Starry Nights

Chapter 8: Alex

October 13, 2010

They found out that 3rd Battalion 5th Marines were going to take Sangin only a few days before the operation. As they were flying in, Alex started to feel the fear rising over him. He wasn't afraid for the reason you might think. The reason he was afraid was because he didn't want any of the men fighting next to him to get hurt and he wanted more than anything to get back home to Natalie.

They'd Skyped every other day while he was in California and written letters back and forth as much as possible. But now that he was going back to Afghanistan, he knew that they would not have nearly as much contact with each other as they used to. He knew this would be hard on both of them because the only thing they'd be able to do at this point was write letters which could take God knows how long to get to each other. Occasionally they'd be able to call, but not often.

On this day, as he sat there talking with his buddies at their camp. A patrol had just left and Alex had wished them luck. As he watched them walk away, he turned around and continued talking. "So what's this I hear about this girl Natalie?" one of them said.

"Oh, she's this girl I met in Manhattan."

The men laughed and one of them asked, "Is she hot?"

"She's beautiful, like an angel."

"So she's hot?" When the soldier said this the men laughed. "I'm Ricky by the way." 

Alex reached out his hand to shake Ricky's hand and said, "Names Alex, nice to meet you."

As the men laughed and talked for a few minutes, Alex forgot about all of his fears about this place. Suddenly, gunshots could be heard everywhere. Alex grabbed his gun and ran to cover without thinking. He saw the patrol that had just left being fired upon. He moved a bit closer staying behind cover, and he saw that they were being fired upon from a few Taliban members. He saw the men retreating back into the base, and he saw one of the soldiers was being carried on another soldiers back. His heart dropped.

He ran over and took the soldier from the man and ran him back to safety. He laid him on the nearest cot and saw that the man had been shot in the abdomen. He turned to look for something to stop the bleeding, but the man grabbed Alex and pulled him close, pulled a picture of a woman from his bag and said, "Tell my wife I love her." With those last words, the man laid his head back and closed his eyes. The world seemed to slow down in that instant. Alex shouted for help but he knew the man had already died. He knew there was no hope and this man's wife would have to have the heartbreaking knock at her door now. Alex heard the last of the gunfire stop, and the rest of the soldiers gathered around Alex and the man he'd just carried in. 

October 14, 2010

The previous night Alex hadn't slept but two hours. He couldn't stop thinking about the man and his last words. The last thing on that mans mind was his wife and how he only wanted her to know that he loved her. Alex had no idea how the man had remained so calm about it. The man obviously knew he was dying, yet he wasn't scared, or upset, or angry. Instead he calmly said to let his wife know that he loved her. 

It was 9 in the morning, and Alex was getting ready to go on patrol. He and a group of his fellow soldiers were going to patrol the town of Sangin. When he was ready, he quickly wrote a letter to Natalie even though he hadn't gotten one back from her yet. He wrote about how he loved her and thought about her every day. He finished with thoughts of how much he missed her, said he loved her and put the letter in an envelope. He quickly scrabbled down her address, and put it on his bed knowing that even if he didn't make it back alive, the letter would be delivered. 

He got in one of the the Hummers and looked at the people in there with them. "HEYYY ALEX BOY! How are you and the lady doing?"

He looked behind him and saw Ricky in the Hummer with him. "Hey Ricky, and we're doing good."

"Well, I feel honored to serve by such a loving man such as yourself", Ricky said with a teasing punch. 

He looked ahead and saw that there were 3 Hummers in the patrol including his. On the way to the town he and Ricky got to know each other. He learned Ricky had grown up in California as well and had actually gone to the same school as he did, but Ricky was a few years younger than Alex. Ricky had gone to his first year of college but dropped out to enlist.

When they got into the town, Alex and Ricky got out to do foot patrol besides the Hummers through the town along with others from the rest of the Hummers. It was then that everyone stopped talking to each other and focused. They knew that they needed to focus in order to not get killed. The most frightening thing about patrolling for Alex was not being able to tell the difference between a civilian and a member of the Taliban until they started shooting at you. The only thing Alex could really look for along with the rest of the soldiers was anything out of the ordinary. 

Alex glanced around everywhere ready to begin firing in an instant. Suddenly a man started to approach the Hummer Ricky was walking near carrying a basket. "Hey, I got a man approaching with a basket here guys", he said to the rest of the patrol. Alex and the rest of the men raised their guns slightly ready to fire if needed. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the vehicles please", Ricky said calmly. The man seemed to be trying to sell him the basket. Ricky raised his voice a little and raised his gun up saying firmly, "Sir, step away from the vehicle or I'm authorized to use deadly force."

When the man saw Ricky raise his gun and shout, he started running for the vehicle. Alex saw the man throw the basket towards the vehicle and who was not even a second afterwards gunned down. The basket exploded sending the Hummer flying into the sky and sending Alex and Ricky soaring backwards off their feet. Suddenly they were being fired upon from the building surrounding them. Alex and Ricky scrambled to get behind the destroyed Hummer which was now engulfed in flames but still provided the only protection from the men firing from the buildings. 

The rest of the men in their patrol took cover and began firing into the building where the gunfire was coming from. The civilians in the street had long since ran away and there was no serious danger of firing upon one of them. Alex and Ricky both fired into the building across from the destroyed Hummer. Alex and Ricky both saw a live grenade flying towards the second Hummer which had 5 of the men on foot behind it. Ricky ran towards the live grenade without hesitation and dove on it yelling at the other men to get back. Suddenly the world seemed to slow down. Alex hoped and prayed that the grenade would be a dud, but as he ran for cover he heard the explosion behind him as it caused him to fall to his feet.

As he stood back up he looked behind him and saw Ricky lying on the ground lifeless. He turned and screamed as he fired into the building again. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and as he fell to the floor, all he could think about was Natalie. He felt himself hit the ground behind the Hummer, and he began to wish that he could've seen Natalie one last time. He now understood why the man had remained so calm when he was dying. Alex suddenly felt an acceptance for death. As his thoughts focused around her bright blue eyes and her light brown hair, he felt himself drifting into sleep. He saw the blurry image of a man kneeling besides him, but he couldn't tell who it was. Suddenly, there was nothing but darkness.