Hi everybody.
It's been another busy week. Earned my combat action ribbon this week. I'm not sure if it was all on the news or not. Someone told me that it had been. The town of Hit (heet) and the surrounding areas were taken over by insurgents. They kicked out the local police forces and government officials and set up weapons inside the town. I was already out on a routine sweep patrol when we got tasked to go out to Hit. So I didn't get to pack up anything other than what was already on my back and we linked up with more Marines and headed out for the area of Hit. It was surreal. We started out driving through desolate barren desert which fell away to small farming communities closer to the river and then finally to villages with large groves of palm trees and sections of jungle. It seemed almost the whole way as we drove people came out of their homes and businesses to watch us pass by. Little kids would typically wave and give the thumbs up and ask for candy, but we were driving by to fast to pass out any water or candy. plus I don't think they would have wanted us giving away our water or food. I was literally still looking back from waving to a group of kids when we pulled up to our Company area. I was still turning around when two helicopters flew DIRECTLY overhead and began firing cannon and rockets into a palm grove less than 50m to my left. It then occured to me that not all the fire was going INTO the palm grove. The transition was that fast. Things got a little hectic from there. We were actually in a town across the river from Hit linked to it by a bridge that we had to hold. That whole first night was explosions and mortat and machine gun fire. Nervous. Then my platoon gets tasekd with clearing the palm grove that it seemed all the fire had been coming from when we drove up. We weren't all that excited about the prospect. We did it in the dark of night. I could barely see ten feet in front of me the whole way into the wooded area. it was thick with brush and we kept waiting to run into insurgetns, but it seemed all the fire from earlier in the evening and the helicopters scared them off because we finally settled down in the brush in a defensive perimeter without any contact. It was crazy when the sun came up. We were in a palm grove and a huge garden. there were pumpkins and oranges and limes and peppers and all kinds of stuff. most of it was torn up from when the insurgents had been trading fire from in there. We were able to move all the way up to the river without any problems. The insurgents were holed up in Hit directly across the river. we traded fire with them off and on, but mainly we just sat there and defended the bridge and our side of the river until they swept through Hit with light armored vehicles. they took the town without a single shot, all the insurgents having left during the amnesty cease fire the night before. There were lots of surreal moments this last week. Laying down in the garden of eded behind my light machine gun looking over the Euphrates River at a town thousands of years old. The mosques would play calls to prayer every few hours over these huge loudspeakers that could be heard for miles. there were actually several mosques within a couple miles of where we were so sometimes it would be this overlapping singing...some for our side praying for our safety and a return to peace and some from acrooss the river warning us to leave and that God was on THIER side. The singing and chanting was actually interesting to listen to. We ate some oranges and limes and there were bags and bags of dates, but we left those alone. they taste ok, but those were the townspeoples' means of income. THey were all evacuated from the town during the fighting and from what I understand the military has a team down there now figuring out how much to compensate them for lost crops and destroyed palm trees. luckily most of thier houses were only lightly damaged by insurgent fire aside from a couple that were hit by randomly launched mortars from across the river.
The whole 5 days we were out there are a bit of a blur. it went by slow/fast. we slept no more than maybe three hours at a time off and on as we could. One day my first honest to God sandstorm swept through the town. it looked like rain and then these high winds blew in and within a few minutes we couldn't see across the river, the river itself, and then not even the guy ten feet away. we just hunkered down and put neckerchefs on and sat it out. The last day after they swept through Hit, we were sitting in the gardens, a bit more relaxed. It rained. The weather was the coolest afternoon we had seen in months and then a gentle rain fell for about an hour. and Gary, my roommate...ever the kind of guy he is, found a pumpkin and carved us a jack-o-lantern. we brought it back with us. I'll try to get a photo of it to send.
I wish I could really write more about this last week. every minute seemed to have something happening in it worth mentioning, but it's all kinda jumbled in my mind at the moment.
Getting back to base was the greatest thing ever. just to peel off our cammies, soaked in sweat and mud and dirt and sand and get a quick shower and shave (we didn't shave the whole time we were out there and I pretty much had a full beard going. I've kept the mustache for now like a bunch of other guys in my squad...mostly out of boredom) and climb into a BED and SLEEP for a full 6 hours. that is heaven. well I have to get going now. this entry is pretty damn long as is.
but I'm safe and sound and doing well. another week down and we keep going. I hope you all are doing well and I miss y'all!
Always,
David
It's been another busy week. Earned my combat action ribbon this week. I'm not sure if it was all on the news or not. Someone told me that it had been. The town of Hit (heet) and the surrounding areas were taken over by insurgents. They kicked out the local police forces and government officials and set up weapons inside the town. I was already out on a routine sweep patrol when we got tasked to go out to Hit. So I didn't get to pack up anything other than what was already on my back and we linked up with more Marines and headed out for the area of Hit. It was surreal. We started out driving through desolate barren desert which fell away to small farming communities closer to the river and then finally to villages with large groves of palm trees and sections of jungle. It seemed almost the whole way as we drove people came out of their homes and businesses to watch us pass by. Little kids would typically wave and give the thumbs up and ask for candy, but we were driving by to fast to pass out any water or candy. plus I don't think they would have wanted us giving away our water or food. I was literally still looking back from waving to a group of kids when we pulled up to our Company area. I was still turning around when two helicopters flew DIRECTLY overhead and began firing cannon and rockets into a palm grove less than 50m to my left. It then occured to me that not all the fire was going INTO the palm grove. The transition was that fast. Things got a little hectic from there. We were actually in a town across the river from Hit linked to it by a bridge that we had to hold. That whole first night was explosions and mortat and machine gun fire. Nervous. Then my platoon gets tasekd with clearing the palm grove that it seemed all the fire had been coming from when we drove up. We weren't all that excited about the prospect. We did it in the dark of night. I could barely see ten feet in front of me the whole way into the wooded area. it was thick with brush and we kept waiting to run into insurgetns, but it seemed all the fire from earlier in the evening and the helicopters scared them off because we finally settled down in the brush in a defensive perimeter without any contact. It was crazy when the sun came up. We were in a palm grove and a huge garden. there were pumpkins and oranges and limes and peppers and all kinds of stuff. most of it was torn up from when the insurgents had been trading fire from in there. We were able to move all the way up to the river without any problems. The insurgents were holed up in Hit directly across the river. we traded fire with them off and on, but mainly we just sat there and defended the bridge and our side of the river until they swept through Hit with light armored vehicles. they took the town without a single shot, all the insurgents having left during the amnesty cease fire the night before. There were lots of surreal moments this last week. Laying down in the garden of eded behind my light machine gun looking over the Euphrates River at a town thousands of years old. The mosques would play calls to prayer every few hours over these huge loudspeakers that could be heard for miles. there were actually several mosques within a couple miles of where we were so sometimes it would be this overlapping singing...some for our side praying for our safety and a return to peace and some from acrooss the river warning us to leave and that God was on THIER side. The singing and chanting was actually interesting to listen to. We ate some oranges and limes and there were bags and bags of dates, but we left those alone. they taste ok, but those were the townspeoples' means of income. THey were all evacuated from the town during the fighting and from what I understand the military has a team down there now figuring out how much to compensate them for lost crops and destroyed palm trees. luckily most of thier houses were only lightly damaged by insurgent fire aside from a couple that were hit by randomly launched mortars from across the river.
The whole 5 days we were out there are a bit of a blur. it went by slow/fast. we slept no more than maybe three hours at a time off and on as we could. One day my first honest to God sandstorm swept through the town. it looked like rain and then these high winds blew in and within a few minutes we couldn't see across the river, the river itself, and then not even the guy ten feet away. we just hunkered down and put neckerchefs on and sat it out. The last day after they swept through Hit, we were sitting in the gardens, a bit more relaxed. It rained. The weather was the coolest afternoon we had seen in months and then a gentle rain fell for about an hour. and Gary, my roommate...ever the kind of guy he is, found a pumpkin and carved us a jack-o-lantern. we brought it back with us. I'll try to get a photo of it to send.
I wish I could really write more about this last week. every minute seemed to have something happening in it worth mentioning, but it's all kinda jumbled in my mind at the moment.
Getting back to base was the greatest thing ever. just to peel off our cammies, soaked in sweat and mud and dirt and sand and get a quick shower and shave (we didn't shave the whole time we were out there and I pretty much had a full beard going. I've kept the mustache for now like a bunch of other guys in my squad...mostly out of boredom) and climb into a BED and SLEEP for a full 6 hours. that is heaven. well I have to get going now. this entry is pretty damn long as is.
but I'm safe and sound and doing well. another week down and we keep going. I hope you all are doing well and I miss y'all!
Always,
David
VIEW 10 of 10 COMMENTS
phoebus:
Congratulations, and--once more--keep safe. Also, you better fucking e-mail me if you guys swing by Chery Point, LeJeune, or PI on your way home. You're due some alcoholic beverages. 
twwly:
Goodness. Your week sure trumps mine, eh.