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Iraq War Bombing
Iraq war bombing is a way of life. I have experienced a lot of insurgent attacks and so have many of my buddies. This section is about some of the close calls we have had, including some sniper attacks. These all occurred within the past 38 months, starting in January of 2004, when I first arrived in Iraq.
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Mortar Attack At Balad
Sandbag It!
Not rated yet The first story that comes to mind happened to a friend of mine named Bruce, while we were working in Baqubah. The camp there is called Camp Warhorse. Our camp manager had just obtained a new Ford F250 pickup truck. Bruce was taking it out on convoy with the military to Anaconda. Fifteen minutes after the convoy left, we heard a loud explosion, followed by a smoke funnel. We knew the convoy had been hit. Shortly thereafter, Bruce came over the radio, calling the camp manager. "Hey Boss, you are going to need a new truck and I am going to need a change of underwear!" The IED had hit the left front fender of the truck. A piece of shrapnel, one inch wide by twelve inches long, shot through the windshield. It penetrated the back of the seat where Bruce was sitting. It missed his head by an inch. Many vehicles showed up on our base with shrapnel damage or bullet holes in the windshields from Iraq war bombings. They also took damage from civilians throwing rocks at the convoys. I experienced this firsthand on a ride to Tikrit.
I took a chopper ride to Camp Victory in Baghdad on Memorial Day.
Update--I got orders from my company this weekend, July 14, 2007, to return to Camp Victory to work there for a while. Camp Liberty is just up the road from Camp Victory. If you fly around Iraq, chances are you will fly on a military plane or helicopter. You may even get to go to Baghdad International Airport.
And don't forget to read about my adventure in Balad. My own first close call regarding Iraq war bombing came shortly after I arrived at Camp Warhorse. I was in bed asleep, when about 1AM, I was awakened by a loud boom. I was really tired as I jumped out of bed to get my clothes on. At night when you go to bed, you lay out your clothes so you can jump into them to run to the bunker if there is Iraq war bombing. I was so tired that I could not get my clothes to go on right. Another boom, this one closer. I was really getting worried. My mind would not think right. I had just returned from a three day convoy trip to Tikrit and back, where I had only about three hours of sleep each day. Boom, louder and closer. Finally in desperation, I gathered up what I could and headed for the door. Just as I opened it, boom. It was thunder! The rain was pouring down. We were not under attack, just a thunderstorm. So it was not a close call after all. Several weeks later, we were hit by real Iraq war bombing. I was walking back to my office after I had finished unloading a connex when I heard boom, boom, boom. The third boom landed 20 feet from the connex I had just left. ***************************************************************** I finally did get hit by Iraq war bombing.....I was home on my second R&R in San Antonio. For five nights in a row, I dreamed the same dream. We were under attack. Each night I could see the red tip of the rocket coming in on us. On the fifth night, the rockets hit. Each time they hit, they got closer to me. Finally, I saw one coming in, its nose bright and red. I knew that I had nowhere to run or hide. It was over. The last thing I remember thinking was what my camp manager used to say during our morning meetings. "Don't try to outrun it, just get on the ground. And if it gets you, well, it just isn't your day." It was not my day! I woke up and have not had that dream or anything similar since. ***************************************************************** The rest of the Iraq war bombings on this page are not dreams or thunderstorms! Another close call, this one real, happened to a soldier buddy of mine named Roy. When Roy returned to base, he showed me the humvee he was driving in a convoy the day before. His vehicle was hit by an RPG in the trunk. No explosion...thank the good Lord, but why not? His trunk was full of water. When the RPG hit the water, it did not explode! One Sunday in June 2004, our base had three attacks in one day. At this time, a guy named Dewy was our chief carpenter. He had been on base for eight months during some of the worst incoming Iraq war bombings we had. The first of our three attacks of the day came early in the morning. My friend, Glen and I were praying as we did every morning. We heard a loud boom and got up to head for the bunker. Just as we got to the door, another boom, only a lot closer. No time now to run for the bunker. We got down on the floor behind some freezers full of ice. Boom again--it hit 100 yards north of where we were. We were okay. Dewy was outside and almost got hit. The second attack of the day happened around 10AM. Dewy was down working at the MWR. A mortar round landed about 20 yards from the MWR building. The mortar sprinkled the north side of the building. The mortar sprinkled the north side of the building with shrapnel and took out several windshields. The third of the Iraq war bombings was at 1PM. Two rounds landed in our work area where our shops and generators and other supplies were located. Dewy had been outside of his shop, heading for the bunker when the round hit. It barely missed him. Since he had three near misses in one day, he decided it was time to go home. So he did. Now the interesting thing about this last attack was that it was only two rounds. The insurgents would always fire three. Several days later, the third round was found. It had landed in the sand berm (10-12 foot walls of sand built for defense around our areas), just behind the shops. Had it gone off, Dewy and several others would have gone home in body bags. Another significant thing about this day is that it was the last of the Iraq war bombings on our base for four months. Why? The Army had an eye in the sky and the insurgents showed their faces one too many times. They went to go see allah that day. Please remember to pray for our troops and civilians working over here to help the Iraqi people. We need God's protection to accomplish our mission. Prayers to Bless and Protect Our Military! Return from Iraq War Bombing to Information On War In Iraq
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