The things we learn and accomplish in life.

I was 24 years old and had joined the Army in 2003. I had been in the field for two weeks sleeping in tents, and I can still remember on how cold it would get every day. Our last day in the field was a beautiful Friday, and all we had to do was to break down the tents. As we packed our stuff and started heading back to base, we got the news. Our company First Sergeant held a formation, and said “This is it we have orders we going to War Hooah”. It was no surprise, since we were a nation at War. We had been training for the past three months and knew it was a matter of time. It affected us in our personal lives in so many different ways. Soldiers like me had never been to war, and to the other ones that had been to war it was just another walk in the park.

The hardest part for me was telling my family about my upcoming deployment. This deployment was going be a hard one for the soldiers and their families.  Everyone had their own personal struggles, but no matter what, we had each other’s back to make sure that everyone would make it back alive. The weekend had passed fresh to work on Monday morning, the Battalion Commander held a formation with dates and timelines we had to meet. So with only two months before boots on ground, we had to get hot and heavy. Everyone had their own task. In the list to do we had to get all the equipment ready to ship to Iraq and had to coordinate with the troops that we had to replace in our area of operations. In addition, we still had to cover all the training, medical, and legal issues. A positive attitude was required. The company commander and the first sergeant were amazed at the attitude the soldiers brought to work every day. No one really wanted to talk about our deployment, but you could tell everyone had questions, but the biggest concern was about protection. We were issued old Vietnam fragmentation vests, and the vehicles had soft doors, and to tell the truth, it made us uncomfortable. There was a lack of body armor and armored vehicles, and other issues had risen, like what exactly our mission would be, since the invasion was done and over with, and there was little information on the matter of our mission. Finally the day came for us to ship out; we started boarding the plane. As families were waving at us from the terminal, the high ranking officer shook our hands, as we climbed the stairs on to the plane. That was when it had really hit me. I was on my way to war.

After an 18 hour flight we landed in Kuwait in the early morning. As we got off the plane, I looked into the sky, and I saw that there was a convoy of planes. It looked just like L.A.X ; plane after plane and thousands of troops were arriving. It seemed as if we were getting ready for another war. We would be spending a few days in Kuwait for some more training and briefings. By then I had a better clarity on what to expect. I was able to focus better and stay motivated.  Three days before we pushed up to Iraq, we managed to get some body armor.  We had also acquired some metal plates and scrambled on getting them welded on to our vehicles. We were trying to get as much protection as we could, including putting sandbags on the floors.  As other units started pushing up into Iraq, it was our turn. We were ready, staged right on the border, waiting for the morning to come. When the morning came, so did the call for us to start pushing into Iraq.  My unit was on its way; we locked and loaded our weapons, and sat them on the windows of our vehicles. With convoys only fifteen minutes apart, we were able to support each other in case of any attacks. Sure enough two hour into our convoy, we started to receive small arms fire.  So we did what we do best, and engaged the enemy and kept pushing into Baghdad. Luckily no one got hurt, and after a few hours we arrived in Baghdad waiting for the rest of the unit to get there. The next day we left again, to keep pushing up to our final destination. As soon as we got there mortars and RPG started coming in; we were being attacked. The only thing running in my head was, “oh god it’s going to be a long year”. We quickly assumed responsibilities in our area of operations; our first mission was to meet with the local nationals, provide security to the villages, and also to gain the trust and friendship of the Iraqi people. They would play an important role in the reconstruction of Iraq, and in return they would provide us with intelligence. Several weeks had past and things were getting worse in Iraq. The insurgency was growing in a high numbers, and they were using new methods. We were encountering IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices), in a whole different level. Insurgents were getting smarter and they knew how to hits us. They also knew we did not have the technology to fight these IED’s.  In some parts of the country the hostility was rising to a level that we were losing cities and the trust of the Iraqi people.

Central Command decided to do a mass sweep on the country, but their main focus was Fallujah. The Marines would lead the attack and they had the Army to support them. My unit missions were to capture or kill any insurgents that filter out Fallujah to other parts of the country. The battle had commenced. It was intense as it escalated all over Iraq. We had been ordered to convoy to LSA Anaconda were the main hospital is located, the place where all wounded or killed troops would come to be transported to Germany. When we got there we saw a constant flow Blackhawks flying in just about every 20 to 30 minutes. I could not believe my eyes, and on top of this the intercom came on requesting for any personal not actively engage to head towards the hospital. They were in need of blood so we headed towards the hospital and there was a soldier who got hit by an IED just a few miles out of the FOB.  He was MEDVAC there in a Blackhawk. The doctors were having a hard time in stopping the bleeding, on the soldier and the hospital was running low on blood to keep him alive. After a few hours the soldier had died due to hemorrhaging; this had just broken us down. By this time I am thinking to myself, “what if that would of have been me”. I tried not to thing about to much because we still had a mission to do. I had to maintain my discipline and stay focus finally the fight in Fallujah had come to a stop. The Marines had taken control of the city.

 A few months past we saw things getting a little better but we were still taking hits. We managed to find some breaks and finished our combat tour. Finally the day came for us to go back home. The replacement had arrived in country.  We were on our way back home and there was such an excitement and joy in everyone. We arrived at Fort Lewis a year later to our love ones, reflecting on what had happen knowing that some of us did not make it back. This has really changed my life and I now try to live my life to the best I can.