Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox

Chapter 36: Black Cloud

It was as if our stay in Iskandariyah was destined to be miserable from the get-go. The Outlaws had begun to settle down in our little hellhole. We were debriefed by the Army unit that we were replacing on what the current situation was and how they had been conducting operations on a daily basis. To sum it up, they were doing limited excursions that went no farther than about one or two miles from the base. This infuriated the whole company. No wonder they got mortared on a daily basis. They were doing it to themselves by not directly engaging the enemy. But it was not our job to judge, it was only our job to complete the mission at hand. So we quickly began making our presence known in the local community by conducting daily patrols far outside the normal boundaries of operation.

A few days into our stay, the first set of bad news hit. I was sitting on my cot inside the hangar chatting with Sprenger and Klinger. One of the junior Marines in our company called over to tell us that Lieutenant Snipes wanted to pass word to the platoon. No one was exactly sure what it was all about. There was hope that it had something to do with going back to Baharia. The Marines from First Platoon slowly rose and made their way to Lieutenant Snipes’s position outside the hangar. We all gathered in a semi-circle around him. Sprenger, Klinger, and I were standing off to one side of the circle, and we could tell that whatever the news was, it wasn’t good. Something about the look on Lieutenant Snipes’s face gave me a sick feeling. When Snipes was sure that the whole platoon had arrived, he began to speak in a low, sorrowful voice.

“We received word that Lance Corporal Engel passed away at a hospital in Germany.” That’s all I remember hearing for what seemed like an eternity. In the back of my head, I had been hoping beyond hope that Mark would be able to survive his injuries and make it through this alive. I kept telling myself over and over from the day he was injured that he would be all right. Even when the logical part of me would try to bring me back down to reality, the optimistic side would hold on to that small shimmer of hope. So the minute Lieutenant Snipes uttered those words, reality came crashing down to give me a gut check. It seemed as if I were paralyzed in time. So many good memories of Mark flashed before my eyes, and I could hardly move as I saw them slowly fade away.

Lieutenant Snipes’s voice came flooding back in after a short while. He was explaining some of the details of Mark's death. He informed us of the severity of the wounds that Mark had sustained and how he seemed to be making progress but eventually succumbed to the wounds. The one good bit of news, if you could even call it that, was that his parents were able to fly out to be by his side in Germany before he passed. That was the only piece of decent news that didn’t make the whole ordeal absolutely terrible.

After Lieutenant Snipes finished talking to us, everyone dispersed, looking for some place to go to digest the news. Klinger, Sprenger, and I headed back to our cots. A few tears were slowly making their way down our faces as we dealt with what we had learned. I couldn’t say much. All I could think about were good memories of Mark and how bad I felt for his family to have to watch their son pass away before their eyes. That is a pain I would never wish upon anyone, and to know it happened to the family of a good friend hurt deeply. Sprenger and Klinger were taking the news bad as well. Having been around him longer than I, they had even more good memories of Mark, and knowing that they would never be able to continue to share them with him had visibly shaken them.

I could see that the rest of the company had just received the update, too. Several prayer circles had formed throughout the hangar, a few guys had tears rolling down their faces, and a few others just seemed distant. The news really hurt us all.

About a half hour later, some of the Marines began to leave the hangar to get it off their minds. A few of us went to the chow hall to get some grub before we headed over to the internet center. The whole time, I could see everyone had gone internal, with very little chatter over our meal. The rest of the day went on in roughly the same manner. I went to sleep that night reliving so many moments with Mark, and I’m sure many of the other guys did the same. In fact, years later, Mark still visits in my dreams, and I can still hear his laughter and see his good-natured grin.