Sallow
The Big Bad Wolf.
Interesting article.
Between Firefights, Jokes, Sweat and Tedium
By JAMES DAO
Published: November 21, 2010
NAHR-i-SUFI, Afghanistan From his rooftop position, Sgt. Santiago Zapata watched the firefight begin after prayer call ended, a rocket-propelled grenade exploding as the muezzins voice was still fading into the Afghan dusk.
Two Sides of an Afghan Tour
Articles in this series are chronicling the yearlong deployment of the First Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, based in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. The series will follow the battalions part in the surge in northern Afghanistan and the impact of war on individual soldiers and their families back home.
Tracer rounds whizzed overhead, mortar shells burst nearby and heavy machine guns clattered. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over. Sergeant Zapata brushed away the powdery dust that coated him like flour, walked downstairs and started to sing.
Sometimes when we touch, he warbled, his mind stuck on a tune recorded before he was born 30 years ago. Hey, how does that song go?
The honestys too much, a soldier helped.
And I have to close my eyes and cry, yet another continued, in a comically quavering falsetto. (The actual lyric: And I have to close my eyes and hide.)
For G.I.s, life on the front lines has two sides. There are, of course, the adrenaline-fueled moments of fighting, when soldiers try to forget their fear, remember their training and watch one anothers backs.
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