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It is said that war is 99% boredome and 1% sheer terror, I for one can wholeheartedly agree with that remark. Admittedly, during the boredome phases we were under rocket, mortar and small arms attack, but it is suprising how quickly you get used to that sort of thing. I used to lie on my cot in my body armour and helmet, drifting away during these attacks, only to be kept being waken up by the SNCO constantly checking we were OK.

"Just bugger off and let us sleep" was my normal remark " If something happens to us you will hear about it in the morning!"
I suppose I should have been thankful that someone was looking out for us in the firat place, but when you are on your 5th mortar/rocket attack of the day and you are just wanting a good nights kip, well lets just say that you dont care for other distractions during the night.

the scariest moment during one of these attacks came when myself and a colleague were checking some communications equipment. These small cabins were about 100 meters away from the main bomb dump for the camp, whilst we there we heard the siren go for attack imminent, as this was still going on we saw and felt the thud of the mortars as they landed between us and the bomb dump. Any closer to us and I would be telling this story through a straw on a magical wheelchair, any closer to the bomb dump and I would not be telling this story at all!

The 1% sheer terror came when I volunteered to go outside the wire with our local nutters (the guys taht did it day in day out), I spent one day with them and they have wholeheartedly earnt my respect since then. I shall not say what I experienced but please wherever you are, support your local troops, you will probably never know just what the average infantry man goes through and I hope to god you never do. But please do not forget them, they are as normal as you and I, they live and breathe the same way...the only difference is that the death that stalks them is so very different to the death that most of us believe is coming our way. We dream of a peaceful, serene and dignified death, this is not the case for those that appear in our newspapers, these brave young men that risk it all for the say so of our politicians.

Do not berate these lads or me for being in these places, we do our jobs. Instead keep rallying the politicians that send us there, that allow so many of us to come back on the back of a plane with a flag draped on a box. We did not choose to go to these places, we do as we are told.

God bless all Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Civilians caught up in this most unjust of wars.

Learn more about this author, Ian Yates.
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