Posted By: BunnyGod on
I was assigned to Kuwait International Airport during Desert Storm in 1992. The Iraqi army had pulled out and my Air Force unit was establishing a no-fly zone in which Iraqi aircraft were prevented from flying into the northern part of Iraq. We were staying in a newly-remodelled barracks within the airport property. I was an avionics technician assigned to the night shift which basically meant my shift didn't get to go to sleep immediately upon our arrival. We pulled our shift and when the day shift relieved us, we headed anxiously back to the barracks. (roughly 4:00 am.)It was still dark out as my coworkers and I lumbered in to the bay,(large open area with rows of bunk beds.) We spoke a bit and fell asleep. We were jarred awake about an hour later to the sound of shouts and screams. They were in a foreign language. (we assumed arabic)Then we heard banging, what sounded like gunfire, and more yelling. The back of my skull started to go numb. I assumed it was fatigue, but now in retrospect, who knows. Since the war was still technically going on, my shift (seven mechanics and technicians) alertly grabbed our m-16 rifles, readied them, huddled together, and waited to meet whomever was attacking. The noises kept on for what seemed forever. It was still dark and we thought it would give us an edge when our attackers entered the bay. They never came in. Then silence. We waited some more and then slowly we crept forward until we made it outside. To our surprise and GREAT elation, there was no attacking soldiers. We contacted our commander and anyone else we could think of. The local security forces (Marines)reported nothing out of the ordinary was happening on the airport grounds. So much for our sleep. During the next shift, we had asked some of the Kuwaiti soldiers assigned to our unit about the noises and the incident. We were told that the Iraqi army slaughtered the entire barracks when they took the airport. The Kuwaiti soldiers were still sleeping when they died. They also took us back to the barracks and lifted the carpet to reveal very large blood stains on the concrete beneath. We caught some grief from the day shift for being "punchy" and hearing things. In the following weeks, my shift would hear things such as boots on concrete, (which is odd since there was carpet everywhere except the latrine, or bathroom)praying, glass breaking, and shoutting. We eventually became irritated with the noises and strange feelings and started speaking out to them saying "Shut up!" and the like. My scalp would go numb from time to time while in the baracks and a few time in random places on the airport grounds. Maybe I caught a virus or something, but it makes me ponder. I await your comments.
Tags:
iraq, desert, air force, storm
