A Night in Iraq

I hear the alarm go off, I instantly awake. Shit this is it. Saddam has actually done it, he has gassed us. I pop up from my hole and rip the gas mask from the carrier that I was just previously using as my pillow; don and clear it, like they taught us during our multiple visits to the gas chamber before deploying to Iraq. I try and gather my bearings as I stumble out of my hole, but the ear piercing sound of the siren makes it hard to focus on anything. To make things worse the lenses of my gas mask are fogged and I can hardly see anything. Who is on radio watch and why haven’t they come to get me yet? It has to be Riley who probably fell asleep. He is only two holes down from me and I start to head that way, when I remember my weapon. Marines must always be at least within one arms distance from their weapon. I turn around and retrieve my M16 from my hole. She has been my sleeping companion for weeks now. As I am doing this I hear a scream from my right. I immediately turn in that direction, I can’t tell who it is because it’s too dark, but whoever it is has not donned their gas mask and they are feeling the full effects of the biological agent that has been unleashed upon us. I run to him, reaching for my cargo pocket to retrieve the syringe kit they gave us before we crossed the LOD (Line of Departure) that is supposed to counteract the effects of a biological attack. As I make my way towards him his screams turn into gurgles, he drops to his knees and his eyes roll back into his head. I come to a defeating halt knowing that he is no longer with us and not wanting to get any closer. All of a sudden I hear screams from every direction and as I look around I realize I am the only one wearing a gas mask. I begin to get dizzy as I survey my dying comrades, and then I feel a slap across my face.

My eyes open and I am in a state of confusion. Doc Richardson is on top of me holding me down. The fog begins to clear and I become fully awake. The reality is I’m about four feet from my hole and I am clutching my gas mask like a life line in my right hand which is at the moment pinned down by this Corpsman. He also has his hand over my mouth. As I stare up at him I realize why he has his hand over my mouth. The screams were coming from me as I ‘slept’ that night. A night I won’t soon forget.