War from 27,000'

Here on base, I live by myself in a small room. I have air conditioning, internet, cable TV, a real bed, a refrigerator, a microwave, and even a small window. In New Jersey, I would probably be paying $1500 a month to rent a room like this, not including utilities and parking. (Ok, well I certainly wouldn't be paying it, but someone likely would.) I am within short walking distance to things like Taco Bell, a laundromat, a shopette a barbershop, a fully equipped Gym, a Rec center with pool tables, ping-pong tables, computer games, video rentals, Karaoke, volleyball courts, basketball courts, etc. Life is not bad at all. That's here on base though.

About 1/2 mile from where I sleep is a real, live 3rd world war zone. From where I sit that is a hard concept to comprehend. We are very securely segregated from the outside world, so what goes on outside of the fence stays outside of the fence in most cases. I say in most cases, because everytime I start to forget where I am, I'll hear a Medevac helicopter landing at the trauma center accross the street, or I'll hear (and feel) two F-16s taking off in full afterburner. Blunt, noisy reminders that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.

Tonight, as we were approaching Bagdhad at 27,000', my co-pilot (Who's been here as an Apache attack pilot on two previous tours) pointed out some bright flashes on the outskirts of town. "Those were IED's" he said. Now, if you're not familiar, an IED is an Improvised Explosive Device, which is the Army's nice, tidy little euphemism for "Homemade Landmine". I looked over, and saw 5 or 6 more go off. They were very bright yellowish white flashes, and from our altitude, looked somewhat like a camera flash going off accross a sporting arena. Actually, they were almost "pretty", except when I stopped to realize that I'd just watched someone get killed or at the very least, very severely injured. You see, those bombs only go off when a car drives by and triggers the device or someone pushes a button. They're very primative (usually made with parts from old cell phones or washing machines), but also very deadly. They are the biggest threat to troops on the ground, and they are the #1 reason you will not find me anywhere outside the gates of a very secure airbase.

These devices have been going off and killing people for years and years. Nothing new there. It's just that prior to tonight, those were things I read about in the newspaper or saw on CNN. I didn't expect that I would ever see them first hand, and quite honestly, I hope 27,000' is as close as I ever get to them. As I said in one of my first posts, I've been given an all-expenses-paid trip to see this war first hand, and tonight that's exactly what I did. I really wish I hadn't. It's much safer to think that those things only happen on TV, because then it's not real. Even tho I couldn't see anything but a big flash from miles away, I knew in an instant what the result of that flash was, and it gave me a knot in my stomach. Somewhere tonight, there are grieving family members and friends. I don't know who they are; Iraqi, American, British, Australian, etc, doesn't really matter. Grief is a universal emotion, it doesn't matter what language you speak or where you come from. No matter what politicians may tell you, no matter what you read in a newspaper or see on TV, this is a real, live war...still.

I debated whether or not to even write this, because I am sure it will cause a good deal of worry back home and I don't want to make anyone worry about me, but what I saw tonight affected me, and I needed to make some sort of record of it. I assure you, I am still very safe, and very secure here on base, so please don't worry. To be honest, we received what they call a "Threat Briefing" when we first arrived here, and their biggest concern for this base was a damn about 120 miles north of here. It seems the damn is very large (6th largest in the world), and in a very poor state of repair. If/when the damn fails, they say this base will be under a whopping 3 feet of water, and we'll "only" have 75 hours to get to high ground! Oooh! The horror. And me, without a bathing suit. No wait, I have one. Nevermind. Apparently, I am in more danger of getting my knees wet than anything else, so please let that be a comfort.

I also plan (when I find two minutes in a row to myself) to go volunteer at the hospital on base. Supposedly, this is the biggest and best trauma center in Iraq, and this is where all the worst cases are brought, hence the constant helicopters. It has been said that if a wounded soldier (or anyone for that matter) arrives here with a pulse, they stand a 98.7% chance of surviving. Now, having flown civilian EMS, that number sounds extremely high given the circumstances of most of the cases here, but I like it just the same. I've been warned to stay away from the hospital because of what I will see there, but being the stubborn ox that I am (ask Jamie), I've never been one to heed good advice. One of the pilots I first flew with even told me that he was asked to go help one day, and refused because "that wasn't his war". To each his own I suppose, but I need to go. I need to at least try to help people, especially as we approach the holidays. As I said in the post below, attitude is a very powerful tool, and I've seen first hand that it can also be the difference between life and death. They say the mortality rate increases around the holidays just because the injured people feel hopeless and give up. Perhaps I can change that for someone. Maybe I can't, but as the old saying goes, I'd rather try to do something good and fail than to try to do nothing and succeed. Maybe doing something to help someone live will help to offset the destruction I witnessed tonight, and will likely see many times again. I'll let you know how it goes.