Kyle Palombo “Teachers Name” English 1 Period 1 19/9/15 The game slowly booted up, and the developers’ names flashed across my screen. The games main menu appeared before me, the title of the game in flashing red. I grabbed a snack from nearby and pressed play. I woke up to another day in Afghan soil; the air gusted past, blowing sand and dust into my room. Most of the men in the HQ, aptly named Mother Base were still asleep. I received a notification on my I-droid: “Report to Helicopter-Pequod at 0600.” “What are the pilots Names?” I asked with a curious tone “Pilot codenames: Ishmael –Ahab” I checked the time, 0530. I took a shower, and selected the equipment I would need for the battle, my trusted tranquilizer handgun and rifle both equipped with silencers. “Notify operative codename: Quiet to meet me at helicopter codename: Pequod at 0600.” I arrived at the helicopter, Ishmael and Ahab greeted me. “What exactly are we doing here Ishmael?” I asked, realizing …show more content…
As the chopper lifted into the air I took in the scenery of Mother Base; a clean, washed off collection of platforms that looked like an oil rig in the middle of the Afghan desert. Soldiers moved back and forth, tending to animals, practicing their aim, and keeping the area secure of infiltrators. Quiet wore a standard vest to blend in with the desert and to maximize the ammo she can hold. She slept in the helicopter’s seating area. In a few hours we arrived at the LZ, Ahab filled me in on the target we were infiltrating. The chopper arrived in the outskirts of the Russian base; the air was a slight breeze to the south. The terrain was rocky and rough, not as dune filled as the northern side of Afghanistan is, this made picking off targets easier. The desert stretched on for roughly 2 kilometers. Quiet leaped out of the chopper as it took off. I heard in my radio, “Be careful down there
Between ten to fifteen Taliban found a ocation that abled them to set up from a distance and allowed them to fire from behind cover. During the ambush the Taliban fired AK-47s, RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades) and PKM machine guns. U. S. forces were able to successfully able to launch a counter-attack and get out of the “killzone”, only after two Americans were killed and five were wounded. The Taliban had a high ratio of tracer rounds compared to normal which created a wall of fire to the left of the platoon, Sgt. Brennan and Spc. Eckrode who were walking at the front of the single file formation were wounded in the initial attack. The rest of the squad members found cover within a couple of feet from where they had been standing and dropped to the ground so they could fire back effectively and controlled from their positions. Spc. Giunta began to direct his fire team while Staff Sgt. Gallardo tried to like with Sgt. Brennan and Spc. Eckrode. While Spc. Giunta was firing back he realized that the Taliban was in an “L” shaped position and direct two of his soldiers to the rear so that the enemy could not roll through their line from the right side. When Staff Sgt. Gallardo realized that he could
...ce again they were pinned down from three sides and the only way to not be shot was to jump down the mountain side again, which they did. However, once Luttrell stopped falling down the mountain he realized that he had lost sight of Axelson. Sadly, Axelson was found by the Taliban and shot and killed, leaving Luttrell all alone. After just two hours of fighting Luttrell was the only American left in the fight. At this time in the battle it was almost night time, so Luttrell tucked himself under a rock to hide from the Taliban for the night. When he woke up, he started to walk down the hill and found a stream of water. This was a huge relief for Luttrell for not having water a good amount of water for the past day. When he reached the stream he jumped right in. However, when he got out he was standing face to face with a man. This man’s name was Mohammad Gulab.
The battle began to go wrong from the start of the operation. While moving into position Razor 03 began to take fire from al Qaeda soldiers on the ground. Razor 03 was hit by an RPG which severely damaged the aircraft a...
As a child, Ishmael Beah seemed like he was playful, curious, and adventurous. He had a family that loved him, and he had friends that supported him. Before the war, Ishmael had a childhood that was similar to most of the children in the United States. Unfortunately, the love and support Ishmael grew accustom to quickly vanished. His childhood and his innocence abruptly ended when he was forced to grow up due to the Sierra Leone Civil War. In 1991, Ishmael thought about survival rather than trivial things. Where was he going to go? What was he going to eat? Was he going to make it out of the war alive? The former questions were the thoughts that occupied Ishmaels mind. Despite his efforts, Ishmael became an unwilling participant in the war. At the age of thirteen, he became a
At approximately 11:51 a.m., I had the gun loaded, in my hand and ready to shoot. All we had ...
In the late evening of March 3, two SEAL teams aboard two MH-47s Chinook Helicopters were to arrive in Gardez for immediate insertion into the Shahi-Kot valley. Due to time constrains, a helicopter insertion was needed for the teams to reach the peak before dawn. The two teams were picked up by the two MH-47s, around midnight but one of ...
The insurgents had arrived in the neighboring villages of the camp deep in the night and started grouping together with the Nuristan militia men. Their first step involved evicting the civilians in the village on an impending attack on the Keating combat outpost. Following analysis showed that the villagers might not have moved out of the area during the attack. The attack started at dawn when the insurgent...
The transition of Ishmael Baeh, from innocent child to a soldier with the blood of his countrymen on his hands, is chronicled in his memoir through the usage of flashbacks that explain his memories. In the beginning of the memo...
Game day. I was alerted violently with a deafening scream of my alarm and awoke instantly, ready to put my heart and soul into one of the toughest battles of my life. I was focused on success and nothing was going to stop me. I struggled to stop the scream of the alarm, missing the button with frail weak slaps. I raced to get myself ready, geared up in my battle clothes and fuelled my body with a scrumptious breakfast. Full as a bull, perched myself into the seat of the van, ready for an aggressive battle.
U.S. forces experienced terrible attacks on their positions that consisted of things such as mortar fire and rocket propelled grenade fire. The source of the attacks came from areas all around them. Insurgents attacked from moving vehicles, civilian houses and mosques. The U.S. forces were attacked intensely with small arms direct fire as well as grenades. The ...
He has made one final promise to hundreds of Vietnamese who crowded the US Embassy grounds on the final day of the evacuation—perhaps the last American promise offered to the men and women who threw in their lot with the wealthy, well-armed foreigners. “Nobody is going to be left behind,” he told them. One of the Vietnamese who is there remembered his words: “When you are in the American Embassy, you are [on] American soil. I promise [that] me and my soldiers will be the last ones to leave the embassy.” With 420 Vietnamese still waiting but with orders from Washington, Herrington assures them that a big helicopter is coming for them and then excuses himself to go “take a leak.” Scurrying off into the shadows, he sneaks into the embassy building and onto a helicopter, abandoning those to whom he’d just given his word.
You think you know what its like to be over in iraq or afghanistan, but when it comes down to it your simple get up in the morning, brush your teeth, and go out and do your job is far from reality. Oliver ______, [give us both first and last name (or tell us why you couldn’t) rank or expertise (tells the reader why their story is credible or why they are an excellent witness), explained "the Afghans didn't really give a shit about how we were treated or what was given to us for sleep and rest," Oliver recalled. theres times when you go over 3 days without sleeping and they expect you to be functioning right. Oliver was stationed in afghanistan he isn't allowed to give us full details but he gave an outline of what its like going 3 days with no sleep. It was nov. 3rd 2012 Oliver was based to watch over a entrance to the base camp he didn't like doing this but some things you just have to tolerate. He had a 10 hour shift watching this gate his 10 hours was up and was waiting for the next guy to fill in his spot he never showed up he was playing with a string ...
At the time, it was late November and the Battalion was scheduled to return home in six weeks. Thanksgiving was only two days away, Christmas was just around the corner a feeling of hope and joy was in the air. Then, in the middle of the night, Deborah’s phone rang; Deborah’s husband was calling; she could tell from his voice that something was wrong. Through a cracked voice, Deborah’s husband informed her that he had just received word that the Battalion would be staying in Afghanistan for another four to six months. He asked Deborah if she could call just the section’s wives and as tactfully as she could, inform the wives. He also asked Deborah to tell the wives that the information being passed was not being formally released as of yet that he just wanted to give the wives a forewarning so that they were not blindsided when the extension was officially released. As soon as Deborah hung u...
On December of 1992, U.S. troops landed in Somalia. It was Thomas E. Ricks’ first deployment as a Pentagon Reporter. Opening the beginning chapter, he speaks of his first-hand experience he encountered while traveling with a squad from Alpha Company of the 1st battalion of the 7th Marines. Exceptionally qualified, his work on Making The Corps was cited by Thomas E. Ricks himself. Few events were videotaped, and some related by several participants and observers. Thoughts of Platoon 3086 and military documentations, such as “Recruit Incident Reports” and “Recruit Evaluation Cards”, were used as well to get an inside feel of the way recruits and Drill Instructors see Boot Camp.
Ishmael Beah had a broken family, with divorced parents, living with his younger brother, Ibrahim, his older brother, Junior, along with his mother, and had slim to none communication with his father due to his stepmom. “I had not seen him for a while, as another stepmom had destroyed our relationship.” (10) Before gaining knowledge of any type of war approaching his village, Ishmael, Junior, and they’re mutual friend Talloi left town on a voyage to participate in a talent show in the town of Mattru Jong, where the boys would perform a dance routine set to a track of American rap songs they obtained on a cassette. Once they discovered that their village had been under attack by rebels, who often carve the initials ‘RUF’, which stood for Revolutionary United Front, they quickly scurried back to their village in hopes of coming in contact with their family members. Talloi exclaimed, “We must go back and see if we can find our families before it is too late.” Unfortunately the boys were too late, and their families had fled in attempts to survive. Ishmael, and Junior were accompanied with four close friends whose bond...