Battle Buddy

Battle Buddy

I should start by telling you that I hated Obrien from the moment I met him.  He loved to drink, act stupid, and pretend he knew everything.  We immediately butt heads because I was younger, more responsible, and had more rank then he did.  As we sit here on this Chinook amongst twenty other soldiers who we do not know and will probably never see again, I feel closer to Obrien more now than ever.  It was at this moment that I understood what a battle buddy really was.

We had gone to Army basic training together, and that is where our hate for each other began.  I had more rank and was his squad leader.  He despised me because he was older and felt he should have been in charge of me and for that reason, he made my life hell.  We followed basic training with our job training.  Little did I know, Obrien had chosen the same job as I had, so we spent the next 8 weeks together.  We survived that and I thought our paths were done.  Wrong!  We were then assigned to the same exact unit as each other.  I hated my life at that moment and hated him even more because I was stuck with this idiot.

As I look around at the faces of the crew and soldiers on the helicopter with me, I can’t help but notice that none of them look afraid.  Not one person on this helicopter looks how I feel.  Fact of the matter is that I am scared shitless.  I don’t know where I am going, what I am doing, or why the hell I decided to join the Army in the first place.  I say a prayer in my head, but the thoughts are disrupted as the thunderous vibrations of the propellers shake everything in my body.  This was my first time in a Chinook, my first time in Afghanistan, and if I have my way, my last.  I look at Obrien hoping he is as scared as I am, but he is emotionless and seems to have no concern about this flight.

There are two rows of us inside the helicopter with all of our gear occupying the middle.  We face each other and face our gear.  There isn’t much to look at as we sit there awaiting our takeoff.  The powerful swoosh, swoosh of the propellers rattles every bone in my body and continues to rattle my nerves.  At the rear of the chopper there is a gunner with a fully automatic machine gun, and at the front there is another gunner on each side of the helicopter just waiting for any possible attack.  The helicopters are all business and no play, and that feeling radiated throughout the cargo area.  After one last check of the cargo area and equipment, I watch the crew motion to the pilots that we are clear for takeoff.

*******

The helicopter leveled off at about 10,000 feet.  I thought that perhaps the flight would be less terrifying the longer I was on it, but how wrong I was.  The crew started to look nervous which made me even more frightened.  A moment later I hear chatter from the gunners talking about the threat of insurgents in the mountains.  “What the hell do you mean insurgents in the mountains”, I yell to the gunner.  As I glance over at Obrien he tells me to chill out.  “Fuck you Obrien, what do you know anyways?”  I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I was freaked out.  Surprisingly Obrien didn’t react to what I said and we just sat there in silence.  I quickly closed my eyes to pray.  The further we got on this flight the less I enjoyed helicopters.  To know that at any moment somebody could shoot at us from their hiding spot on a mountain side scared the shit out of me.  At this moment I figured if God couldn’t save me, then nobody could.  I open my eyes and look around at all three gunners to see what was going on.  They are on guard, prepared to pull the trigger if need be.

I glanced out of the window directly across from where I sat just in time to see the beginning of what appeared to be a mountain.  As I sat back in my seat I heard a deafening boom sound from the top of the helicopter.  Instantly all three of the gunners were unloading rounds into the mountains.  I couldn’t see what they were firing at or what was firing at us, but I did know that it wasn’t good.  Everybody inside of the helicopter had an assault rifle with them, but we were helpless when it came to shooting out of a helicopter.  We were trapped.  We couldn’t see anything.  The shots continued and the empty cartridges from the ammunition were quickly piling all over the floor.  I heard an explosion above me and immediately looked to see what it was.  There was a hole in the top of the helicopter and smoke started to fill the cargo area.  I shouted to Obrien that he had better hang on because we were going down.  At that moment, another explosion blew off the rear propeller.  The helicopter began to spin out of control in all directions and we were losing altitude quickly.  I grabbed my harness and pulled it even tighter against my body and forcing me even further into my seat.  I looked over at Obrien for what felt like my last time and told him thanks for everything.  We continued to spin and drop.  BOOM!

*******

I felt a slap at my arm and was startled by the touch.  I opened my eyes to see Obrien yelling at me.  “You ready to go man?  Our first helicopter ride.”  I nodded to him and said, “Let’s do this man.  Let’s get this over with and get back home to our families.”