The Soldier Next Door

There is a rumbling thunder that comes down with great speed onto our backs. You can hear as brick by brick come crashing to the floor, splitting into pieces. As I, the final one, get to the street, we watch as it comes down to a spectacular end. A big cloud of dust covers us and half down the street.

Once most of the dust has settled, we make our way back to the Humvees.

“Woohoo, that was fucking close.”© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

Lopez snaps his head to my left and looks me amazed in the eyes, “You losing your mind there, Lieutenant?”

“Now that was a rush. If I say it is better than sex, then Ana might just kill me.”

Everyone only but bursts out in laughter at me as we have once again missed another near-death experience. These three months better come quickly, for this heart cannot take this excitement anymore. And let us forget about the heart, that was fucking tough on my leg. I am going to sit in pain for at least another day or two.

But there is no time to sit with pain; we soon make our way back to camp, not having or wanting to handle any more excitement for the day. Hey, at least we brought one building down; not quite the way we would like, but it is a good start.

So soon as we find ourselves getting back, I skip the briefing to Ray for later; I have an eager lady waiting for my call. And I need not even have to ring long for her to answer.

“Hey, soldier.”

“Hey, boo. How is my boy doing?”

“I am doing fine, thank you for asking.”

“Of course, I know you will always be fine, even if your toe is falling off. So how is the baby doing.”

“Well, I am starting to think that we are looking at a football player here, for he is kicking the shit out of me.”

“Fuck, I wish I was there. Will he still kick when I get back?”

“God, I am sure by then he will be kicking to come out. But don’t worry, we are not going anywhere. So tell me about your day.”

Now, do I tell her I nearly ended under some rubble, or do I tell her the part where I hurt my leg with that speedrunning? Mmm, do I lie to my fiancé?

“Well, there was a building that blew up, and we ran a lot, so my leg is sore.”

I hear as her voice hitch but a pitch higher; I near have to hold the damn thing a whole arm’s length away from my ear. I give her a few moments to breathe and wait for the twenty questions.

“Okay, did you blow up the building and got in the way for? That would be kind of stupid. With you absolutely possible, but I am leaning towards not getting all the information here.”

“You are right about that one; there is some information being left out. But, boo, is the only thing not that I am okay?”

“You are a wise-ass again soldier, but yes, I am glad you and all the guys…wait…is everyone okay.”

“No, I am the only one that survived.”

“WHAT. THE. FUCK.”

I burst out laughing so hard that I nearly topple off over the edge of my bed. But yes, she is not finding it quite so hilarious as I do, “You need to be slapped. I am phoning Ray and asking him to punch you.”

“Hahaha. You are so easy to tease. But listen, kiss baby for me, I must go brief Ray. Love you boo.”

“Love you, soldier.”

With that, I am off to Ray for a briefing with another sort of successful meeting.

And this is what we do for the next ten months, into Fallujah, grounding every building to the floor, leaving only but rubble and no prisoners alive. Most of the civilians start moving out of the region while we deploy our continued missions. They are set to come to rebuild what we have destroyed.

With each mission, there comes a cheer, but yet another apology to a poor innocent man for tearing down what is his. With each mission, we get more resistance out than what we anticipated. They see that we have been coming down with full force and that we are not backing down.

Day in and day out, we go in, and day in and day out, we all are happy that we get back to camp alive. You do tend to get that reassurance that you give to yourself that you are invisible, but you do tend to forget that today might be your last day.

So with ten weeks of hard ass fucking work, we find ourselves going on the very last mission that we will go. There is both excitement and both fear, for they always leave the best for last, as they say. So the atmosphere is tight, and the men are nervous. What is also the last thing that will be done today is me addressing these men.

“Boys, we have worked fucking hard for almost six months. Each and every one of you can be proud of what you have accomplished for not only yourself, your fellow Marine, and your Country. Now today, I want to thank you for having the honor to have stood by your side. And today, I want you to go out there and kick ass for one last time and let us get the fuck home. HOORAH.”

With that, a HOORAH is heard from deep in the camp into the edges of the forest around.

As we set off on the road to Fallujah, only with a minimum required amount of Marines, the wind starts to pick up in an awful sand storm. You can barely see your hand in front of your face. We are driving in the dark. This is not how I expect this to start off.

So we crawl in at a slow pace towards the town; the only thing I am keeping in my head is climbing on the plane a few days. This weather is not going to freak me out and hold me back. As we get into town, we can hear the children playing in the streets, and there is the chatter between the civilians. This gives a very fair indication that there is no resistance around.

Then finally, the skies burst open, and the dust settles in almost an instant. On any other day, you would hate the rain, but fuck, as long as it settles that dust, it can piss down as much as it wants.

And then…

A false sense of security comes…

There is a round that comes zinging past my ear. We were not prepared for this. We are not enough Marines if there comes a gun battle. So we try to get out the firing range of the fireman, waiting for Lewis to get up there and take him out. How he is going to see in this, I do not know, but I hope that a sniper is the only problem that we will be faced with today.

Then all hell breaks loose…

There comes missile fire from another building and pierce the skin of one of the tanks, nearly flipping it on the side. The men inside, thank god, still seem fine, but not for long…another missile comes straight past our Humvee, only missing us by near inches.

They are playing cat and mouse, and they also have quick the mouse off-guard.

I immediately get Ray on the radio, not even bothering with proper protocol, “We are under serious fire; we need reinforcements. A lot of fucking reinforcements.”

The fire keeps coming in, but at this point, we seem to be under control, well, I lie.

WE. ARE. NOT. UNDER. CONTROL.

Lewis has not been able to get to the sniper yet, and there is another that has popped up that is having a go at the Humvee that Lopez is in.

And then finally our reinforcements arrive.

It is as if it was exactly what the enemy was waiting for.

Chaos erupts.

Missiles are piercing the skin of so many of the green tanks. One goes up in a horrific flame, and my body cringes. We just lost five Marines.

But they do not stop there. The Humvees are taking equal fire from so many rapid fires that are ripping Humvees to pieces. Another one gets stank and topple over in a ball of fire. We just lost another five marines.

There is absolute havoc been taken onto us from all sides and all corners. It is hard to say and hard to see where they are coming from. The worst is not the fact that we can not see them; the worst is the horrific screams that are coming from every Marine that is taken down.

The weather starts turning for the worst, and all you can see is a heavy downpour of rain and lighting that fills the skies. But that does not stop the enemy. They are firing at will in all directions knowing that we have no idea where they are coming from. We try to take as best cover as we can behind the tanks, but the moment a tank is blown to shreds, we are left in the open.

Then the bullets come in even faster and harder. I am seeing my fellow Marines that I have served with for the past six months not being able to hold it together. Bullets are not only piercing Humvees, but they are starting to pierce the skin of men, and I watch one after the other Marine fall.

Then we are left to abandon our Humvee as ours have been blown to shreds. The minute I step outside, I feel it, one sharp agonizing pain. One round is all it takes, and it rips straight through my leg. I am slammed back onto my back and fail into pain. I have felt this feeling before. I have been here before.

And there are only two words that leave my presence, “God, No.”

And that is it for me; I am rendered powerless and are not able to protect myself or even my fellow Marine. All I feel is being pulled to safety behind one of the tanks; as for the rest, rapid-fire continuously on and on until finally, it stops.

As I lift my head from where I am lying, my heart falls into my feet. There are the bodies of so many Marines lying lifeless on the floor. We did not plan for this; we did not think this is how this mission will go today. So as I look at Lopez that comes to check on me, I look at him with two pains.

“How many?”

“Forty-three.”

It takes every fiber in my body not to burst out in uncontrollable sobs and to scream at the top of my voice.

Forty-three Marines. Forty-three that won’t make it home alive in a few days. This has been by far the worst battle ever in Fallujah.

And with that, I see black and pass out from the incredible pain.