When The Bombs Fell - Newsletters - http://maxpages.com/ljwbthisweek/What_Might_Have

It was a quiet night, hardly any breeze blowing, and a stillness in the air
that seemed to be almost foreboding. After the constant bombardment of only
a few days before, the quiet was a welcome change, but one that seemed like
a pregnant pause just waiting to burst forth in some awful noise. The only
sounds at all were the gentle waves slapping against the side of the ship.
Anchored offshore, the sea-going tug seemed to be sleeping after it's long
ordeal with the invasion of the previous few days.

I was on the final watch and had a chance to see the dawn fire creeping up
over the horizon. In the final moments before it's ardous toil was released
and it burst up for all to see, I was relieved from my post at fire control
on the ship's main guns and sent down below. It seems the captain needed a
replacement for the lock on his door. Being a machinist mate, it was only
natural they would have called me. It was hard to think that there might be
such an urgency about it that they would need to have me relieved from my
watch to get it done. Ah well, the watch was almost over, there just was no
understanding how an officers mind worked half the time anyway.

As I started down the steps in the aft stairwell, an explosion rocked the
ship and a force lifted me off the steps and threw me to the bottom. I dimly
heard men shouting amidst tearing metal as the blackness closed in around
me.

I woke up in the tiny sick bay of the ship very confused and
disorientated. I thought for a minute I was back in the battle of the
previous days and had been hit. It scared me to think I did not remember
what had happened. As my mind started to clear I remembered, we had not been
hit in the battle, so what was I doing in sick bay with bruises seemingly
over my whole body. I looked around and saw that someone was lying in the
bunk next to me. There was also someone on the table in the middle of the
room.

Just about that time, the Doc came in and started checking me out. As
he flashed a light in my eye I tried to get him to tell me what had
happened. All he would say was to keep calm and that everything was ok.
Finally he told me that I would be fine, although I would be very sore and
bruised for a while. Also, he said that I had a slight concussion from the
fall.

When he mentioned the fall, I suddenly remembered the explosion and
the great hand that had plucked me off the ladder and thrown me to the
ground. Then the Doc was telling me how I was a very lucky man. How a bomb
had exploded just above me killing two of the men in the fire control crew
of which I had just been standing my watch with. He explained that if I had
not been thrown to the ground by the blast I would have been dead.

As I lay here on my bunk, thinking of the events of the past day, I have to
thank God for keeping me through these past days and the people back home
praying for me that I might get home safely. I think I will write a letter
to my wife and let her know what happened and that her prayers worked.

ljwb@mail.com

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Page Updated Fri Aug 10, 2001 3:48pm EDT