It was a hot and dusty night, average for the middle of the desert. A group of us Soldiers decided to have a flag football game in the open field near our tents to pass some time before our mission the next morning. It was half time and we were all exhausted from all the running and were taking in drinks of warm water to maintain out hydration levels. Who would have known that at this moment our lives would permanently change? .
As we were standing around the picnic table, the "incoming rocket alarm " sounded, nothing out of the ordinary. We all reacted as we had trained one too many times, and dropped to the ground on to our bellies and waited for 2 minutes before. Once the "all clear " command is given we all stand and go about our business as usual. When out of nowhere, a secondary rocket comes in without notice and impacts less than 15 to 20 meters away from the group I was in. Its sound was similar to a normal bottle rocket that we ignite during a 4th of July celebration, just a bit louder of course. As I observed the rocket come in, I thought to myself "OH MY GOD, THIS IS IT! " I braced myself for impact and awaited the worst possible outcome.
BOOM! The explosion was huge in size, enough to feel the concussion force from 15 meters away, breath taking. Once I realize what had actually happened I unfroze myself and fell back into my training and started analyzing the situation at hand. I started checking myself for any sustained injuries, looking for any skin lacerations or spots of blood. Realizing, I was free of any injury I start taking accountability of all the soldiers around me and ensuring their safety. After the first few soldiers were accounted for I looked in the distance and saw there were two naval seamen who were playing flag football with us, still lying on the ground, just a few feet from the impact site. .
We all rushed to their aid, praying for the best. As we arrived to the impact site we realized that one of the seamen was just stunned from the rockets impact and might be suffering from a slight concussion.