Grieving

My heart aches for his wife, daughter, and Jon. Though I didn't know him very well, I do know that Tim was truly a man after God's own heart. The world lost one of it's best.  You're in my prayers.

HACKED!!

The two recent posts about shoes were not from me.  My blog has apparently been hacked.

 

-The real Shibidie

28 March 08

Last night around 2300 I was going outside to brush my teeth and just as I stepped outside I heard a whistling overhead and then a small boom. Right after the boom a guy came running out of the darkness yelling "ROCKET!" as he ran past me inside. Since he was running I followed him running inside. There was one more faint boom after the that, but it turns out that the rockets overshot the FOB by a good distance so we weren't in any danger.

Just now I was walking from the TOC to the company command post (CP) via a shortcut across the helipad. The route is more dangerous because there aren't as many places to seek shelter and it's a wide open area, but the route does shave off a good bit distance and time. When I was about 2/3 of the way to the CP there was a huge explosion that made me jump and left me trying to figure out where I could seek shelter. A second later the PA system announced that it was controlled detonation. I think the controlled det was very nearby because I could seek black smoke rising right over the FOB perimeter wall nearby to were I was standing.

Even though it was a controlled det it shook me up a bit because for a moment I didn't know if it was one or not and all I knew was that I was out in the open unprotected with the explosion being very close. It's now time to put all of my gear back on. I'm still hoping each day that I'll find out that we won't have to wear all of our gear anymore.

25 March 08

There were two more IDF attacks today. The first was around 1400 and I was sitting in the Tactical Operating Center (TOC) for it. They were able to get a point of origin (POO) quickly and so they redirected Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) coverage to the POO. A blue bongo truck and a white sedan were at the scene and we followed the truck as it fled. The chase lasted over an hour and involved multiple people, insurgent vehicles, stops, and dropping off of equipment. At ont point we had attack aviation on the scene, but they couldn't positively identify the vehicle on the ground. All of us wanted to see them blow the insurgent vehicle to smithereens, but that never happened. In the end the three main insurgent vehicles were all stopped at a single house with the insurgents meeting inside, but everyone fled on foot just as ground troops arrived. Itw as extremely frustrating to watch them all get away.

This evening my roommate, Z, and I heard multiple explosiong but couldn't tell if they were incoming or outgoing. We were both a little jumpy and sensitive to sounds. The first explosions we heard were outgoing, but then around 2200 the sirens started going off and rounds began raining down on the FOB. I think there were 6-8 rounds during the first attack today, but I only counted 4-5 rounds in the second attack.

So far I haven't heard of any casualties from the second attack. No one was injured in the first one. At this rate we'll be wearing full battle rattle for the next 14.5 months.

24 March 08

This time around in Iraq is a lot different than last tour. In the days leading up to my arrival in country the forward operating base (FOB) had received multiple rounds of indirect fire (IDF), but only minor damage to buildings. The day I arrived, 21 March, I was joking with WO1 W. after dinner about how there hadn't been any IDF that day because the Anti-Coalition Forces (ACF) knew I was on the FOB. Then, not even five minutes later, at least 10 rounds of IDF came in. When the first round hit Mr. W and I looked at each other wondering if it was incoming or outgoing. We decided it must be outgoing because the sirens hadn't sounded, but right then the siren sounded and more rounds started coming in. Mr. W and I were right by our living quarters and ran inside the warehouse when the rounds started hitting. That's the last time I'll joke about an IDF attack not occurring on my account. One Soldier was killed and four were severely wounded in that attack.

Ever since that day we've had to wear full battle rattle every time we step outside or are in a building that is not a hardened structure during a 12-hour period of the day. We also are no longer allowed to eat lunch or dinner in the dining facility (DFAC) and instead have to get carryout boxes. While writing this we just had another IDF attack, so I'm guessing we'll be in full battle rattle for a few more days.

Last night I was in the TOC when the battle major yelled over for the UAV to fly to the site of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strike. It was dark out and so the UAV was using the infrared camera and I could tell that the IED strike site was extremely hot, but didn't think to much of it while I was watching the screen besides to wonder why it appeared so hot. I found out in the morning that what I saw the night before was a Bradley on fire. Four Soldiers inside burned to death and a fifth one was severely burned and might not survive. I was seeing Soldiers die and didn't even know it. CNN reported the IED strike because the death of those four Soldiers pushed the OIF death toll above 4,000.

Is it normal that I feel almost no emotion when I write all of this? The only emotions I do feel are those pertaining to wondering if I should feel anything because I just talked about five Soldiers dying.