Thread by @RenoCavalry

#DesertStorm30 we killed the owner of this book of poems. He was a conscript in the Iraqi 52nd ID. He was dismount fighting alongside his BMP & we killed him and his terrified plt w 25mm and coax. His Plt Ldr initially lived, but his leg was severed above the knee....1/6

He dismounted, in shock, and surrendered, w his leg still in his BMP. He tried to give me his watch in return for treating his wounds. We put a tourniquet on him, I put his watch in his pocket, did some basic first aid on others & kept rolling. Zone recon waits for no one 2/6

“War is Hell” said @secularagnostic. I’m fortunate that I fought a uniformed, conventional & overmatched enemy...we had 3 KIA and about a dozen WIA in @1stCav2bct, but none in my Sct Plt. It was short, yes. I’m glad. Bc unlike the CNN broadcast of war being a “video game” 3/6

At its core, war is 1 person w a rifle killing another person w a rifle. It’s awful stench of burning flesh, blood and gore...smoke and flame..in scenes so foul you’re brain says “wow, this is like a movie set”. We buried scores of Iraqis alive at the breach sites, beneath 4/6

Rolling literal walls of earth being propelled forward by plow tanks....and I’m ok w all of that....but here I am pouring out my thoughts, prob looking for one of you to tell me that just “did our jobs” and “hooah”. 5/6

I took this book of poems from a dead Soldier because in the chaos and inhumanity, in this split second it made me feel human....before mounting up & con’t killing. Could I return this book of poems to this Soldier’s family? Maybe, but it’s helped me contextualize my experience

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