Once Upon Another Time in Iraq

As I reflect back on these Iraq war stories, I realize I probably shouldn't have opened with what I consider to be the best war story ever about kicking in a door on homeboy and his wife doing practical applications of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". But we live and we learn.This next story again comes to you from the city of Ramadi in Iraq. Unlike many Marines who got to travel to a few different places and meet interesting people to kill, I and many other Marines from 3rd Battalion 7th Marines only got to go to Ramadi, two back to back tours to the same city. Weak right? That's what we thought too. And the second deployment was just full of me yelling at the Iraqi's we were training to keep their weapons on semi-automatic and not full Rambo. Assholes couldn't shoot either way.Anyways aside from busting in on people making the beast with two backs and my inherent jealousy of Kris Paronto, there is another story I'd like to tell you all. This one is about brotherhood and how you build relationships that last a lifetime. See, one-night CAAT Red was out and about making all the insurgents pout. Wow, that was a lame rhyme anyways...We were driving down MSR Michigan and CAAT Red Bravo split up. Making up team one, were trucks one and two, making up team two were trucks three and four. Everyone tracking? Cool.Team one took a slight right turn down a side road and immediately found a pressure plate IED, the hard way. The hard way means it doesn't blow up. When it does blow up that's finding it the easy way.I was up in the gun and was in the process of turning the turret and gun from the 3 o'clock position to the 12 o'clock position when I heard my vehicle commander and driver talking about something they saw in the road. I couldn't see it, the angles were wonky as shit. The driver, Matt swung the wheel to the left as hard as he could and we missed whatever the object was.Since EOD was coming out anyways to check out team one's IED, we asked them to check out that object we dodged.Turns out it was a pressure plate IED as well.Inches. We missed it by a few mere inches if even that much.My brother saved my life...by a few mere inches. Once upon a time in Iraq, a man I'd known for a little under a year saved my life. That is the brotherhood.