Ten Years After

18 March 2004, 0600

It’s six in the AM, and I’m sitting in my hummer, let me tell
you about my night: No shit there I was, standing completely
naked in the shower, toweling myself dry. The company XO (think
Riker on Star Trek) pokes his head round the door and says:
“Get your gear on I think there’s a raid on, you’re prob’ly goin!”
So I grab my shit and the CO confirms, we’re going out. We prep,
issue an order and roll out at midnight. We’re hunting for two
Iranians and a local sheik with RPG’s who are going to rocket the
largest US camp in our region. Finally a real mission.

It seems some E4 intel, from Baghdad weenie has a CI-snitch who can lead us
right in. So our S2(our own intel weenie, Captain type) calls us
in and w e roll down the main highway doing 100 kph, with these 3
on point. We roll right past the turn-off as described, and in
towards a different village then the one we were shown on the map.
We drive down a dirt road/dyke along side a canal, and then un-
ass our vehicles about three hundred meters up from some little
hamlet. We make a lot more noise than we should as we try to
organize our forces as we move out from the vehicles. About 100
meters along we’re finally straightened out when, SNAP Crackle and
POP!!!!!! Guys are hugging the dirt. Hey some motherf—cker down
there is shooting. More rounds. SSG Yap unloads about 20 rounds
downrange, the CO throws a few down. Some guys are paralyzed

“KEEP MOVING”
“GET DOWN”
“RETURN FIRE WITH ACCURATE FIRE MEN”
“GET BEHIND THE BERM”

And then we’re taking rounds from the flanks, so SSG Hunt
yells for everyone to get in the canal. Our S2 is so scared he’s
trying to dig through the canal and screaming something about
getting out of here. F---ing REMF! This guy tried to tell the
Col that intel guys are worth 20-40 grunts. Not in a gunfight you
ain’t! Now canal may be an exaggeration. It’s a concrete trench
about two and half feet deep. So now I’m sitting in dirty fucking
water getting shot at from three directions. So glad I just
f—cking showered for this!

“POP SMOKE! Haas move your platoon to the objective. Support by
fire. Byrnes pop an HE round out at the fire on the right flank.

"BOOM!!!!!"

Yours truly lets a 40 mm high explosive round fly from the
launcher below his weapon. The rounds stop flying from the
right. All the rounds stop flying.

“Get ready to move out men!”
“I pissed in my pants.”
“IT’S OK!”

SSG Cross and some other guys think we’re being mortared. Sgt Hallinan has
disclocated his shoulder, but popped it back in himself on the side
of the canal. Guys are crazy. It’s five minutes of total chaos.
We move up I’m standing up chasing the CO down the center of
the trench/canal, nice targets and he’s shorter. We get up on the
town. I pop another HE round, to cover movement and we’re doing
CQB, taking buildings.

In a couple of hours we clear all 7 buildings. We find some AKs and ammo a few women and children huddled in fear in the dark, and no men. SOme men, though, are watching
us from the field, with night vision goggles no less. The S2
pulls himself together (he was “a little shaken up”) and comes up
to search. The snitch and the MI weenie are long gone. The women
tell us they thought we were cattle thieves. A couple of Apache’s
fly overhead cover; after the raid! We get no Iranians, no Sheik,
no rockets! The adrenaline is wearing off and I need to get some
sleep.

Post Script, 20 March:

All concerned from civilians to Iraqi Soldiers tell us we really were
mistaken for cattle thieves. They’re very sorry!