Part III: The Strange Days
"It was so strange, those days in the middle of November. Everything was just a big mess. Everything was on a road goin' nowhere. You'd stop...then you'd see something uplifting. Like those Sand Island guys, for example. And I declare, just the sight of them gets ya moving again."-Cpl. David Whitefield of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 119th PIR, 79th Airborne Division
November 19, 2010- We drove 2 and half miles to a crossroads on a combat patrol. We told that the Yukes were concentrated about 5 miles southeast of us with scattered OPs and such. I was on point, moving towards the edge of the forest. With night vision on, I continued forth then I heard a rumbling noise. I suddenly spotted a Yuke tank up ahead. So I was like, "Fuck!" The tank fired in my direction, exploded near me and threw me back some 10 yards. A few Yuke tanks were on the move. I got lost in the maelstrom of bullets. I had run straight into an enemy OP. I got cut off when the tanks came...and everyone fell back.
So there I was totally lost in a snowy forest with no winter gear. My radio got busted in the attack. A bullet snapped the cord as I tried to radio in. So I tried an end around, but ran into more MG fire. "To hell with that!" I thought. So I ended up being chased into the fores
I heard planes flying overboard and I felt vibrations in the sky. I emerged from the forest and on the hill in front of me I saw a SAM missile site in the side of it. There were only two Yukes guarding it. An Osean plane came in at low altitude, the SAM locked on and it fired. I looked and saw the pilot eject as the missile hit the plane. I quickly shot three rounds from my position, nailing both. I had to knock it out since they were probably more of our planes up there. So I ran over to where the pilot landed- a half-mile away. I get to there and I'm looking around. I see the parachute in the trees, but no pilot. Then I turn around...and I've got a 9mm Beretta pointed right between my eyes.
I jump back a bit. I'm looking at this female officer eying me with understandable suspicion. However, she noticed my outfit, and then she lowered her weapon. What that relief that was...I thought she was going to blow my fucking head off. So she asks me who I am. I tell her while I gather myself from a near-heart attack, "Cpl. Damien Klein, B company, 1st of the 117 PIR...I got cut off from my squad on a patrol. Fucking Yukes came out of nowhere. I've just been running like hell." And while I'm saying that...I'm thinking I know this woman.
All the while the storm was getting worse. I could tell she was a captain from her insignia. So she tells me she's Captain Kei Nagase. I'm thinking "You gotta be fucking kiddin' me!" It appeared that we were in the same boat. Just when I'm thinking were gonna be here awhile, we hear a familiar noise: a helicopter coming in. And I'm like "Thank god!" However, the storm was picking up, it caught the chopper, and it crashes. I just cursed bluntly, "Motherfucker!" I said. We get the survivors out. Two of them were dead, but three others were still alive. One was unhurt, one was a walking casualties and one was seriously injured. We needed to get to some shelter. So she says "Follow me." I had no idea where I was, I had no means of communication. So I follow her, but the funny thing is...she didn't seem to have the qualities of a leader. I was much better at surviving these extremes, but she was a higher rank and definitely a hell of a lot smarter than me, so the situation dictated I follow her.
It was a wise decision. Although she was much better at
this stuff than I thought, she let me call most of the shots. I was
up front scouting ahead at one point, and found an abandoned farm
house. We hid the wounded there. Then she goes out to try to divert
the enemy. No doubt they knew her renown and they would try to find
us...and if she was captured there's no telling what they'd do to
her…or the rest of us. However, she insisted that she go alone. So
I'm sitting here watching the door and the uninjured Marine,
Watersby, was looking over the wounded.
Around 0400 hrs...she
came back. I had many questions I wanted to ask. But she was a famous
air force captain...I was just a lowly corporal to her. But I was
wrong. She starts talking to me, and I was amazed at how humble she
was. I realized this when I told her my war stories. She was shocked
at some of the thing I'd seen. Then she says, "We're not the
only heroes." I admitted my contempt for the air force at one
time, only because I felt their job was too easy. She and her allies
were obviously not this way. This I deduced after she told me about
her experiences.
We start talking about our friends and family. I told her about Jen, Dave, Charlie, Haley, Price and others. Afterwards she talked about her friends, who were subsequently her wingmen. But she didn't say "wingmen"...she said friends. They reminded me of my own friends. Even her squadron leader reminded me of how SSgt Price was. I remembered her tone, and the general way she spoke of "him". It was almost as if she was attracted to him. I told her about my family, about Jen and my whole community. She was so content to just listen. She and her wingman struck me as deep, introspective, sensualists. She, like me, didn't want to be here but had to be. She shoots down planes...I jump out of them. During this conversation, we struggled to get her damaged tracking device working...and I got it working around 0700.
The storm lifted that morning. She wanted to try her radio at high altitude. There was a large mound that was over 1000 ft high near the area. She left. She comes back later with a POW. I no clue how the hell she pulled that one off. She tells me a rescue's on the way. I have no idea what she did but then we're heading back up the mountain. Were waiting..waiting...then after a tense few minutes our rescue comes. Those guys in the sky, they were so excited. I could hear him and the other guys over Nagase's radio. I have never heard such jubliation.
We were airlifted to Vijan. On the way, an injured Marine stopped breathing. So I try to revive him; give him CPR. I got him breathing again. But sadly, he died before we landed. Once we got there, I hopped off that helicopter then she says, "I'll make sure you get a medal for this one." I saluted, but she just extended her hand. I shook it, and they were gone. Then I discovered when I got back that indeed was a Yuke counterattack...but 1st Battalion and 12th Armored managed to repel the attack. SSgt Price had 2 dozen volunteers to look for me. Everybody was happy to see me back. They were all patting me on the back. These guys were probably gonna get themselves killed for me. I called Jen and told her the whole story. The sad thing is that she's one the few who believed I met one the "Four Wings of Sand Island". This is why I never argued that women shouldn't be allowed to fight on the front lines. They work twice as hard as us guys do. Hell, Jen might have enlisted too if it weren't for her height, she's barely 5 feet tall. I still would have married her though.
November 20, 2010- After the fierce battles in the past two days, the Yukes have mostly abandoned the Gublina region. Now it's just mopping up any last resistance in the area. 1st platoon headed south towards the area I got cut off from the squad 2 days ago. There were signs of tree bursts and tank treads everywhere. We came across two Marines holding a few POWs.
D'Angelis, the black sheep of B Company, walks up and starts making fun of these poor guys. SSgt Price tells him to knock it off. After his usual bitching, he starts walking off. He turns to me and asked me something. His exact words were: "I wonder what ass-end of this fucking country these guys come from?" I took a look back. Suddenly, one of the guys said in perfect Osean, "St.Arbucies." I was shocked...that was my hometown...
Turns out the guy has family here. This guy is a member of a Yuke paratroop unit. He, like me, got cut off in that brutal attack yesterday. This guy lived literally 6 blocks down the street from me. He moved here four years ago. His older brother was, and still is, in the air force. He married his brother's wife's sister and they both lived in some town called Zalus (that town will be come infamous later...). He joined the...fifth air guards' army I believe it's called. We took the prisoners back to battalion, and we talked the whole way. But what struck me was his outlook on this whole thing. He told me, and only me, what was really going on here.
He was happy to be out of the whole thing. Many Yukes honestly don't know why they were fighting. They were just simply told so go here and attack here...and so on and so on. Just like normal soldiers. His brother felt the same way. This Yuke pilot often thought about the people he shot down. After some thought he'd say, "What other choice is there? To fight is die...to not fight is to die. It makes no difference".
All of us would rather be home right now. But that guy's right. What else is there? In peacetime, this guy could have been a good friend. But we all have a job to do. I guess I should stop trying to humanize this whole thing...maybe I'll live longer. At least I didn't have to kill the guy. Well...now I realize it's impossible now.
November 21, 2010- We got our first briefings on Operation Desert Blitz. The whole thing was just a massive offensive against the Yukes defensive salient there. Our battalion's objective was to capture an oil facility along with elements of 11th Armored. B Company has been selected to lead the initial assault; we are to secure the bridge over the river Semya.
Everyone is very motivated; the war could be over before the month is over. Everyone's making bets about when the war's gonna be over. I can't believe this war is going so fast. Everybody seems to want a quick war, but this is just too good to be true.
I got a very long letter from Jen. My family and some of the families in this regiment live in a community near Fort Augustine near Sierra City. We're a very close nit community. Jen knows the names of many people in B Company and her brother's company, Easy Company. It's seems to be a standoff between the military families and the civilian families. There is a massive anti-war sentiment from them. But they're mostly upset at the government for encouraging the whole thing. Nagase mentioned something about this. She said for the most part very few people supported it, including her and her squadron. Just like that Yuke I met in the forest. Then she tells me about things people call us: heroes, pawns, and murderers. Everyone in the community thought the world of us. Everyone else thought we were the tools, pawns, or both of a corrupt government.
But that was the ordinary people. Our company's morale was very high. Well, mostly. Haley has been strangely introspective.It was so strange at this point. I guess the men she'd mowed down with her machine gun weighed on her. She asked me once, "You think we're going to hell for this?" Haley Christenson, among most dedicated NCOs in whole company, asks me this. I didn't have an answer. I never have an answer. I've tried my hardest to block all this out of my mind. But no matter what goes on at home...the only thing I can do what they tell me to do. Then again, Haley has just about as much a flip attitude as Gagne or Lanning.
On a more positive note, Lt. Jones (company XO) was recommending some people for promotions, me being one of them. That is...provided I survive the next encounter. Asuka is now "Suki", as I call her now. Her name just wears itself out over time. She's a pale skinned, pasty faced, with her voice having a hint of helium. She is a little eccentric, she sits Indian style and cross armed giving the commands to the other people in the mortar team. It's like it's a business to her; which isn't far off. Her father and brother are both in big business. One time, when she and the crew dropped a mortar round onto a target, Dave jokingly said, "There's another hostile takeover." She just laughed it off.
November 23, 2010- I wear a rare honor on my uniform, something no one else in the 79th Airborne Division or the whole Airborne Corps has. United Branch Citation. This citation is only given for rare and unique operations involving more than 2 branches of the army. The Rescue of Captain Kei Nagase, myself, Lt. Don Johnson and Sgt. Watersby of the OMC, or Operation Icarus as it came to be called was the brainchild of Colonel Modelheim, commander of the 10th Fighter Wing, all of the auxiliary squadrons in the OAF. 3 Marine helicopters, 2 fighter squadrons and of course us on the ground were involved.
It was given to me during this ceremony at Vijan with all the division bigwigs there. They read the citations for medals, with me getting the Halo Cross. This one is usually for the air force, but I was the first non-air force guy to win it. It was a very special moment for me.
This tale one of the good war stories of this conflict. Even though I played a small part in it, I was still proud to have done what I could, even if I wouldn't have been there under normal circumstances. They say though I saved the day by fixing the transmitter. I guess being a former auto repair guy paid off. The official citation has all the names of those involved. This shut up all my critics. But I wanted to get back to B Company ASAP. There was just too much brass there...I felt embarrassed. I was one of only 2 NCOs there. But I did get to meet the Wardog squadron. And I declare, for officers, they are the most informal people I've ever met.
They seemed to do their duty using common sense, practicality, respect and a hatred of…well, hatred. They were all so happy-go-lucky; people that both enjoyed and hated their jobs. To have that kind of attitude in the sky is one thing. There life is imperfect, split-second decisions don't have to be made every single second. On the ground it's different. There are just too many factors that can ruin a trooper's day. They are lucky: some soldiers would misinterpret their anti-war sentiments as grounds for treason or what not. People like D'Angelis would be a perfect example. He is a born instigator, a lover of conflict and drama. I'd imagine Nagase or any of her friends would consider putting a bullet in his shoulder or something if we had switched places that day. Not that D'Angelis would willingly concern himself with his allies, paratrooper or otherwise. He is such a goldbrick. Spends all his time coming up with plausible reasons to get out of everything. However, he was just as good a person as anyone else.
I enjoyed conversing with the Wardog Squadron. They are probably the only people I feel I can talk to all day and not get bored. There are some exceptions: Jen and my old friends.November 24, 2010- I think everything has caught up to me. I keep playing the memories over and over in my mind. This whole war has as been a dizzying kaleidoscope of victory, dazzling air shows, and the sights and sounds of death and heavy metal. In a few hours, I will make my third combat jump. Well, maybe not "combat"; we'll be dropping east of the Semya river...Battalion doesn't think there's anything there.
Even if there was, who would say they'd fight? Some would believe the Yukes have no fight left. They've got plenty left in my opinion. They have mass reserves of firepower. Yet the army is divided. Some believe they were just thrown into the war haphazardly, with no hope of victory. Some are very patriotic. A few are too patriotic; bordering on psychotic if the Apoito Airport incident proved anything. They strangely did not tell us much about it. Jen told me over the phone. I have no idea why they would wait so long to give us the details on this whole thing.
I gave Jen quite a scare...I told her I thought I was living on borrowed time. Every minute was unsure thing where a plane in the sky or a sniper in the trees could finish me off. She and the community, unlike her family back home, have absolute faith in my ability to survive. She said "Godamnit, stop saying that! I know you can come back to us in one piece." To which I replied, "You have no idea what it's like here." I guess she was still worried, but dropped it since she thought I was right.
No one except those who fight knows how it is. Come to think of it...it supposed to be 110 degrees in the desert, yet that isn't what's bothering me. SSgt Price gave us a bit of a pep talk...just the usual. The only thing interesting was that he replaced Christenson with me as assistant squad leader. She didn't object...she's been real spacey lately. But me...a possible leader? I'm not too worried about it. I've fought with these people before, known them since BCT. I'd have the easier job than the officers.
I remembered yesterday when I saw "them" flying around near Vijan; at least I think it was them. I wonder if they'll be there. If they are, I know everyone in this Division is gonna go ape shit. Morale is still high. But will it last?
November 26, 2010
Today I sit in the medical tent for a third time. This wound I have is less serious than the one I took before Operation Callisto (Concurrent to Mission 13). I still can't believe I'm alive. My face still burns from that damn artillery attack. To my left I see a dead man, burned, missing the lower half of his body. I can't even look...
We dropped in yesterday at
0900 to secure the way for the 2nd and 3rd Armored Battalions of the
11th Armored Division. Everything was going great. SSgt Price led us
up to the bridge over Semya. There was some minor fighting across the
bridge; Charlie Company was engaging the Yukes on the other side of
the river. After that settled down, all we had to do was wait on the
tanks.
I was talking to Seville during that time. Gordon came up
and joined our conversation. I think we were talking about this movie
we watched several the other day. It was The
Other Side, a day in the life type of movie. Then we heard
rumbling. Clark, a new recruit started panicking. To which I said, "
Calm down, those are ours. It's about damn time, too." We got
into some APCs and we were behind the tanks. Then the chaos started.
We could feel explosions. Nightingly, the 50 gunner got hit in the
shoulder. SSgt Price was yelling for someone to get on the gun, so I
volunteered. I saw tanks everywhere...firing point blank. Planes were
falling out of the sky. I spent the next few minutes blasting
infantry. Seville shouted, "Were fucking driving on bullets!"
in his take on the chaos. Everyone was pretty nervous. The bullets
kept hitting the side of our APC as if they were rattling inside the
APC itself.
After a few minutes of constant fire, we were held
up by a large enemy stronghold. As we were told, our battalion was to
take the oil facility. 2nd would deal with that place. As we tried to
flank the facility, we were drawing heavy fire. They let loose with
artillery, and I try in vain to shoot at them. Then..."they"
came. The "Four Wings of Sand Island" flew right over my
head. I recognized those planes; they were in the same unique
formation as I saw them the other day. And they bombed the hell out
of that place. I was telling everybody, and I could swear I could
hear whole desert erupt in cheers.
Finally, about 20 minutes
later, we get to the oil facility. The rest of the air force had
worked this facility over. We dealt with minor resistance, most had
turned tail and ran. Fighting had broken out at the docks. I, Loran,
and Seville ran right into a MG position. Loran got torn apart. I
quickly threw a grenade that way distracting the gunner. When it went
off, we came out from behind the wall and started shooting. We got
three of them. The other two surrendered. I knew Yuktobanian, and I
heard their panicked stories, talking about the "Demons of
Razgriz" and how they were wiped out. I automatically knew who
they were talking about. The survivors mostly retreated with a few
left struggling to fight.
After some time, the heat caught up with me a bit. So as I sat down to rest, SSgt Price and the rest of our squad comes up. I don't remember exactly what he said then. Now it was basically clean up. About ten minutes later and we (Charlie, Dave, Peter, and Cpl. Jos "The Boss" Elliot) were chatting around an artillery crater. Then all hell broke loose...
It sounded like a blast in the distance like a freight train...then SSgt Price is yelling, "Take cover!" A massive explosion rocked us. It was where some of A company was. Then, more followed. Everyone scrambled to find cover, a rock, an enemy foxhole, anywhere. For about 30 seconds, there was nothing but earth-shattering explosions. I was still in the crater. What I witnessed...was the most terrifying display of artillery I had ever seen. Then, a blast knocked me back some ten yards. My face was on fire and I could barely see. Then, I heard a voice. "I gotcha buddy! Hang on!" It was SSgt Price. He pulled me into a building. Then he went back out to get another guy still out in the open. The explosions went on for a full minute...then silence.
Now I sit in an aid station having taken near fatal shrapnel in my head. My luck has held up once again. Now to get out of bed, take a deep breath, and a look at the unfortunate trooper. It's...SSgt Price. Sarge...
