Thrill of War is Gone

Imagine explosions without warning 24-7. Mortar attacks are unpredictable. They’re in the minds of every person who lives on the forward operation bases in Iraq.

They kill, wound, bloody and break the hearts of families of loved ones who have suffered the results of mortars. In five months, the number of mortar attacks increased at a steady pace, as have injuries and lives lost.

As June 30 draws nearer, the Iraqi government decides its future. The mortars fall more frequently, with greater numbers. Fifteen is common with each round a potential killer. We hug the ground, pray the explosions will stop, grit our teeth, tense our bodies and feel the ground shake beneath. A blast threw me 10 feet. I ask the question: “Why did I survive?” A friend questioned his pain by repeating, “I think I’ve been hit.” He was hit. He fell next to me and two more mortars rumbled near.

The thrill of war is gone. Fear takes over my thoughts most days. We constantly look for places to shield our bodies from flying shrapnel that sends friends home or to their final resting place.

Soldiers say I am lucky. I can leave this place. That is a choice I have made. I return to Eugene to run the Butte to Butte and gather my thoughts of the past five months and never forget fallen friends in the Iraq war that ended before I arrived.

I dedicated my time there to my wife, Lt. Col. Sherry McConnell, U.S. Marine Corps, on active duty in Iraq.

VINCENT G. SUETOS
KBR Security Coordinator
Mosul, Iraq