Marine Corps Stories: Before their Feet

As the armored vehicles barreled through the city of Mashhad, the Marines stayed focused. Staff Sergeant Terri Nair looked at her black wristwatch. It read three o’clock in the morning. The rumbling of the vehicles startled some and aroused suspicion and even ire amongst the people of the city. Sergeant Boston Salloway clipped his fingernails.

“What are you doing?” Terri asked.

“Hygiene,” Salloway said.

“Can you do that when we get back on base? That’s disgusting.”

“Alright, alright.” Salloway put away his kit and cleaned up his nail clippings and deposited them into a tiny plastic bag. The line of military vehicles appeared like a centipede, winding its way over the land. Corporal Kenneth Quimby drove the vehicle with the staff sergeant, sergeant, and PFC Saeed Dorsey. When the vehicle had slowed down a bit in the convoy, Terri issued the orders for the day.

“We are to inspect and secure this section of the city. We will most likely encounter hostile fire. We must remain ever vigilant to the attacks against our vehicles...and the Army’s.”

“The Army?” Quimby asked incredulously.

“Yes, we’re going to meet up with them and control the area which is in the center of the city. They will serve as a companion to the cause of maintaining order in this place,” Terri said.

“I don’t see how those dogfaces can ever keep up with us but whatever,” Dorsey said,

“It’s not ‘whatever’ Dorsey,” Terri said. “You have to allow the other branches of the Armed Forces to unite as one. As in ‘one team…’”

“‘One fight,’ yes, yes, I know Staff Sar’ent,” Dorsey said.

The convoy had made it to the center of the city. They waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, the Army showed their faces.

“We wait two hours for them and they expect us to help them?” Corporal Quimby asked.

Salloway spoke. “It’s going to be a challenge to fight alongside them. That’s a given. But we must expect them to not have as high standards for punctuality as we have in the Corps.”

Army Lieutenant Colonel Clark Casey met up with Colonel Raquel Marsh.

“Clark,” Raquel said.

“Roxie,” Casey replied.

“It’s been a long road to get here but there are ample opportunities for expansion.” He pulled out a digital device outlining the entire city and estimates to how many hostile figures may occupy the area.

“All of this and General Wainwright's decision for the ‘scorched earth’ theory ought to play a key role in the defense of our great nation.”

“That’s true, but we’ve got to ensure that our soldiers and your Marines are well rested and able to get beans and bandages over these next few months.”

“Absolutely,” Raquel said.

Then, when the two colonels had ceased their discussion, a rocket propelled grenade struck a building adjacent to the two officers. A ringing in their ears and dust in their eyes prevented them from pinpointing from where the launch originated. A sergeant leapt out of one of the Marine vehicles and covered the colonels with fire from his rifle. He moved them both into a fixed location away from the fire which had now broken out between the insurgents, the soldiers, and Marines.

Rounds whizzed by like yellowjackets in flight. The sting of battle thrust itself upon the warriors. For a good three hours, the rounds rained and both sides lobbed grenades. Terri Had her sights on a man with a white shirt, sweatpants, and church shoes. She aimed her rifle at his temple, pulled the trigger, and watched him descend to the earth. Still more insurgents appeared. Salloway took out at least three of the assailants. Dorsey climbed up into the turret.

“I’ve got the .50 cal. I’m going to provide suppressive fire!” he said.

“Then do it!” Terri, Salloway, and Quimby yelled.

“I got it,” screamed Dorsey.

The rounds from the powerful machine gun sprayed like repellent against pests. Next, Dorsey saw a grenade lobbed his way. With precision, he grabbed it and threw it back and ducked. While he stayed away from the brunt of the explosion, a few pieces of shrapnel lodged in his neck and chest. The injuries remained minimal as he regained his composure and returned to the turret.

The Army and the Marines blasted their way to hold onto the position within Mashhad. Overwhelmed, the Iranian insurgents retreated from the power of these two pieces to the United States Armed Forces puzzle.

Terri noticed blood on Dorsey’s cammies.

“Corpsman!” She said walking up to one of the other vehicles with Marines.

Navy Corpsman Kim Wong rushed over to aid the injured Marine.

“Goddamn, Dorsey. You tried hard to get that Purple Heart, huh? You’ll probably get a Bronze Star to boot.”

She scanned his upper body for anything that may have been missed or proved to be more serious. Nothing appeared. She removed the bits and cleaned up the wounds and dressed them.

“You’re going to be alright PFC. Great cover fire out there by the way,” Kim said.

“Thanks, Doc,” Dorsey said.

Once the area had returned to some sense of sanity, the two colonels met up again. This time in one of the armored cars and with an escort from both branches.

“I hate war,” Casey said.

“That’s because you’re a rational individual. Anybody who says that they love war either hasn’t been in it or is too twisted up in the head to know that it sucks,” Raquel said.

Both branches then reconvened and established a position right at the heart of the second most populous city in Iran. Finally, another win for the United States Armed Forces against an ogreish system laid before their feet.