All night I waited for a flight and was bumped again and again by soldiers on their way to places like War Eagle, Victory, and Fallujah. Finally I got on a manifest and gathered around a gruff barking sergeant with everyone else.
“I want you all back here in 20 minutes,” he bellowed. “First, I want you to go to the bathroom. Then I want to see you standing in front of me with a bottle of water.”
I went to the bathroom even though I didn’t have to. Then, as ordered, I pulled a cold bottle of water out of the fridge. We lined up with our gear and marched single file into the plane. I felt awkwardly out of place and also like I was in the army myself at the same time.
The plane was windowless and loud as 100 lawnmowers. I crammed pink foam plugs into my ears, strapped on my body armor, and seat belted myself into the side of the plane.
“Hang your bags on the hooks!” barked the sarge. “Hang them all the way up!”
“Don’t fall asleep,” said the soldier next to me. “When you see the rest of us grab our helmets, put yours on, too. We’ll be beginning the spiral dive into Baghdad.”
A great read by Michael Totten, from Baghdad.
He relies on reader donations to fund these trips, so consider hitting his paypal button while you’re there.
I dunno, I’ve heard some horror stories about United Airlines…
Actually, considering some of the United Airlines flights I’ve been on in the last ten years, it doesn’t sound all that different…
…except, on UA, you have a hard time getting a bottle of water.
** The plane was windowless and loud as 100 lawnmowers.** And he clipped himself to the link on the bulkhead.
Sounds like a DC-3, but more likely a Herculese. = TG
Ah-So, that*s where the name *Red Zone* comes from.
A freelance writer, Steven Vincent, had a blog named *RedZone*. He was freelancing from Basra for some time and made passing mention of Muqtada al Sadr and his cutthroat blackshirts.
That didn*t work out very well. Vincent no longer writes anything. You can see his is a similar writing style to MJTotten. @
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/08/03/stevenvincent/
Vincent wrote gripping stuff. It exposed Muqtada before we knew about him. = TG
Nah. Hercs have windows. From the engine noise it sounds like an F27 or a Dash 8, but who knows. In all likelihood it was a converted tanker. They don’t put windows in those puppies.
Sorry to disagree folks, but it was an Air Canada Dash 8. I had the misfortune to fly with them last Fall and recognize the description. The ticket counter reception and cabin service sounds the same as well. A Neptune P2V7 was like a Cadillac by comparison.
FLY THE FREINDLY SKIES OF UNITED?
Well WESTERN AIRLINES had WALLEY THE BIRD and THE ONLY WAY TO FLY