The Abattoir

" In combat you can easily become inured to tragedy, but every once in awhile you see something that burns through the mental armor and leaves you reeling. Such was the case today. Before this starts I should warn you this is not an appropriate post for all readers.

The sun was still low on the horizon as our vehicle made its way down one of the winding mulhollah streets. As our HMMWV snaked through the forest of dense infrastructure the only sound was the roar of the turbodiesel engine and the clipped and crackling radio transmissions. As SGT Bard whipped the HMMWV through the traffic snarled street SPC Spartan spun the turret in sweeping arcs, the two working together in mute synchrony. As we barreled down another nameless road we all felt the low flat crunch of tortured atmosphere pulse through the air. And then in unison we all yelled out what the shockwave had already revealed - “VBIED!”."
365 and a Wakeup