Desert Storm(part 6)

HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS – APRIL 1991

After the oil-fire flights, we moved into humanitarian missions in April ’91. These weren’t combat runs, but they carried a different kind of weight — the kind that settles deep and doesn’t let go.

We weren’t just hauling food and water. We were flying interpreters and personnel who were trying to figure out how to help these people long-term. Most of these villages had nothing left — no communication, no structure, no leadership. Getting interpreters on the ground was the only way to understand what these civilians needed and how to even begin rebuilding.

But the part that hit me hardest was the people. And it wasn’t just one flight — every mission was the same. The moment we touched down, people ran toward us. Families, kids, elderly… everyone. They’d been walking who-knows-how long, hoping anyone — literally anyone — would bring food and water. You could see the hunger and exhaustion before they even got close. They were so thin, so dirty, so worn down that it hit you right in the gut every time.

And every time we tried to lift off, they pressed in close again. I kept asking the interpreter how to tell them to stay back because I knew exactly what was coming — once we pulled pitch, the rotor wash would blast sand and rocks into them. We tried warning them, but they wouldn’t move. They couldn’t. They were too desperate and too scared we were leaving without helping everyone.

So on every mission, it ended the same way. We had to pull pitch and get out, and I’d watch the wash hit them — people throwing their arms around their kids, men shielding their families, all while still reaching out for anything we might have left. Watching rocks hit people who were already hanging on by a thread… that’s something that stays with you.

And the whole time, the thing that kept burning in the back of my mind was: How does a leader let this happen to their own people? How does someone with that much power choose to let villages starve, suffer, and beg strangers for basic survival? I still don’t have an answer.

Those missions weren’t loud like combat, but they cut deeper. It was the same heartbreak every time, and I still think about those flights.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am that guy

 Over the years, I have questioned many things that people have done or not done to make their situations worse. Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen people who have had to lose parts of their bodies because they didn't take care of their diabetes. I have seen people who have had cardiac issues because they didn't control their cholesterol. I have also seen what happens to people who haven't led the healthiest of lifestyles.  Well, I am here to tell you that I have done all of the above, too.  In 2010, I was doing well for myself. I was running all the time, I would do 5-6 miles several times a week, and once a week, I would do a long run from 11-13+ miles. I lost some weight, and I felt good about myself. I got hurt after running a simple 5k with my boys, which was essentially the end. I did buy a nice bike to ride longer distances with, but unfortunately, I just couldn't make that work for me the way I wanted it to. There was one exception: When I went overseas,...
Read more

I am struggling

 It has been a while since I posted anything and for that I am sorry. I have been struggling in my personal life for quite some time but it has really come to a head in the past several weeks.  I was having dinner with my son Kai and his now fiancé the other weekend and he was telling me about a podcast he has been listening to. He sent me a screenshot of it and I looked it up. The podcast was an episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, I have heard some of Shawn Ryan's podcasts but mostly shorts on FB or YouTube. The particular podcast Kai was talking about is the one with Navy Captain Brad Geary. Captain Geary is the Commander of the Navy SEAL school and he has been under fire after the death of a sailor who was going through SEAL training. The part of the podcast that really hit home for me was when Captain Geary was telling about when he was in charge of a SEAL team that sustained extensive loss in a helicopter crash. He talked about the difficult decision he had to make to stay...
Read more

Desert Storm(part 2)

SECTION 1 — The Port The flight in was its own kind of stress. Fear wasn’t the driving force, but the uncertainty sat in everyone’s gut. None of us knew what we were flying into, how long we’d be there, or what things were going to look like once we hit the ground. We carried weapons on the plane, packs jammed everywhere, and zero room to move. Every seat was filled. Every aisle. Everything about it said the same thing: this is real now. Everyone thinks “desert” means heat. We sure did. We figured we’d step off the plane and just bake. Instead, we arrived in the dead of winter, and the first thing that hit us wasn’t heat — it was the cold. There was freezing rain, sharp wind, and absolutely nowhere to get warm. It wasn’t what we expected, and that only added to the whole “what exactly are we getting into?” feeling. We lived at the port in a massive warehouse packed with thousands of soldiers. No heat, no privacy, barely enough bathroom facilities for the number of people crammed in ...
Read more