01/16/07

Yesterday we lost 4 soldiers, and one interpreter to an IED blast while out on patrol.

I spoke with an interpreter, that I have become friends with that came in last night to talk to me about it. He was near tears the whole time he was describing the scene to me, and the dreadful task that they had to do.
In their Humvee, these poor 5 souls had rolled directly over a very powerful bomb. After it was detonated, it left barely anything of the vehicle. He said they estimated it was 1000 pounds of blast when it detonated. He told me parts of the vehicle and of those inside were spread 200 meters away and even on top of surrounding buildings, leaving a huge crater in the cold ground. The top of the Humvee was blown 150 meters away, the turret was blown off, and the 50 cal was bent like a pretzel and away from the blast site.

I will not give the exact descriptions of what the interpreter told me they had to do next, and the horror of it. It was things no one should ever have to see or do.

I could see the pain in his eyes and could tell he was about to lose it.

I managed somehow to change the subject, and speak of other things, but this pain and horror remained on his face...

All 5 of these brave men came here in the tent all the time. We knew each one of them. The next days are going to suck bad. I have seen the guys from the Combat Stress Unit in here already talking with some of the soldiers trying to help them.

I too have talked with several soldiers already, just letting them tell me their stories and experiences with these men. I feel the great pain in their voices.

I wish so much, there was more I could do to take their pain from them... but all we can do is be here for them when they want to talk.

There is going to be a memorial service in a few days and it is, without a doubt, going to be the most painful of any we have ever had.

It has not been a good week at all. One of the crappy planes, (I mentioned in one of my first journal entries), they fly us around here in country apparently had problems landing on the strip at another camp, circled around, and crashed on the second attempt, killing 29 Turkish contractors, 1 American, and the two Russian pilots.

3 days ago or so one of our fellow KBR employees was shot to death in a friendly fire incident. At a Coalition checkpoint down at the Green Zone some Australians for some reason were fearing for their safety. Investigation is in progress, but he's still dead.

I'm surely not the first or will be the last to say...but war just sucks...