In my Sights

5 minutes in the life of a sniper.

In my sights:

It is 0600, 24 December 2004, in Sadr city Iraq.  The day before Christmas, and Birds Eye and myself where perched on top of a building overlooking a Main Supply Route.

The weather outside was a crisp 42 degrees, the wind was a calm 6 mph out of the north.   The sun has yet to rise over the desolate road below us.  

I would be carrying the very reliable Army M24 sniper weapon system, developed from a Remington 700.  It is a very powerful weapon using a 7.62 X 51 bullet. The rifle can shoot up to 800 meters (875 Yards) effectively, although I have engaged targets at 950 meters with much success.  My rifle was fitted with an Leupold Ultra M3A 10-42mm fixed power scope.

After being in Iraq since May, 8 months of a 18 month tour I had become all too familiar with this stretch of road, and this building top.

My spotter and I have been on this roof top more than 50 times since arriving in country.  Normally this stretch of road is very slow throughout the night and into the morning.  This morning would prove to be different.

Just a few hours earlier, a car had pulled up and threw something out on the side of the road.  Birds Eye and I took turns watching the item and looking for people.  When one of us was watching the suspicious item, the other one would be scanning the area looking for anyone or anything suspicious.

Birds Eye spotted a suspicious acting person watching the road from a small open field some 600 meters from the item left in the road.  Little to the knowledge of the Iraqi, we had a clear view of him from approximately 375 meters away.

The field had several large piles of dirt and rocks.  To the north of the field, some 300 meters was a small building.  To the east was an older apartment complex with a dirt wall and a gate leading out to the open field.  On the south end would be large mounds of garbage and ruble, then a road that went east and west.  On the west end of the field was the 4 lane main supply route that Birds Eye and I had been keeping over watch on.

That’s when I took aim on the man behind the dirt berm.   The dimly lit street lights illuminated the man just enough to be able to tell what he was planning on doing.  Little to the man’s knowledge, I was fixed in on him with my rifle.

Birds Eye was also gauging the man with his range finder. 

While looking down the scope on my rifle I began to take note of the man and his surroundings.

The man was wearing a light blue dingy Thawb, commonly referred to as a man dress from members of the US military. He had open toe sandals. It looked as if he was wearing a brown undershirt.

He was an older man, balding on top, what hair he had left, was grey, and matched his beard.  He keep his eyes squinted has if he needed to wear glasses.

His exposed skin was dirty as if he had not had a bath in several days.  I noticed a gash on the top of his head that appeared might have happened with in the last day or two.

The man’s face was slander in shape with his checks sunk in just a bit and was wrinkled, and dirty. 

His left ear was slightly unporportionate to his right ear.  It kind of was bent and stuck out.  One could only think that maybe his mother had dragged him around by that ear when he was a small child.

When the man spoke I could tell he was missing two front teeth.

I would estimate that this man was somewhere in his late 40’s or early 50’s

The man would pace about and squirm around, in a nervous fashion.  One could tell the man had not ever done anything like what he was fixing to do.

In his right hand the man held a small cell phone.  He would keep looking at it like he was expecting a call from someone important.

In my head were many thoughts.  I thought to myself who was this man?

Was he a good father, and good husband?  Did he still have a good relationship with his mother and father? What did he do for a living? 

I thought about what his family was like.  Would they miss him if I had to take his life? 

If he had kids who would take care of them?

Then I thought about the lives of the Americans that might come along and stumble upon the road side bomb.  I thought to myself if there really a roadside bomb, or was this guy just waiting for a call from a mistress somewhere.

In a second story window to the south, Birds Eye had spotted a video camera, it was at that time it had become clear what this man was fixing to do. 

After 5 minutes of observing this man it had become time for me to play god and determine the fate of the man I was observing. 

As a convoy approached in the distance, I noticed the man had crouched down as not to be seen.

Then it had become clearer, this man was a possible trigger man for an improvised explosive device. 

 Most likely that is what was thrown out of the car earlier that morning.

 

As I continued to look through the scope, I began to think of all the basic fundamentals of shooting.  Proper sight picture and sight alignment, slow and steady trigger pull, and controlled breathing.

Then the moment came, as I aligned the cross hairs on the man.  My heart was racing, and I could hear it beating in my head.  I took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out till I hit my natural repertory pause.  By that time I had already started to slowly pull the trigger back.

All of a sudden without warning the firing pin struck the bullet.  The rifle would kick back against my shoulder as fire and smoke erupted from the barrel.  The recoil of the rifle would kick up surrounding dust into the air.

It would seem like eternity had pass from the time I squeezed the trigger of my rifle, until I could confirm a direct hit on the man I had been observing.

The bullet struck the man in the back.  I would observe a pink mist and river of blood come from the man’s back as he fell face forward into the mound of dirt in front of him.

The man’s body just laid there motionless. 

Moments later two women and seven children came running out of the building from the east.  Then it had hit me, I had killed a man armed with only a cell phone. 

This man was a family man, with a wife or two and many children who appeared to have loved their father.  He left this world and the ones who had loved him without ever knowing who had shot him.

As the convoy rolled past the suspicious item left behind by the men in the car, I couldn't help but wonder if I had taken an innocent man’s life, or simply killed a man who was only out to harm Americans.

It would be later in the morning before an explosive disposal team would arrive, only to discover the package on the side of the road was indeed an explosive device wired into a cell phone.

A sniper is not like being a regular infantry man.  Being a sniper you really get personal with the target in front of you.

 I have been haunted by the faces the people I have shoot and killed while serving in Iraq.  I know I was only doing a job, and in the end God will not judge me for the lives I have taken.

Every year on 24 December I sit back and drink a silent toast to the men and women in the convoy that day.  Most likely they never knew that I had prevented an explosive device from blowing up one of their vehicles. Those soldiers would go home without ever knowing the events of that day.  They would hug their families, their friends and all of their loved ones.   I would go on and never get a thank you, a job well done from any of the soldiers, or their families.

I look back on it and I smile.  I know without me being there that day an American might have lost their life, and to that it is thanks enough.

To all the Men and women who are serving overseas today, I would like to say thank you.  It is because of you that Americans can sleep peacefully at night, celebrate their holidays with their families. 

 

To all members of the Armed forces, both past and present, THANK YOU for a job well done.

God bless you and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

                           The Hitman 0069              Portland, Or 

Author's Note

When you see a veteran, welcome him home, and remember to always tell him thank you.

Reviews

[Tina Kline]

very good writing. You bring your experiences alive for the reader.

[Nick.B]

A man from Iraq saw some pretty weird stuff that can stick in your head for the rest of your life....you manage to capture that feeling pretty well....good job