Air Raid Sirens
Just another day in the life of an expat living in Ukraine.
INCOMING INCOMING INCOMING RAAAAAANNNNN RAAAAAAAN RAAAAAAAN INCOMING INCOMING.
The C-RAM bellowed its warning throughout the FOB, letting the soldiers know that the enemy had launched some indirect fire weapons into their safe haven. I was no stranger to incoming rounds. I was a few days into my second deployment to Iraq. I walked calmly through the building, making sure that all the junior soldiers had made a run for the bunker outside.
I was not afraid. My respect and fear for the C-RAM and enemy indirect fire weapons had faded since my last deployment.
“If I get hit, I get hit.” was my attitude at the beginning of a fifteen-month-long lesson in boredom and resilience. Though that is not what I had thought during the middle and end of my previous deployment. An enemy mortar round had detonated behind the palace we were staying in and tore apart a sailor attached to our unit. The medics miraculously saved his life. I don’t know how he is doing now, but whatever he is doing is…
