The War is not Over

Jan 10

I see more dead bodies in one day, than anyone should have to see in a lifetime. I am numb.

Not more than a week ago, while conducting a route recon of "Golden" we discovered 8 dead bodies in the middle of the desert, all blindfolded and hands tied behind them, lined up and shot while standing. Bullet casings 7.62 scattered on the ground ten feet in front of them. They had been killed not more than 24 hours before we found them. Their clothes were still soaked in blood and the dogs had only begun to eat them. We informed the Iraqi police and days later the bodies were still there.

We are in Ramadi now. Have been for a little over a month. We work out of Camp Ramadi and every three days we drive about an hour east to FOB Hefner (Forward operating base)Everything was going well. We fell into our routine and were planning on smooth sailing until we went back home.

FOB Hefner

On January 6^th Sgt. Davis was killed. While taking blankets to another OP to be given out to Iraqi's, a piece of shrapnel from an IED went through his head. I wish that I would have known him better but am glad I didn't. It would have just made it harder.

We took his body back to Camp Ramadi and had his driver,Kliff, over to the house. Johnstone had got a ½ gallon of Crown Royal in the mail and we drank to a fallen marine.

When I say that we had fallen into our routine, I am admitting that we were guilty of becoming complacent.  Everywhere you look in Iraq you see signs that read Complacency Kills. You were told stories of Marines that had died with ipods in there hands and in there sleeping bags instead of alert and on watch.  I am not saying that anything done different would have saved Sgt. Davis. It woke us up that we were not home yet and there are people that are trying to kill us.