Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Nightmare...or A Dream?
I've always thought flying a Blackhawk would be cool, especially after I read "In The Company Of Heroes". I've even had the awesomemest dream about it once. But in this dream I was not a Blackhawk pilot.
I was a young ranger, a 'straight-leg' infantryman(or woman), and I had the distinct feeling of being the newbie, not fully aware of or in tune with what was happening around me. My chalk was deep inside enemy territory and we'd just been in combat, but now the firefight was over and we were into the consolidation phase. The helos were coming back in for us.
The Blackhawks were roaring in low and fast, appearing out of the night sky. I was supposed to be on the last helo, Chalk Four, and I was trying to find my Chalk leader and get to the aircraft. But my legs just wouldn't move me along. It was like my feet were stuck in molasses, my gear so heavy that each step was an impossible effort. Everything around me happened so fast, and I knew that I wasn't doing what I was supposed to, trying so hard to get it done and feeling so helpless and frustrated by failure.
And then I was moving backward. With every attempted step, the image of the helos and my comrades scrambling aboard moved further and further away into a slowly shrinking black tunnel. I was yelling to them to wait, but no sound emerged from my mouth. Everyone else was getting on the helos, but no matter how I tried, I just couldn't get any closer.
Suddenly the lead bird took off, then the second bird. And then the third. I was running now, trying frantically to reach the fourth Blackhawk, and it felt like my helmet and gear and ammo and grenades were all doubling in weight, dragging me down. The ground just rolled beneath my feet like a treadmill, and I watched in horror as the last helo lifted off and disappeared into the night...
It was as silent as a graveyard. Utter darkness. I looked desperately around as a cold chill rippled through my body and a wave of terror choked my throat. I had been left behind in enemy territory...all by myself.
I'm surprised I remembered almost every detail of it..A nightmare or a dream? Sure, being an actual soldier in a situation like this would be scary(nightmare), but I got to experience being a soldier(dream), which is very very cool.
Blame this book for my dream/nightmare
Bravery under fire, torture, imprisonment, and the terrifying day by day reality for a solider, unarmed and helpless in enemy hands, fighting to survive.
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HERE ENDS THE STORY | 12:39 PM