Unspoken of Combat

Upon returning One Alpha Marine was different. Everyone could see it in his actions, his speech and his general demeanor.

Forgetting became a usual occurrence as well as losing track of time. Blackouts were on the agenda also, as well as feeling exhausted and in constant pain. Confusion and general mental awareness became an issue and was seen by his brothers. A man who was once in great physical shape, now had to stop during physical training to vomit and try to breathe.

One thing that was known by the Marine was he was in combat in the middle of smoke filled oil fields where raw oil was ablaze. He did not have the respiratory equipment that a fire fighter would have in this situation. The Marine wiped crude oil from his face and strained to see his finger two inches from his nose. Desert winds whipped the smoke and raining oil around and picked up sand and caused a storm like no other.

What else was in the air? Decades later, long after it had taken its toll, the higher ups admitted that there were biological and chemical weapons were in the area. One Alpha Marine already knew this. His unit one of the highest concentrations of biological and chemical alarms in the War. Enough alarms to cause a Presidential investigation of the situation where lies and half truths were traded across the table and became the narrative.

One Alpha Marine was not in a front line position, yet his unit was made to be on the front line through a logistical error. This error put his unit in proximity to the enemy. This close proximity caused One Alpha Marines unit to take direct small rounds fire as well as incoming cannon rounds.

The rounds from the enemy cannons were so strong they were knocking Marines not in the direct fire area off of their feet. One Alpha Marine was in the middle of the direct fire area.

One Alpha Marine was situated in a .50 cal ring mount on top of a 5 ton truck that was towing a cannon. During this direct fire he felt the heat of the small rounds zooming by his face. He felt the rumble of the ground when cannon round landed nearby. One explosion he did not hear. The explosion was too close to the 5 ton.

The explosion rocked the 5 ton truck upon impact, throwing One Alpha Marine into the ring mount and ejecting him from the ring mount. One Alpha Marine was blown into the air, landing face first on the ground.

One Alpha Marine remembers the moment before being blown out of the ring mount and remembers regaining consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness, he pushed himself up of off the desert floor and, looking over his shoulder, saw the Cobra helicopters on the horizon and the flatbeds carrying ammunition heading his way.

For the moment One Alpha Marine was safe. But was he really? What happened to One Alpha Marine physically when he was blown out the ring mount? Adrenaline kept One Alpha Marine going in combat, only to understand the long term damage decades later.