he needed and was fine. But in the middle of that firefight, with bullets impacting so close to us that dirt was being kicked up onto our bodies, I realized how fragile human life is, and that so many of us take it for granted.
Other experiences have been less dramatic, but made even deeper impacts. While holding security on rooftops, I would often watch the Iraqi children playing. They would run barefoot through the cow pastures, with sticks or whatever crude toys they could find, playing their simple child’s games. They laughed and wore smiles on their frail and malnourished bodies, their torn and tattered clothing hanging off of their bony shoulders. Even the poorest American would consider these children to be living in filth and abject poverty. Gunfire would snap me back to reality; and the children would run for cover. I realized that the majority of little American boys and girls will never have to deal with sporadic gunfire, roadside bombs, or any of the other manifestations of the secular violence that plagues Iraq. My feeling of entitlement to the happy and comfortable lifestyle we have at home vanished. I will never again take for granted the freedom we have to pursue our dreams and almost limitless potential in this country, and I’ve now made it my personal mission to help everyone understand this.
Jason, I remember when you told us about being under fire and having bullets hit so close that dirt was being driven through your fatigues. It was a powerful and frightening image. It gave me a glimpse of your life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this.