Posted on 06/16/2004 9:17:20 AM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A rocket slammed into a U.S. logistics base near the city of Balad Wednesday afternoon, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding 21 people, the military said.
Fourteen of the injured were taken to the U.S. Army's 31st Combat Support Hospital and seven were treated at a clinic on the U.S. base, known as Camp Anaconda, according to a military statement.
Balad is 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Right you are.
LFOD and others over there--
How are you guys doing today? We are praying for all of you every day. We are so proud of you guys! Please keep us Freepers informed, and let your buddies know that America loves their military!
Glad to hear you are doing well, and that the cancer was taken care of. I bet you'll be glad to see your troops again, and they will no doubt be glad to see you! God bless you, and thank you for your service!
Well I know a bit about Anaconda as well as a few other places.
Even with a military background it is hard to visualize because this is different than what anyone really imagined it would be.
Wanna know what it's like?
Imagine being on a military base in the middle of town, or perhaps in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a few hundred thousand of your not-so-closest friends.
And these people like to take pot shots at you during all times of the day and night. Mostly they miss. And we laugh about their ineptitude. Seriously, we'd shout taunts and jeers when they'd miss because we knew that sometimes they were close enough to hear. How do we know? Tower guards hear voices outside the perimeter and we'd sometimes hear the RPG's launch in on us. I've even seen the flashes of launches and the hits of artillery aimed at us.
And the infrastructure is in ruins. Showers and privvies are either portable outdoor style or contractor provided trailer units. Hard plumbing is almost non existant. Electricity is from generators that don't always function like you'd like.
And the heat....well, it's hot and getting hotter. The sun can scortch a person silly in a very short time even when acclimated.
Now imagine driving down your local interstate not knowing if that debris is simple trash or and IED. If an IED, will it go off now or later? Will this car pulling up beside you have someone in it trying to shoot you or toss a grenade at you? Or is it just another family that doesn't understand why the military has machine guns pointed at it as it passes?
Imagine passing a blast hole in the road and wondering if anyone was seriously hurt or died there that day?
Imagine finishing your drive and realizing how tired your are from the wieght of your helmet, body armor, and tense vigilance.
How about having vehicles towed into your camp area that are torn apart by blasts, riddled with bullet holes, and covered or filled with blood and other human remains.
How about watching a team remove remains from the burn out hulk of an armored vehicle that didn't survive the attack on it.
Imagine sleeping on your floor some nights because you're concnerned that the artillery shrapnel might come in at bed height that night but being so tired and accustomed to explosions that you actually sleep through mortar attacks.
Now do it all again the next day, and the next and the next.
I have.
Prayers for all our coaliation troops.
Montana Beth
God bless you Eagle Eye. And all of the soldiers and marines in the battle zones right now. YOu are the true heroes - thank you for doing the heavy lifting.
Thank you for the ping.
I'm in the camp of "I wish we would just flatten them." Thanks for the ping.
yw
Your patrol would have to be huge to cover that kind of radius. Like somebody said, they can hit Israel from Lebanon with those things and scoot away before the Israelis can respond.
Assume for the moment that the rocket had a range of 5KM. In order to prevent a rocket launch you'd have to have constant coverage of over 30KM of perimeter. How many soldiers are you going to commit to effectively cover that 30KM of perimeter? On a linear front it would take at least a Brigade to cover such space. We do not have the Brigades to spare for perimeter defense of bases and/or camps.
Arguing against the Carthagization of Fallujah has been rather unrewarding lately.
God Bless them. We hold all of them and their families close to our hearts.
Prairie
My daughter is stationed at Balad. I am waiting for an email from her right now.
prayers for the wounded and the families of the 2 dead.
God bless you EE.
Thanks for being there.
We send a care package to our daughter every three days. We send enough to share. One of the most coveted items is eye drops because the desert conditions takes a toll on the eyes.
Prayers going up CharacterCounts.
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