The PTSD Monster Part 4: Quarters

We sat out in the Kuwait desert for far too fucking long. For over a month we sat there, throwing rocks and doing whatever bullshit to keep from going stir-crazy.
The convoy there was something something I won't forget. First off the ship, February 14, 2003. Managed to get half of the vehicles offloaded before the sandstorm became too intense to continue. We were stranded ashore until the storm passed. Took the time to take a few pictures. Not sure if it was that night or the following night when we did a quick convoy to where ever-the-hell-it-was tent city. We took off at night, that, I remember. I remember driving fast. The Kuwait police had all the intersections blocked off, so it was a straight shot until we veered off into the desert.
I remember thinking how beautiful the city looked at night, or was it the light being given off by the oil refineries? It may have been a little of both. Either way it was beautiful, I took several pictures, nothing came out. The cameras were pretty crappy, though. Cheap PX type that were one step up from the Funsaver. We had to put the roll of film into the camera. Compared to the technology now we might as well have been using the old tin-type camera with the drape you put over you and the flash powder. Some 1881 shit.
Two vehicles broke down and we had only one tow bar. Solution: use the tow bar on one vehicle, and use the tow bar chain on the other one. Problem solved? Not exactly. While the vehicle with the tow bar had this huge metal "V" to pull, guide, and stop it, the vehicle with just the tow chain was just being pulled. This meant whenever moving from a stop the towed vehicle would be jerked, putting stress on the chain which could lead to it breaking. Another problem, the vehicle could in about any direction it wanted to. Very dangerous. The "V" shape of the tow bar would allow the vehicle to turn with the vehicle that was towing it. The chain did little more than just pull it along. So, if the front vehicle turns left, and the towing vehicle turns right...yep. Finally, the icing on the cake: when the first vehicle would stop the second vehicle would run into it. Kind of like an involuntary game of bumper cars.
Now when a vehicle is being towed there is not supposed to be anyone in that vehicle. It is a safety issue. On this night that had to go out of the window. There was no spare tow bar and towing the vehicle with just the chain would put both vehicles in jeopardy. Solution: The Comm. (Communications) guys that were originally driving were sent to other vehicles. I volunteered myself to steer and stop the downed ride. Was I trying to be some type of hero? No. It is what needed to be done, and, I didn't like the idea of putting any of the other guys at risk. Do I want a cookie? Now, no. Then, yeah, I was a little hungry and something with sugar in it would have done me some good.
We drove for what felt like forever. Steering a HMMWV with no power steering is like steering a ship in sand. To add to that my focus had to be on the taillights of the towing vehicle. When they lit up I had to hit my brakes, not so much as to give whiplash the the driver of the front vehicle and end up snapping the chain, and not so little as to where I would ram the vehicle in front, thus giving the driver whiplash... again. No music, no scenery, just the sound of engines in the night and those dusty taillights. I can still see them to this day. I think I did well steering and braking for a while, up until the sandman began to work his magic. Those red round lights turned to quarters as I began to hallucinate and the rest of the world around me disappeared. I sat there, droopy-eyed, staring at the side profile of George Washington, suddenly, red lights, hit the brakes, BANG, too late. "Sorry 'bout that!" I yelled to the guy up front. That's gotta suck too.