March 29, 2003
"Critter" Crittenden

We must have sensed the lounging around out in the desert was about to come to an end, because over our MREs and canteen cups of instant coffee that morning, we got religious. I recited the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me down the path of righteousness for His name’s sake … Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

I like the way, once you get into the Valley, it shifts from “He” to “Thou.” The relationship gets more intense.

Baxter chimed in with his own favorite: ...

Early that evening, when it was dark enough that we had to use a shielded red light, Wolford called his lieutenants and platoon sergeants together around a map spread across the hood of his Humvee, to brief them on the plan to attack the Euphrates bridgehead town of al-Hindiyah at dawn on the 31st. Our company would punch through town to the bridge. While the rest of the battalion held the town on the west side of the river behind us, the 14 Assassin tanks and our fire-support Bradley would cross to the east side. The strength of defenses around the town and the bridge was not known. A couple of Iraqi bases were located within 10 miles or so, at al-Hillah to the east and Karbala to the northwest. Strength of Iraqi forces there was also not known. Our job was to lure them out. We were the bait. ...