Short Story

Defense in the Sand

by

Gentry Lee Tipton

The darkness around me was total. Only the hint of reddish-orange light barely visible on the horizon reminded me that the isolation felt from the night would soon be replaced by the warm and awakening light of the Sun. That was encouraging, since the entire night was spent taking turns keeping watch on the outside perimeter, two hours at a time in a cold, wet, and sandy fox hole. The Sun's appearance would be welcome! I never imagined the desert could be such a cold, wet, and miserable place. Though there I was, with teeth chattering under a soaked poncho. Being as close to the Ocean as we were, the humid night brought a swift breeze that chilled to the bone.

As the Sun continued to rise, I wondered what the top brass were up to. There's no way they could be as cold as the rest of us. Officers were more than likely huddled in an AAV where there is a warm and cozy diesel engine to snuggle up to. That's OK. The officers have a lot on their shoulders, and should be able to come to a more complete and rational conclusion to a tactical complication that we might run into if there is a little more warmth to settle the chill.

Uncle Sam managed to call up the Marine Reserve AAV unit out of Louisiana to play in the sand with the Marine regulars until the war was over. There may be a little more comfort associated with being responsible for that tracked beast, but when the Sun is high in that Oman sky, we're all going to be drowning ourselves with water trying to avoid dehydration from the heat. What contrast!

The operation code name was “Sea Angel”, and was executed on the beaches of Oman just South of Saudi Arabia. This was a mock up of the anticipated full scale combat landing of operation “Desert Storm” in Kuwait.

In the thick of it were plumes of smoke shooting up from flames atop a multitude of oil well structures. The Iraqi's were ordered to set all of the oil wells on fire to reduce our visibility. I thought to myself as I looked at the smoke and fire filled horizon, “If there was ever a bad place to be, this would be it!” The smoke and oil residue mixed with the clouds, and the Sun looked like a distant moon in the middle of the day. Blotches of oil residue covered our utilities. This was an eerie place to be. Our push through Kuwait and up into Iraq was cut just short of Iraq's capital city, Baghdad. Clearing unsecured areas where units of the Republican Guard were reported to be, we took the road less traveled which made it that much more difficult to maneuver into position. Many of the communities had to be cleared on foot. Not the most welcomed approach, but we completed the job nonetheless.

Those days spent in the desert I will never forget. I learned a lot about myself and the world during that time which shaped my perspective on life for the better. War is a necessary evil in society. Good men and women are who must carry it out for the sake of everything held dear. There will always be a threat, because there will always be an enemy to manifest that threat against the free world, where ever that may be...

Semper Fi