Preview

What they saw downrange

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
719 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What they saw downrange
The soldier, Airman, Marine or Sailor who spend a year tour downrange has seen it all. Just about everything you could imagine, when you have been deployed downrange in Iraq and Afghanistan you have seen it. They have seen unbelievable heroism, and they have seen blatant cowardice; They have seen, felt, and tasted fear; and have experienced sweet relief. They have seen men bleed to death surrounded by their fellow cadre. They have seen brains and blood all over the inside of a Humvee, after they watched the vehicle in front of them momentarily vanish in the smoke of an IED blast. They have heard the screams – “Medic! Medic!”. They have lifted dead Afgan children out of cars, and they have looked down at their own hands and seen them covered in blood mixed with dirt as they moved the injured to safety. Sadly they have seen kids with gunshot wounds, and they have watched helplessly as an old Iraqi man pulls the cord on a suicide bomb killing himself and 10 others in a busy Baghdad market. Downrange, they have seen two medics over him desperately trying to get either a pulse or a breath. Downrange, they have heard rounds wiz by as they run for cover as fast as can, they can still smell the cordite, and hear the percussion thump of mortar rounds.

Downrange, they have seen shrapnel holes as big as their fist in the sides of some of the medevac helicopters. They have fallen down, gasping for breath, as they helplessly try to carry a man so badly bloodied you can’t recognize who he is. They have raided suspected insurgents houses at 2am, kicking in the door, sometimes that take a shotgun and blow the lock off. They can’t remember how many “bad guys” that have killed, but they can’t forget their first. They have looked into the dirty bearded face of man who just shot and wounded a soldier, and now throws his AK down and raises his hands above his head and yells in perfect English, “I surrender, please don’t kill me” . They have seen the angry faces of the local

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ten Kliks South” research paper “Ten Kliks South” is a short war story about the desensitisation that has been caused by soldiers fighting in the Iraq war, evidence of this is how the characters fighting in the Iraq war, brag about their killings. The soldiers tally up their killings between the gun that was used and the shooter of the weapon. Most of the characters see the killings the same, while the narrator has a slightly different view. He has many questions to ask. He wants to understand why they are killing and what they do after they kill the people.…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How do we emphasize the importance of the role that each sustainment soldier plays? How many times have you gone through an MKT line and food has run out? I bet the cooks ate, though. I could call out a number of roles that sustainment plays but then I would just be bitching. When sustainment starts to lack, due to any number of reasons, it is not the sustainment soldiers that suffer. It is those soldiers on the front lines, if there is such a thing anymore, that suffer most. Let the infantry unit who is taking the fight to the enemy run out of ammo, fuel, water, or food. I never want to see that happen but it seems that we only learn through our failures. We, as American Soldiers/Airmen/Sailors/Marines, are also our biggest problem. We are almost too good for our own good. We still complete the mission despite all that we lack at the time. I hope that is not taken for granted but this attitude of "do more with less" is starting to take its toll. We are running ourselves into the ground and if it goes on for much longer there will not be anyone who will want to put the uniform once the rest of us decide to take it…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    These are Soldiers with special training that perform medical duties when they come into contact with the enemy.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is very frightening walking around the area because one can erupt and kill the soldier. “Kill him if he’s lucky. If he’s unlucky, he will be turned into a blind, deaf, emasculate, legless shell. It was not warfare. It was murder” (288). I never thought that being in the war was that intense. Everywhere people went, they have to look around for grenades, mines, guns, rifles, or even the enemy around because they would never know what or who would be shot first. One day, Caputo and his platoon planned to ambush the Viet Minh at a village near Danang. They were settled to fire at the Viet soldiers, but they saw many people trying to run away to a place to protect their children, they had their doubts. Even when they see the all these Vietnamese people, especially the innocent ones, see many deaths and injuries through the battle from their actions, all they have to do is face the truth and move on. When I read this, I thought about my family, when they tried to run away to safety. They saw many close family and friends die during the one in many battles that happened in the war, and it is tragic for me to see when they cry about it once it a…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As I read Dispatches by Michael Herr, there is an overwhelming sense of fear and horror. His dispatches are populated by soldiers called 'grunts', whose enemy was everywhere and nowhere. Their maps were blank; their names for the enemy, 'Charlie' or 'VC', told them nothing. How do you recognize them? They all wear black pajamas; they are all alien to us. They are everywhere. That's where the paranoia began. Herr's dispatches are disturbing because he writes from inside the nightmare, with all the tension and terror that turned these young men into killing machines. It is all the more frightening because, emptied of any concerns for justice, or ethics, or solidarity, they opened fire anywhere, everywhere. After all, who could know where or who the enemy was?…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They were used to simple rules followed by society, knowing that killing is bad, your not allowed to drink alcohol under 21, and simply how to stop at a stoplight. Your morality is twisted and turned by the effects of war as killing once may have been bad in society but when you're faced against the dilemma that it's either “kill or be killed” the soldiers thoughts and emotions change drastically in that moment and forever. In society it's a rare moment to even come close to dying on a daily basis, whereas these soldiers are faced with almost dying every day instantaneously, they change because the set of rules they may have been used to following have changed. Killing may have been bad but now they are forced to survive without even taking a second thought to as if what they are doing is bad. If they had the moment to think about it in their thoughts they would be thinking about how the people they are killing may have families, be somebody's son/daughter, somebody's brother, somebody's lover,etc. If they were not forced to do this their morality and emotions wouldn't let most of them be able to do…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anil's Ghost Summary

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages

    These people must for sure feel deep hatred towards the insurgents. Consequently, the hospitals are so full of wounded people, that doctors are working overtime, to attempt to help as many people as they can. A specific example of a doctor doing this, is Gamini. Gamini works overtime, literally night and day, catching a few hours of sleep here and there, and consuming protein drinks to keep him awake. Many people are sent away, simply because the hospital's can only treat so many wounded.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the end, war is crucial and hard for many. No two people are alike when it comes to the effects of war. Some have horrible flashbacks imprinted on their minds that only very few can see through. In addition, others have physical wounds that everyone…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, in the story “The Smell of Fresh Paint” by Sergeant Tina M. Beller she was in Iraq and they were severely attacked with a barrage of rockets. She told the story from her point of view which was very effective because she was actually there to experience it and she had so many feelings towards the event. “I was kind of worried. His head was abnormally…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The troops had little food, lick grass for water, had to bear the sight of other’s deaths, as well as live under the thought that they could die at any moment. The people who lived through this of often scarred for life, mentally and physically and even being depressed.…

    • 615 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    War is one of humanity’s oldest vices. The keystone elements in human history are how soldiers respond to armed conflict and the stress of the war. The harsh conditions of war puts serious pressure on soldiers. Fighting a war is not a typical job that most of us go through. The soldiers are putting a very high risk to their own life and that is the biggest factor causing stress. They are not aware if the next bullet has their name of it. The knowledge and guilt of killing someone is not the same as watching a war movie with gory details on TV. It takes a lot of mental strength do it every day as part of your job and still move on. The expectations of the nation and family are high. They carry the expectations of many on their shoulders and do not want to face defeat at any cost. The loneliness and isolation from staying alone for months together away from family at war. The harsh living conditions for soldiers at war has deep impact on…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    lone survivor

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On June 27 th, 2005 Marcus Luttrell, Danny Dietz, Michael Murphy, and Matthew Axelson, all SEALs, roped out of a helicopter into the rugged terrain of Afghanistan to take out their target. Luttrell initially had worries about the terrain and lack of cover that later proved just. The four SEALs quickly realized they were getting into any sniper’s worst nightmare, difficult terrain with no cover of any kind, so they had to backtrack and try to find better routes and hides.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Our soldiers leave wars in foreign countries only to fight another war at home. David Finkel explores the hidden pain and suffering of war-families and veterans in his book Thank You For Your Service. Finkel, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of a New York Times Best Book of the Year, has spent hours upon hours researching, interviewing, and simply documenting what a two-decade war does to a soldier and their family. With no specific target audience, it is at least suggested those unfamiliar with PTSD and TBI should spend some times diving into the heart-breaking and up-lifting stories. Finkel uses stories and their meanings to appeal to the emotions of the readers to support his idea of the hidden pain and suffering of our veterans and…

    • 1760 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Born on the Fourth of July

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Some of the most popular pictures are those of soldiers running up to their families right after getting off of the plane from a tour of duty, crying, and thankful that they are back home and safe. But how many of us actually care about those soldiers beyond knowing that they are home and safe? Ron Kovic’s autobiography, Born on the Fourth of July, is out to prove that going through a war has an affect beyond what most of the population sees; there are life-long effects, especially for those who come back injured and maimed. Every aspect of Ron Kovic’s life changed when he came back from the war and couldn’t move over half of his body and, for the most part, he had to deal with all of these changes on his own.…

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Argument Against Policing

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “According to US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, roughly 3.1 million Americans entered military service between 2001 and 2011, and nearly 2 million were deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. In that time, more than 6,000 American troops have been killed, and roughly 44,000 wounded. Of returning service members, more than 18% have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, and almost 20% have reported suffering from the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI)(Green).” The war in Afghanistan lasted longer than any other war in our history. Combat operations ended in 2014, but still today our military remains hidden on Afghanistan’s soil. What that means is men and women are still dying at the hands of worldly opposition. The impact of war doesn’t stop with the service member. It affects the service member’s family, their friends, their job (if they are in the reserves), and numerous other aspects of their lives. “As of 2009, the US Census reported roughly 118,000 active California service members. When you multiply that by the number of families and friends those soldiers left at home, the significance of the statewide impact becomes clear. In 2010 alone, 6,000 military recruits were from California. “The LA Times reports that as of August 25, 2014, 749 California service members from every…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays