i remember in July of 2007
1st batallion 4th marines, wpns company 3rd platoon
the QRF (quick reaction force) was called to mount up in pursuit of the #1 HVI (high value individual) in the Al-Anbar province, Iraq south of the Euphrates river.
i remember when we drove up the hill to get on top of the plateau we saw him and his group.
there were mounds of dirt everywhere, really tall ones about 2-3 meters tall, and they were everywhere covering a good square mile.
well as we pull up i got out of my truck along with all the dismounts in my section and we started to close with on the #1 HVI in our AO (area of operation).  His name was jabar jasim.
i was on top of a dirt mound, and my fireteam leader was next to me below the dirt mound just to the right of me.  I had my rifle pointed at jabar Jasim who was about 50m in front of me.  I started to combat glide towards him really slowly trying to be aware of my surroundings.  next thing i know, about 5 feet in front of me, i saw an explosion.  it looked kinda like a twister on the ground for a split second, i had no idea what it was.  then a human limb landed on my flack jacket and i realized that it was a suicide bomber sacrificing himself so that Jabar jasim can get away.  I was schocked.  The blast was so great (maybe cause i was so close) that it knocked me on my ass and i rolled down the mound of dirt.  Lieutenant Hrnoes was 2 inches away from the blast and if it hadn't been for HM1 Khim, lt. Hrones would be R.I.P.  doc Khim quickly threw himself upon lt. Hrones and took him to the ground, he absorbed all the blast and shock.  i had so much adrenaline running through my body that i didnt know what to feel.  a few moments later we exchange gunfire and end up shooting Jabar jasim i the chest, as he started to bleed out, he took off all his clothes and started waving at us to corner him.  we didnt know if there were any other tricks out there so we kept surveillance on him as the IA (Iraqi Army) surrounded him and shot him a couple times.  As he tried to get up and run away our machine gunner (Geeseman) shot a burst of about 15-20 rounds at him.
all this happened within a few minutes.
there was another guy that we captured.  As we searched this fucker we found a suicide vest on him.  the only thing that kept it from going off was our Guardian system which disables all frequencies from 50hz - 800 hz i think or something like that.  it pretty much disabled the transmitter.
now when that was ove my adrenaline started to run low and i started to feel real faint.  I started getting a headache.  I later realized that it was a stage 2 mild concussion from the blast.  I thought it was because i was dehydrated.

we usually keep a cooler in the truck and fill it with water bottles, but we ran out.  it was probably the hottest day of the year hitting about 138-145 degrees.  i weighed 155lbs at the time, and when i threw my combat load on,i was almost 279lbs.  we sacrificed mobility for safety.

i dunno, i'm just blabbing i guess.  it's not even a great war story, but it's something that i experienced.
one of my boots was in an IED blast.  He quickly dismounted to go help his brothers and as he went to grab his glasses from his truck, he stepped on a pressure plate IED.  i was on morgue watch to make sure no one tampered with the body later that night.
i took a peek inside, his head was still in his kevlar and missing half his chest.  i didnt see any legs on him except for a boot in a bucket on the floor overflowing with blood.  Then i saw them cover his body up in the American flag.

R.I.P Jeremy Burris
http://www.myspace.com/cowboyburris
this one goes out to you man,
were sorry for all the times we hazed you bro.  All the times i made you push, stay up til 0200 cleaning the head, waking you up at 0400 and running the hell outa you, constantly messing with you, always thrashing you, and talking shit to you.  you need to understand that it was because we wanted you to be the best.  train for the worst, hope for the best.  and you know what?  you are the best, because you took the ultimate sacrifice for this country.  Although i didnt get to know you as much since they moved me to 3rd platoon, when i was in 1st platoon, you and Singh were my favorite.