While settling in after a long day getting things ready for the rest of my unit to arrive, the LT and I were preparing for movie night. As I was "slipping into something more comfortable", the LT who stays in the room next to mine knocked his wall locker over. There was a very loud boom, the floor shook, dust drifted from my light cover and my smoke alarm cover fell to the floor. I kind of chuckled and hopped out onto the steps in time to see LT do the same. I asked what the hell he was doing over there and he exclaimed we were taking rounds. I chuckled and was about to say something witty... at that moment the sirens around base started blaring and the second round hit with a thunderous boom. I can't really explain what goes through your mind the first time you realize you are under attack, but it is a lot. We both jumped back inside and I scrambled for my gear. "Where's my armor?" "Where's my helmet" "Where the hell are my pants?" The next several hours were spent hunkered down in a bunker waiting on the all clear.
Having only been here two days, I am new to all this. The convoys go back and forth all the time. The men and women wave heading out the gate as they go into harm’s way. It is still so hard to fathom that I am in a place where people want to kill me, yet the evidence is so powerful when the trucks roll in from their missions with bullet holes and charred metal from roadside bombs and Rocket Propelled Grenades. In the next day or two, I too will be rolling outside the wire on my first mission. While meeting some of the soldiers from the unit we are replacing, I had the honor of being included in their pre-mission prayer as they mounted up and headed out the gate.
I thought hard about not including the events of last night, but I feel I need to say it. I am at war and this is all so new to me! To my family and friends, I'm sorry, but I will tell my story as it unfolds.
I feel the Lord is with me and I have no fear, for I find peace in Him. I don't pray to be kept safe; I don't pray to go home soon. When I pray, I pray that I please Him and honor Him and if He needs another soldier for His army; I pray He lets me take a couple of those bastards with me.