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American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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We waited, continuing the firefight and ducking the insurgents’<br />

growing spray of bullets. Finally, the relief force reported that it was<br />

five hundred yards away, on the other side of the soccer field.<br />

That was as close as they were getting.<br />

A pair of Army Hummers blew through the village and appeared<br />

at the doors, but they couldn’t take all of us. The rest of us started to<br />

run for the RG-33s.<br />

Someone threw a smoke grenade, I guess with the thought that it<br />

would cover our retreat. All it really did was make it impossible for us<br />

to see. (The grenades should be used to screen movement; you run behind<br />

the smoke. In this case, we had to run through it.) We ran from<br />

the house, through the cloud of smoke, ducking bullets and dodging<br />

into the open field.<br />

It was like a scene from a movie. Bullets sprayed and plinked into<br />

the dirt.<br />

The guy next to me fell. I thought he’d been hit. I stopped, but before<br />

I could grab him, he jumped to his feet—he’d only tripped.<br />

“I’m good! I’m good!” he yelled.<br />

Together we continued toward the trucks, bullets and turf flying<br />

everywhere. Finally, we reached the trucks. I jumped into the back of<br />

one of the RG-33s. As I caught my breath, bullets splashed against one<br />

of the bulletproof windows on the side, spiderwebbing the glass.<br />

A few days later, I was westward-bound, back to Delta Platoon. The<br />

transfer I’d asked for earlier was granted.<br />

The timing was good. Things were starting to get to me. The stress<br />

had been building. Little did I know it was going to get a lot worse,<br />

even as the fighting got a lot less.

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