Airbornelawyer
01-24-2005, 17:50
Here is a blog some of you might have seen before: ARMOR GEDDON (http://avengerredsix.blogspot.com/)
It is by an officer serving in Iraq in 2-63 Armor. As another blogger described (http://restraininorder.blogspot.com/2005/01/youve-got-to-check-this-one-out.html) it: "ARMOR GEDDON reads more like an adventure novel than a blog, but it's not fiction. It's written by tank platoon commander 1st Lt. Neil Prakash who is fighting in Iraq with the 1st Armored Div."
1LT Prakash was born in Bangalore, India and came to the US as a child. The blog has some good first person accounts of fighting in Baqubah and Fallujah, as well as photos. Some of his writing is not for the politically correct and sensitive antiwar crowd, e.g.:Legion 9 linked up with Marines in humvees and LAVs. They were shooting 5.56mm and 7.62mm at a few large buildings. I pulled up beside them.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’re taking sniper fire from that building,” a Marine replied on the ground.
“Just keep hitting it. We’ll see your tracers,” I said.
T-t-t. T-t-t. R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. T-t-t. The sound of the little M16s popping on 3 round burst. And the M240 machine guns rattling off a 20 round burst of 7.62mm.
“Good Lord SGT. P. These guys are shooting small arms at this fucking building. Do you see the bullets hitting the wall?”
“Roger.”
“Good. Take it out.” I looked in the GPSE to see what SGT P was aiming at. There was a huge bare wall with a few bricks pushed out. Out of one of those bricks, the tiniest little muzzle flash was coming. Probably from an AK-47 or a Dragunov sniper rifle. SGT P. centered the red dot of his reticle on that little spark.
“On the way.” BOOM.
“Ah HA. SGT P. Did you see that? That little shithead, hiding back there with his rifle. Man, he just took a 120mm HEAT round to the face. Ah HAHAH!.”
There was no way of telling if we killed one guy or several. I didn’t care.
“Goddam, Red 6. Makes my 25mm look like shit. What the fuck?” Legion 9 said over the net. I could understand. I can’t describe how loud that main gun is but the concussion doesn’t feel like a gun. It just feels like a damn bomb went off on your head. And this was the first time anyone had ever been this close to the main gun going off from the outside. Inside the tank it’s not so bad. Of course, I was adamant about video taping the gun firing. So I was developing a pretty bad headache.
I looked at the Marines. They had huge smiles on their faces. I could see them mouthing the word “YEAH”. One guy gave me a thumbs-up and was laughing.
“I guess we got the sonofabitch, SGT P.”
It was 1000. We had been up for over 24 hours already. There were still 9 hours left until the battle was supposed to begin...and the BRT [Brigade Reconnaissance Team] was just getting started on pummeling Fallujah. Kid from Bangalore grows up to be a walkin'-talkin' stereotype of an American badass.
Oh BTW, 1LT Prakash just received a Silver Star: http://www.1id.army.mil/1id/news/january/article_57/article_57.htm
It is by an officer serving in Iraq in 2-63 Armor. As another blogger described (http://restraininorder.blogspot.com/2005/01/youve-got-to-check-this-one-out.html) it: "ARMOR GEDDON reads more like an adventure novel than a blog, but it's not fiction. It's written by tank platoon commander 1st Lt. Neil Prakash who is fighting in Iraq with the 1st Armored Div."
1LT Prakash was born in Bangalore, India and came to the US as a child. The blog has some good first person accounts of fighting in Baqubah and Fallujah, as well as photos. Some of his writing is not for the politically correct and sensitive antiwar crowd, e.g.:Legion 9 linked up with Marines in humvees and LAVs. They were shooting 5.56mm and 7.62mm at a few large buildings. I pulled up beside them.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We’re taking sniper fire from that building,” a Marine replied on the ground.
“Just keep hitting it. We’ll see your tracers,” I said.
T-t-t. T-t-t. R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. T-t-t. The sound of the little M16s popping on 3 round burst. And the M240 machine guns rattling off a 20 round burst of 7.62mm.
“Good Lord SGT. P. These guys are shooting small arms at this fucking building. Do you see the bullets hitting the wall?”
“Roger.”
“Good. Take it out.” I looked in the GPSE to see what SGT P was aiming at. There was a huge bare wall with a few bricks pushed out. Out of one of those bricks, the tiniest little muzzle flash was coming. Probably from an AK-47 or a Dragunov sniper rifle. SGT P. centered the red dot of his reticle on that little spark.
“On the way.” BOOM.
“Ah HA. SGT P. Did you see that? That little shithead, hiding back there with his rifle. Man, he just took a 120mm HEAT round to the face. Ah HAHAH!.”
There was no way of telling if we killed one guy or several. I didn’t care.
“Goddam, Red 6. Makes my 25mm look like shit. What the fuck?” Legion 9 said over the net. I could understand. I can’t describe how loud that main gun is but the concussion doesn’t feel like a gun. It just feels like a damn bomb went off on your head. And this was the first time anyone had ever been this close to the main gun going off from the outside. Inside the tank it’s not so bad. Of course, I was adamant about video taping the gun firing. So I was developing a pretty bad headache.
I looked at the Marines. They had huge smiles on their faces. I could see them mouthing the word “YEAH”. One guy gave me a thumbs-up and was laughing.
“I guess we got the sonofabitch, SGT P.”
It was 1000. We had been up for over 24 hours already. There were still 9 hours left until the battle was supposed to begin...and the BRT [Brigade Reconnaissance Team] was just getting started on pummeling Fallujah. Kid from Bangalore grows up to be a walkin'-talkin' stereotype of an American badass.
Oh BTW, 1LT Prakash just received a Silver Star: http://www.1id.army.mil/1id/news/january/article_57/article_57.htm