We had been briefed for one of the largest structure sweeps since the beginning of the war. We were to take this area called the Yusifiyah Thermal Power Plant.
Saddam had originally paid for this place to be built near the Euphrates
river, but he defaulted on the payments. So the Russians left all this
equipment there and pulled out. Its two square clicks (kilometer) large and
had a five story super structure in the center. In the flat-land warfare, he
who controls the roof controls the battle. We cleared the structure and was
doing clean-up when I noticed that in the setting desert sun, the
surrounding area looked so eerie. I learned later that the power plant had
been a stronghold of insurgents, a base of operations and graveyard of
captured American GI's. We found body parts, blood and issued equipment of
the boys that had be captured in August. They had been questioned, tortured,
raped, and executed there. The blood of those boys and countless Iraqis
consecrates the land we just overtook. To be there, in that sunset, was much
like being in Mad Max. Everything had a thick coat of rust and animal filth.
Massive amounts of equipment, unused and wasting away, to be taken by
scavengers .The structure itself was a derelict monument to power and
removal of such by force. The best word to describe it all is
post-apocalyptic. There is this building that we determined to be the
air-conditioner for the thermal plant. It is 5 stories tall and is made out
of tubes that are no larger than my forearm. It looks like a building of
worms and through my NVGs (night vision googles) it appears to move. So alot
of the guys are already superstitious about the ghosts of the lads that died
here and this building starts screaming. I mean worse than any horror film
I've ever seen. Like the souls of the damned have risen at night to haunt
us. So every night without fail this building comes to life under our
googles and begins screaming as if it was being tortured for all hours of
the night. I can here it and after the third night I started to joke, "Damn
this is it. We are going to start dissappearing one by one and then I'm
gonna meet Freddy Kruger or Jason." Well that morning, we are eating our
breakfast MRE and finally someone says, "Doc seriously man, I cant take that
demonic screaming anymore. What the hell have we done? Can you give me
something to calm my nerves?" I told him no and that he would have to
re-adjust his manhood so it could get some air and start being professional.
That night sure enough we get attacked. Some mortars and small arms fire. No
injuries. About 2 hours later, the screaming starts, but its moving. The SAW
gunner just opens up.
BRAT TAT TATATAT TATATATATA
We run over to his position. Hes shaking uncontrollably, yelling that the
demons were flying past his position on the third floor south window trying
to kill him. We pulled him off the gun and I dropped 50 mgs of phenergan IV
in him. That morning we had a pow wow over a smoke about what the hell we
should do. I mean how do you stop something as strange as that? We came up
with the idea that the chaplain may have to come see it and give his
blessing/exorcism or something. He came out that day. As the night fell and
the screaming started, he just cracked up. Fell to the ground laughing so
hard he was crying. You see the chaplain was an avid hunter and outdoorsman.
All that demonic, twisted, horrifying screams of pain and death was really
just a damn screech owl and its nest in the worm building. We figured that
all the tubing was like a resonator for the call of the owl, amplifying it
to ungodly proportions. So when the demons came for that boys soul on the
third floor it was just the owl swooping for some prey.............silly us.
Saddam had originally paid for this place to be built near the Euphrates
river, but he defaulted on the payments. So the Russians left all this
equipment there and pulled out. Its two square clicks (kilometer) large and
had a five story super structure in the center. In the flat-land warfare, he
who controls the roof controls the battle. We cleared the structure and was
doing clean-up when I noticed that in the setting desert sun, the
surrounding area looked so eerie. I learned later that the power plant had
been a stronghold of insurgents, a base of operations and graveyard of
captured American GI's. We found body parts, blood and issued equipment of
the boys that had be captured in August. They had been questioned, tortured,
raped, and executed there. The blood of those boys and countless Iraqis
consecrates the land we just overtook. To be there, in that sunset, was much
like being in Mad Max. Everything had a thick coat of rust and animal filth.
Massive amounts of equipment, unused and wasting away, to be taken by
scavengers .The structure itself was a derelict monument to power and
removal of such by force. The best word to describe it all is
post-apocalyptic. There is this building that we determined to be the
air-conditioner for the thermal plant. It is 5 stories tall and is made out
of tubes that are no larger than my forearm. It looks like a building of
worms and through my NVGs (night vision googles) it appears to move. So alot
of the guys are already superstitious about the ghosts of the lads that died
here and this building starts screaming. I mean worse than any horror film
I've ever seen. Like the souls of the damned have risen at night to haunt
us. So every night without fail this building comes to life under our
googles and begins screaming as if it was being tortured for all hours of
the night. I can here it and after the third night I started to joke, "Damn
this is it. We are going to start dissappearing one by one and then I'm
gonna meet Freddy Kruger or Jason." Well that morning, we are eating our
breakfast MRE and finally someone says, "Doc seriously man, I cant take that
demonic screaming anymore. What the hell have we done? Can you give me
something to calm my nerves?" I told him no and that he would have to
re-adjust his manhood so it could get some air and start being professional.
That night sure enough we get attacked. Some mortars and small arms fire. No
injuries. About 2 hours later, the screaming starts, but its moving. The SAW
gunner just opens up.
BRAT TAT TATATAT TATATATATA
We run over to his position. Hes shaking uncontrollably, yelling that the
demons were flying past his position on the third floor south window trying
to kill him. We pulled him off the gun and I dropped 50 mgs of phenergan IV
in him. That morning we had a pow wow over a smoke about what the hell we
should do. I mean how do you stop something as strange as that? We came up
with the idea that the chaplain may have to come see it and give his
blessing/exorcism or something. He came out that day. As the night fell and
the screaming started, he just cracked up. Fell to the ground laughing so
hard he was crying. You see the chaplain was an avid hunter and outdoorsman.
All that demonic, twisted, horrifying screams of pain and death was really
just a damn screech owl and its nest in the worm building. We figured that
all the tubing was like a resonator for the call of the owl, amplifying it
to ungodly proportions. So when the demons came for that boys soul on the
third floor it was just the owl swooping for some prey.............silly us.