Dodging Danger in Iraq

I received an e-mail from a college friend who is serving with the military in Baghdad. When he has time to send e-mail updates to his friends I always find them impactful. I thought it would be good to share his latest one (with his permission). He lives and works in the green zone - so he's not even in the 'proverbial' front lines - none the less, his e-mail paints a picture of the danger to everyone who is serving over there. In posting this I hope you are reminded to pray for anyone you know serving in Iraq, and everyone there in general. And I hope you can get a snapshot of daily life there through his words, and the sacrifice that the men and women serving there are making.

"I am so terribly grateful to so many of you for the wonderful letters, packages, and emails. But, as great as these things are (and make no mistake, they are an essential boost to my morale) they pale in comparison to the prayers. Your prayers have sustained me throughout this trip, and continue to do so. My wife has repeatedly chastised me for not relating enough aspects of my experience out here. One of the issues I have struggled with is how open and forthcoming I should be with her (and then everyone else) regarding the more negative aspects of life out here. I mean, sure, the heat is oppressive, the sandstorms blot out the sun rather apocalyptically, and the hours would make Roman Galley Captain blanch. ("Row well and you may live.")

"The real issue, however, is the danger factor. It is easy to read or watch mainstream news and believe that, at times, all of Baghdad must be on fire, at war, overrun with medieval pestilence, what have you. The truth is quite different, but the danger is all too real. My base does take rocket and mortar fire on a somewhat frequent basis. It is an unnerving experience that may be beyond accurate description. We have alarms that sound when our radar/anti-rocket systems, and when one goes off you need to hit the ground fast.

"Most of the time I am in my office when this happens. The explosions can be heard from some distance; they also shake the walls. There are occasions, late at night, where explosions will wake you up. Your trailer rattles from the concussion. As quickly as you can, you roll out of your bed onto the floor; most people get under the bed until the "all clear" signal is sounded.

"My wife encouraged me to let those close to me know about my life here. In this fashion, she said, they would know how to pray for me and, also, that their prayers were effective.

"One evening (exact time and date withheld for security reasons), I was walking to dinner from just getting my haircut. We get some time to workout and run errands almost every afternoon. As I was headed to eat, the warning sirens began to blare. They sound "Incoming, Incoming, Incoming," whenever the radar picks up an incoming rocket or mortar. When you hear that siren, you need to haul butt to a mortar shelter (concrete bunker). These are placed all around the base. I looked ahead and saw one about 50 yards off. Something told me, very clearly, that it was too far to run to. At that moment, one of our defensive weapons systems fired in an attempt to intercept an incoming a rocket. Almost as soon as it fired, there was an explosion about 150 yards to the north of me, on the other side of a building. I glanced around and saw a concrete barrier about 3 ft to my right. I literally
dove behind the barrier and tried to hug it as close as I could. As soon as I landed, the weapons system closest to my location fired. At that moment I knew that one was going to hit near me. Similar to the first impact, as soon as the system fired, another rocket impacted about 25 yards away. The explosion was deafening. The ground and concrete wall shook. I was showered with rocks and dirt from the impact. After not hearing anything else for about 30 secs I moved out from the barrier. One guy near me had been hit; his leg was all torn up, but the medics responded incredibly quickly. I then stumbled back to work in a bit of a daze. It did not register until later that had I chosen to run for the shelter I would have run right through the impact zone.

"The time between the first warning and the rocket landing near me may have been like 5 secs, but the sheer intensity of the fear I felt from the moment the rocket hit to when the debris stopped raining down was unbearable. It was pure primal terror felt on a level that I have never experienced and never hope to again. I just don't know how to describe it in any other way.

"The next day I sent an email to my good friend. I did not know how to tell my wife (or other members of my family) or even if I should. There are about a hundred different schools of thought out here related to this topic. My good friend defined being a true friend in the midst of a storm in his reassuring responses.

"So, as I look back at the days I have spent here, and the days I have left (114 down, 85 to go!!), I see the effects of prayer, I feel the effects of prayer, and I am now living because the effects of prayer. Thank you so much, every one of you! Please please keep them coming. I just wanted you to know that prayer matters. Thank you again! I cannot wait to see each and everyone one of you!"

He also asked me to clarify that his note should not be read as critical of the war. I didn't read it that way, but want to honor his wishes to make that clear. He believes in what they are doing there, but in the end, war is still war. I think he did a good job of communicating to his friends and family.