ISR Pred: A Narrative Fiction

They realized they had a problem since no other units were up to the line with them; they had to wait this out. They were ordered to lie down in the tall grass. The fighting started to break out in front of them at a small skirmish line. Many of the men had never seen battle, so some of the men stood up to watch what was going on. Maj. John D. Musser of the 143rd wrote: "… a few shells came booming over our heads, making many of the uninitiated dodge muchly and now and then a wounded skirmisher was brought in from the skirmish line and taken to the rear, all of which had a tendency to make us nervous and uneasy…" (Tomasak,

He had about twenty-six days of training under his belt and he was going to get to choose what he thought would be the best people to take with him. Almost fifteen hours later, he arrived. Little did he know he had the best team already setup containing quite a few very close friends that he thought died oversea because he hadn’t heard from them. Altogether there were a total of six of them. Small but great, John thought to himself. The team was small, but had all the skills to pull this off. They had Anthony, Jones, and Cedar as snipers, Aaron specialized in bomb defense, and then there were John and Clay as specially trained foot-troops required in order to finish the job. And before they knew it, they were in action.

William arrived at the front gate and found two men and a woman standing outside the fence. The men wore black Kevlar vests and carried assault rifles. Three farmhands watched the men carefully. William suspected that if a firefight broke out the men outside the fence would gun down the farmhands with relative ease. All the men held assault rifles, but the strangers held their weapons differently. The men outside the gate wore their gun straps tight across their shoulders and chest, which would make it easier to shoot and move at the same time if a fight broke out. This contrasted with the farmhands, who held their rifles haphazardly across their stomachs. The strange men were clearly seasoned ex-special forces soldiers; William suspected Army Rangers or Delta Force.

“It was a typical of being in the war. Things changed rapidly in a matter of seconds and no one had any control over anything, We had yet to learn these things and implement survival tactics, which was what it came down to.” Beah pg.29

"Not really, but thanks." We proceeded to crouch run through the trench, past the AA gun and went behind it. We readied our weapons, nodded to each other, stood up quickly, and let rip with our Thompsons. After the 60 rounds were expended into the, now Swiss cheese, gun crew, Sergeant Lewis climbs up out of the trench, hops on the controls and swings the gun around. He motions us over to man the reloading and traverse controls. Lewis lets the guns blaze, lighting up the machine guns nests, larger gun bunkers, and obliterating enemy troop advances. Our men were moving up the field, using the naval bombardment craters as cover from enemy return fire, until Sergeant Lewis pulverized their firing

These men would walk and walk never knowing when the light of the tunnel was over. They were consistently looking over their soldiers waiting for an attack. That kind of stress is crippling to the human mind. Some men would discard supplies as they move along to lighten their packs but something’s weren’t that easy to throw out to lighten their loads. Ammunition was an

Approaching the American breastworks in the pitch-black night was not the most reassuring feeling in the world. True, our forces were far superior to the motley crew of American soldiers that lay before us, but confidence could only do so much for a man in my position. The thought of dying at the hands of these insane, untrained American soldiers crept into my mind and distracted me from my surroundings. Stumbling slightly in the darkness, I stopped dead in my tracks when I realized just how close we were to the breastworks. I held my breath and crouched down, as did many other men around me. All other sounds around us ceased. Slow, cautious movements and near-inaudible whispers came from behind the breastworks. I scanned my dark surroundings

“GET DOWN, GET DOWN!!!” as soldiers come over the hill, gunfire blazed through the night sky hitting and wounding most of the

All bullets were counted, beds made, uniforms cleaned, this occurred until suddenly 03:45 arrived. “Men, the time is nearly here,” my words choked as self-hatred flooded my body, “What we do here today will be remembered for generations to come, we fight today not only for ourselves, but all who we know. All our mates and family who live back home!” A faint cheer followed my speech as I steadied myself for what was to come. “We charge in 5 minutes. We charge not only for our freedom but for the freedom of our country. For the freedom of the world!” Spit filled the air from the cheer which erupted from my unit this time. A unity formed over the men, a cold malevolent sweat captured me. Who was I to send these boys to their death? A resolve set inside me, I would fight alongside my men, their lives are worth the same as mine. 04:00 “THIS IS IT MEN! WE FIGHT FOR THE WORLD!” I screamed as I led the charge. Vaulting out of the trench I saw no man’s land clearly for the first time. Death was everywhere, flies swarming the pools of blood. The land so barren of life no greenery was seen. A cold resolution set over me, it was the Germans fault, they caused

"We stood around awaiting orders of some kind. General Quarters sounded and I started for my battle station in secondary aft. As I passed through casement nine I noted the gun was manned and being trained out. The men seemed extremely calm and collected. I reached the boat deck and our anti-aircraft guns were in full action, firing very rapidly. I was about three quarters of the way to the first platform on the mast when it seemed as though a bomb struck our quarterdeck. I could hear shrapnel or fragments whistling past me. As soon as I reached the first platform, I saw Second Lieutenant Simonson lying on his back with blood on his shirt front. I bent over him and taking him by the shoulders asked if there was anything I could do. He was dead, or so nearly so that speech was

The six principles of the life course paradigm are Historical Time and Place, Situational Imperatives, Linked Lives, Agency, Life Stage, and Accentuation. Historical Time and Place is the life courses structured differently through history and across geopolitical units. Situational Imperatives is social demands of new situations constrain roles-related behavior. Linked Lives is the effects of social change depends on one’s relationships with other people. Agency has to do with people striving to maintain sense of control over their setting and their biography. Life Stage effects of social change depends on the age of the person experiencing it. Accentuation is behavioral patterns before transition are magnified with social change. (Shanaham and Macmillan, 2008, 55)

I faced the sky and tried to cover the sun’s bright afternoon glare with my hands. The “All-American” B17’s were flying above us. 30,000 feet in the air and joining another formation, the 97th. Total of 40 B17’s backed by 50 spitfires. The whole day has been filled with commotion, it’s as if the ground echoed and bounced around the sounds of war. My ears rang painfully against my head, it’s almost like I still hadn’t gotten used the roaring sounds yet. I ignored the ache, and went back to the task at hand. We were told to dig, dig, and dig, and start creating the “walls”. When we got to the fields of France, the fields were already covered, allowing the Germans to create a stable defense. The battle of hedgerows ended when we blew the hedgerows

troops on a hopeless humanitarian mission pulled out of Mogadishu, Somalia. A few Americans realize that during this mission, U.S. troops had the most continuous and gruesome battle fought by American’s since the Vietnam War. The afternoon of October 3rd, 1993, soldiers of Task Force Ranger, and Delta Force were sent to capture two lieutenants of a rebel Somalian warlord and return to base. This mission was supposed to take 30 min, but instead, the soldiers were pinned down in the middle of Mogadishu market and in a desperate effort of kill or be killed. For about 20 hours, U.S. soldiers created a bloody firefight that resulted in 19 American fatalities and the death of 1000 Somali fighters. Black Hawk Down tells the story of that desperate battle, from all angles of the war.

Smoking has been a popular habit for hundreds of years. The effects of such lifestyle choices present the medical world with controversial issues. In many cases, treatment is offered to everyone, but should limitations be implemented in the medical fields with scarce resources? The issue arises in organ transplants, making the selection process for receivers ethically and economically challenging. One must consider that smoking is recognised as a mental illness, with addiction having been included in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM IV) which is recognised by professionals and by law (Lembke, 2014). Conversely, the medical professionals have both a legal and moral obligation to uphold ethical practices. It must also be considered the likelihood of a smoker re-damaging their lungs. Approximately 62% of organ transplants are performed on patients with smoking induced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), of which 11% return to the destructive lifestyle (Verleden, 2011). These ethically controversial issues invite the question: “Should people who submit to poor lifestyle

LUSH is an organic skin- care and cosmetic company that is firmly committed to the manufacturing of fresh and organic products from fresh fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics with little or no preservatives or packaging and no animal testing. Established in 1995 in Poole Dorset, the company prides itself on their core philosophy which is based on the highest levels of ethical standards with the lowest possible impact on the environment.