and looking at Wilson. He was a soft spoken guy, who recently had a little girl three weeks prior. My hands were shaking, I could hear my heart beat in the deathly silence. I looked at Wilson and he walked up and slammed his Kevlar helmet against mine. “You ready?” He asked. “Fuck yeah, let’s do this shit!” I replied. Right, then, I felt the earthquake and saw the windows shatter, the tank fired the round. “Lets go!” Nino yelled. The dust was so thick I could barely see, and then the side of the house came into view. We line up along the port side of the house. “Frag the house!” Nino yelled. Uhl moved up in front of me, and pulled a grenade off his flack jacket, pulled the pin, and threw it into the courtyard. “Frag out!” Uhl exclaimed. “Boom” I heard shrapnel scream over my head. We began to search the building. Immediately upon turning the corner, I saw the side door painted with blood, I cautiously approached the door with my muzzle pointing towards the threat. As we headed into the room, Corporal Belz found the RPG launcher destroyed. A good sign, but no bodies yet. We cleared the entire building, then proceeded to clear a small grain shed. Wilson ran ahead and took point. He darted in front of Belz and me into the shed, that’s when I heard him scream. Following his scream, I heard a burst of rounds, and I watched Wilson drop. The yard turned into an ambush. The insurgents were waiting with machine guns. The rounds snapped by as we ran back to the building for cover. The rubble house had walls to thin to stop the rounds. They pierced through the mortar like butter. Clearly they had the upper hand. I tried to lay down fire but their fire was accurate and consistent. Corporal Nino yelled to shoot a forty millimeter grenade into the shed. “What about Wilson?” I screamed. “He’s down” Corporal Nino said in sadness. His face gave me the answer I did not want to hear. I knew my brother in arms just paid the ultimate sacrifice. There was no time for grief, I could not let my emotions get me killed. “Thud” a short pause then “boom”. They shot the grenade. “Ramon, Belz you’re coming with me!” Corporal Nino called out. I jumped up and ran out into the fire. The bullets blazed by, they were so close I felt a tingle on my skin. Nino arrived at the corner of the shed first. He peeked in and screamed “frag!”. The asshole inside took one of Wilsons grenades from his gear, and attempted to throw it out. Luckily it hit the top to the door, and blew inside where he sat waiting. We thought for sure he went to the promised land. We were all wrong. A hail of fire came out the door as Nino tried to enter. Nino put his weapon in the door and unloaded, still no success. Around this time, I could hear the tank come around the corner. I told Nino to have the tank breach the side of the wall with his muzzle, and we did just that. The tank knocked down the corner of the shed as if it were made of Legos. I peered in, and saw that same man in the blue dress I put a bullet in earlier. His heart still beating and his goal still the same, kill as many Marines as possible. I raised my barrel at the exposed part of him, and gave him a second helping of my lead. He returned the gesture using Wilson’s M16, nearly hitting me. I pulled back. This time, the tank and other distractions, gave me the opportunity to try again. Now, before me, was my enemy, exposed, and presenting a clear target. As I looked down the barrel of my weapon, I wondered, was it my fortune or misfortune to look another living soul in the eyes and decide his existence. The loud successive recoil of my weapon snapped me out of my ponder. Decision made, my training kicked in. Problem solved. I got up and Wilson was lying there lifeless. There was a gapping hole in his left cheek where the bullet hit him, and continued out the back of his head. His eyes were open and glazed with dust, his mouth was also still open from his last 104 The Blues - November ‘24
scream. Everyone had flooded the room by now. Time slowed, as Marines grabbed Wilson and carried him out. The sounds of gun blast muffled my words, “this is the last time I see him”. Then that was that, Wilson was gone. The war forever changed the person I was before I went there. Now years are racking up since I smelled the war torn country. I miss it! I often watch movies that depict war because I feel connected to them even if it’s just fiction, but all we have done is just fiction to others, just like how I feel my life is now. I wake up often gathering a glimpse of my old life in my dreams. Most people hate nightmares, but it makes me feel normal compared to what we live now. We were all kids that Marines were taught to fight , kill and die when asked, We all wanted that taste of combat, initially because we wanted to kill. We didn’t know what it meant to kill, but we wanted to know. Unfortunately, you never realize everyone dies. Submitted by Alex Ramon, a retired police officer who also served in the U.S. Marines, rising to the rank of captain before he left the service. The Blues - November ‘24 105
The Blues - November ‘24 1
VOL. 40 NO. 11 NOV. 2024 FEATURES/C
FOUNDER, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-N-CHIEF
wanna befriend one and hope they ta
START SHOPPING The Blues - November
The Blues - November ‘24 11
uals. They want a man that will sta
The Blues - November ‘24 15
LAW ENFORCEMENT PRODUCTS BYRNA MISS
Starting Police Aviation? We can he
The report comes as Vice President
MY QUESTION: If it was illegal for
ENDORSED BY THE BLUES The Blues - S
The Blues - November ‘24 27
The Blues - November ‘24 29
The Blues - November ‘24 31
AROUND THE COUNTRY NEW YORK, NY. De
The Blues - November ‘24 35
The Blues - November ‘24 37
had intercourse on duty, WESH repor
Such crimes are rare for Galveston,
The Blues - November ‘24 43
The Blues - November ‘24 45
The Blues - November ‘24 47
She said the gear issued to her was
The Blues - November ‘24 51
ALDINE ISD POLICE DEPARTMENT JOIN O
The Blues - November ‘24 157
BUDA POLICE DEPARTMENT NOW HIRING -
The Blues - November ‘24 161
The Blues - November ‘24 163
The Blues - November ‘24 165
The Blues - November ‘24 167
Hiring Police Officers Annual Salar
The Blues - November ‘24 171
The Blues - November ‘24 173
The Blues - November ‘24 175
GOOSE CREEK CISD PD NOW RECRUITING
JOIN OUR TEAM Place your department
LATERAL DEPUTY The Blues - November
WE ARE HIRING! DEPUTY CADET REQUIRE
The Blues - November ‘24 185
The Blues - November ‘24 187
Starting pay - ,889 Paid: Vacati
The Blues - November ‘24 191
The Blues - November ‘24 193
The Blues - November ‘24 195
The Blues - November ‘24 197
Patrol Officer The City of Manvel P
MEMORIAL VILLAGES POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Blues - November ‘24 203
The Blues - November ‘24 205
The Blues - November ‘24 207
The Blues - November ‘24 209
The Blues - November ‘24 211
The Blues - November ‘24 213
The Blues - November ‘24 215
The Blues - November ‘24 217
The Blues - November ‘24 219
The Blues - November ‘24 221
Loading...
Loading...
Follow Us
Facebook