The War in North: Prelude
I may discuss the recent war, but I'm not sure that I have anything new to add over and above what you read on CNN and FoxNews; I did not get called up, possibly a combination of me being a) in Tanks, not infantry, b) not a citizen, c) I forgot. But my old brigade fought in it. Although they were sent in only for the last week, that was plenty enough time for people I knew to die. All of the yeshiva guys I was drafted with made it, but here's the story of one of my friends who nearly didn't. He was in Rambam Hospital in Haifa, but then my friend's condition improved, and he got transferred to Tel-Aviv, where his father is a doctor. I had heard he's the only soldier in his ward, and was bored out of his mind, which is a good sign. I got the story the night of my engagement:
It's better to be the smallest of the lions than the largest of the mice. Itai, who was a tank commander, got put into his commander's commander's tank (the company commander) as a Loader - like me (that was his job before he went to commander's course). In tanks, you can never be overqualified. Having 4 tank commanders run a tank just means that the whole thing will be that much more efficient and powerful.
Anyway, he got put into this tank just for this mission: an emergency evacuation. Some paratroops had come under attack, and there were two wounded who could not be evacuated under fire (they were in the news). Itai's tank went in, with another tank that held back from the immediate area to cover them. They went in, drawing fire from everywhere - only that's the beauty of a tank, it's just darn bulletproof to small arms. Then a mortar landed on the hatch (it was opened in a defensive posture, that is, "just a crack" - otherwise, the mortar would have landed directly in the tank, killing everyone). That was bad, but not so bad, since mortars are generally anti-personnel, like 40 grenades worth of shrapnel. But tanks laugh off shrapnel. It tickles. In fact, in other theaters, American tanks have been known to fire anti-personnel rounds at each other if that other tank is getting swarmed by infantry. However, while the shrapnel did no damage to the people inside, it did knock out the swivel action of the turret.
Then Hezbollah-niks fired a Metis anti-tank missile at it. That wasn't good. It hit the front engine block (a brilliant Israeli innovation: put the engine in the front to protect the people inside), and managed to send shrapnel flying through the turret. The commander and the gunner are somewhat protected from that, as they have their targeting systems in front of them. Itai, the loader, broke his arm, and had two pieces of shrapnel lodged in his neck - one a few milimeters from his jugular, the other a few from his spine. The pain was incredible, despite the adrenaline rushing through him. Even so, he managed to get out the back (imagine exiting a car from the backseat through the trunk), and drag in the wounded soldier [the other had died of his wounds before they got there - I'm not sure if they got his remains out].
The [company] commander - who had been wounded in the eye by the missile - tied a rather pathetic dressing on Itai's neck to staunch the blood flow, which nevertheless saved his life. They got back to a safer position, and got Itai on a helicopter, as he fell unconscious from blood loss; they got him to Rambam hospital in Haifa.
Miraculously, the shrapnel missed the deadly things by that much. His arm is broken, and his neck is not so good, but he is alive, speaking, and thank God, now bored. Well, maybe. I was going to visit him on Sunday with Adena. I don't know what happened with the paratrooper.
UPDATE: I went to visit him in the hospital in Tel Aviv, the Sunday after he had been wounded, but he was already released. Once the critical areas were cleaned and his arm set, he could be said to have a mere fleshwound, and was sent home. thank God.
It's better to be the smallest of the lions than the largest of the mice. Itai, who was a tank commander, got put into his commander's commander's tank (the company commander) as a Loader - like me (that was his job before he went to commander's course). In tanks, you can never be overqualified. Having 4 tank commanders run a tank just means that the whole thing will be that much more efficient and powerful.
Anyway, he got put into this tank just for this mission: an emergency evacuation. Some paratroops had come under attack, and there were two wounded who could not be evacuated under fire (they were in the news). Itai's tank went in, with another tank that held back from the immediate area to cover them. They went in, drawing fire from everywhere - only that's the beauty of a tank, it's just darn bulletproof to small arms. Then a mortar landed on the hatch (it was opened in a defensive posture, that is, "just a crack" - otherwise, the mortar would have landed directly in the tank, killing everyone). That was bad, but not so bad, since mortars are generally anti-personnel, like 40 grenades worth of shrapnel. But tanks laugh off shrapnel. It tickles. In fact, in other theaters, American tanks have been known to fire anti-personnel rounds at each other if that other tank is getting swarmed by infantry. However, while the shrapnel did no damage to the people inside, it did knock out the swivel action of the turret.
Then Hezbollah-niks fired a Metis anti-tank missile at it. That wasn't good. It hit the front engine block (a brilliant Israeli innovation: put the engine in the front to protect the people inside), and managed to send shrapnel flying through the turret. The commander and the gunner are somewhat protected from that, as they have their targeting systems in front of them. Itai, the loader, broke his arm, and had two pieces of shrapnel lodged in his neck - one a few milimeters from his jugular, the other a few from his spine. The pain was incredible, despite the adrenaline rushing through him. Even so, he managed to get out the back (imagine exiting a car from the backseat through the trunk), and drag in the wounded soldier [the other had died of his wounds before they got there - I'm not sure if they got his remains out].
The [company] commander - who had been wounded in the eye by the missile - tied a rather pathetic dressing on Itai's neck to staunch the blood flow, which nevertheless saved his life. They got back to a safer position, and got Itai on a helicopter, as he fell unconscious from blood loss; they got him to Rambam hospital in Haifa.
Miraculously, the shrapnel missed the deadly things by that much. His arm is broken, and his neck is not so good, but he is alive, speaking, and thank God, now bored. Well, maybe. I was going to visit him on Sunday with Adena. I don't know what happened with the paratrooper.
UPDATE: I went to visit him in the hospital in Tel Aviv, the Sunday after he had been wounded, but he was already released. Once the critical areas were cleaned and his arm set, he could be said to have a mere fleshwound, and was sent home. thank God.
posted by Shlome at 6:33 PM
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