WHY NOT ME?
Damn this Monsoon rain is what I am thinking,
as I struggle with the weight of two five gallon
cans of water in mud half way to my knees.
With each step the mud pulls at my boots
trying to suck them off my feet.
As I pull my right foot from the mud I hear the sound of 155 MM Howitzer rounds from the army artillery battery at Camp JJ Carroll.
As they pass overhead I pause and look to the north-west. They hit with a thundering explosion, tossing broken trees and dirt into the air.
The Guns are setting up fire missions for their Harassment and interdiction fire later tonight. Four more rounds pass over heading to the north east, getting their range for cover fire for the patrols, ambushes, and listening post that will be out tonight.
As I pull my left foot out of the mud I hear two more rounds only these sound totally different. Damn short rounds. Unable to pull my feet from the mud and knowing by the sound that these rounds are going to land close, I scream, "Incoming!" and lay myself face down in the mud.
As I lay down I see four Marines only a few feet away trying to run for cover; again I scream, "Incoming! Incoming! Get down!"
The rounds explode with a deafening roar the concussion throws me through the air end over end. I land about fifteen feet away flat on my back.
I get up, standing there wobbling and dizzy from the concussion and deaf from the explosion, I check myself out. "No holes no broken bones, can you believe that?" I'm thinking.
I sit down in the mud stunned as I watch what is left of the four Marines being collected and put into body bags.
I wonder, "Why not me?"