A sudden jerk awoke me as the C-130 touched down. I had finally arrived in Iraq to do my part in the war effort. The anxiousness and excitement built up inside me. I could not wait to get off the aircraft and get my first glimpse of the barren desert.

            To my surprise as the back hatch opened and we began to depart the aircraft. The Iraqi desert looked nothing like the way I had imagined it. I imagined large sand dunes, like you see in movies about Egyptians. Instead all I could see in the moon light, that brightly illuminated my surroundings, was hard packed dirt. The smell of sweat and body odor filled the air, so strong I could taste it on my tongue. The August summer heat at night, felt as warm as the California sun. The sound of the C-130 was deafening as we filed off, to a flatbed truck that was awaiting our arrival for transport. Wearing our flak jackets and helmets, with rifles slung over our shoulders, we departed the landing strip.

            The truck ride to our tents, where we would be living for the next seven months, was short. Even though we have arrived to our temporary homes, we still needed to unload our packs and gear. The packs began to seem to be getting heavier as my body tired after each one. Finally, with relief, all of our gear had been unloaded. Tiredly I walked over to my rack and lied down. I began to think about the day’s events as sleep began to settle in. 

            The earth shook along with the loudest explosion I had ever heard in my life time, followed by someone yelling the words “incoming”. I opened my eyes in a panic. At first I thought it was something that I had dreamed up, but as I heard a loud hiss fly over the tent, I immediately realized it was no dream. Another explosion followed as I jumped off my squeaky caught. I reached over and woke up the Marine sleeping next to me. As I explained to him that we were under attack, we downed our flak jackets and helmets.

            We rushed outside, along with everyone else, with rifles in hand. On our rush to the bunker, that we were to take cover in, I could see glowing streams of light followed by trails of smoke streak across the sky. As I entered the low ceiling bunker made of cement, the explosions seemed to immediately stop. We waited fifteen minutes as instructed to do before our arrival in country. After taking muster and making sure that everyone was accounted for, we headed back to the tent to try and get some more rest.

             The tent filled with chatter, as everyone talked about the event that had just occurred. All I did was lay down and try to go back to sleep.  Even though no one in the area had gotten hurt and we were all safe. This day would be a day that I will never forget.