First day in Iraq

September 18th 2004

I will never forget how terrified I was while being taken to Iraq. My first night was so restless that I fell asleep for a mere thirty minutes until it was time for revelry. At that point I sat and waited for the sun to come up. Come 0500 we went for a shower before our day was to begin and on our way to chow I saw a shooting star. I made many wishes that instant. At 0530 I went and woke up Lcpl David. David and I went to the chow hall and we talked about the hardships we knew were going to be upon us. Come 0730 we had smalls arms fire and many mortars; I think I counted 8 of them. Those mortars hit all around us. That was the first time I experienced war and explosives. At that point many things were running through my mind- Am I going to get shot? Is a rocket going to land around us? I had no idea what was happening. I just prayed the first day of Iraq wasn't going to be my last.