Page 107 - 100 Hours to Destiny

those troops are disarmed and get them walking south. Let’s pack it up and
get moving again. With that Gunny turned to the scouts that were searching
through the uniforms of the captured troops and told them, “wrap it up
Marines. Check them for weapons and kick ‘em south.” Gunny started giving
the rally-call by swirling his finger in the air and started pumping his fist in
the air. Marines grabbed the POWs by the scruff of their uniforms, stood
them up and pointed them south. Those two started walking and Delta
Company mounted back up.
“Forward march” came the order from Delta 6 and another gunfire
incident was behind us.
As I slunk back down into my driver's compartment the realization
came over me like a wave. “I had just given a play by play report to Delta 6 in
an actual combat incident. At this point, in my tenure with the Captain, this
would be a first, and I had held my composure and properly reported
pertinent information. I was awe-inspired and found myself feeling very
proud to have conducted myself properly. I had seen the driver of the truck
and what a mess he was. The other two were extremely lucky to have
survived such a barrage from the intense 25mm chain gun assault, truly I was
shocked that they had escaped death by just mere inches. It was a good day
for them, but a better day for me. My confidence was bolstered.
My friend and fellow Marine, Matt Stuck, found me later on the
battlefield and told me, “you did really good with that incident, I was
listening to every word. I’m proud of you Witcher.” And that was enough for
me. (Matt Stuck would be my friend from LAV school and for the next three
years he was constantly by my side – we were a team. We started together
and we ended our tenure in the Marine Corps together.) But for now, we
were on a battlefield and determined to win. We had the greatest
Commanders and the full might of the 1st Marine Division as well as the 41st
President, Mr. George Herbert Walker Bush – a veteran himself, standing in
our corner. Not to forget Stormin’ Norman Schwarzkopf, one of the greatest
tacticians of all time, had made the battle plan…and it was working.
The smoke was being a real hindrance. The wind was playing tricks
on us. We didn’t know what to expect as we traveled. The sky was open and
clear in one moment, and in the next moment, it would be pitch dark, raining
pellets of oil – saturating everything we owned, gunsights, weapon systems,
and Marines. In general, we were enduring an actual rainstorm of oil….
Almost as if Saddam’s plan was working. Maybe he knew something we
didn’t know. As the fires burned casting plumes of fire and smoke hundreds
of feet into the air, the sounds generated by the erupting oil wells was
deafening. To come within 75 yards was almost intolerable. The discharge of
the gas and oil made the ground shake. The noise sounded like a speeding