Grace Under Fire

I survived my first real attack last night. I was the epitome of calm and reacted to the attack immediately according standing orders. I got down flat and into a bunker to avoid flying shrapnel and stayed put until the "All Clear" was sounded.

Don't read too much into it, especially you, Mom. The rockets finally landed close enough for me to hear them explode, but they weren't close enough to shake anything. The alarm was actually louder than the rockets were. I was already in bed and almost asleep when the attack came, so I was already as close to the ground as I could get and already in a bunker, since I sleep in a little one every night. I stayed right where I was. When then alarm was finally turned off and the command post stopped making announcements about not moving around and staying under cover, I finally went to sleep. I do wish the insurgents were a little more considerate, though. An hour earlier, and I would have had my computer out and I could have passed the time watching a movie instead of just laying there.

If you want excitement out of a war, you don't fight it on a staff. You join the Marines.

BTW, this is where I ride out indirect fire attacks, or sleep, as the situation calls for it.