The Curse Mountain - Chapter 2 (Part 1) (700 hits)
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Submitted by Avals (View user info) at 2005-02-18 04:31:56 EST
'The Curse Mountain' is the story of Gilad, a team-leader in the engineering company of the IDF's 'Givati' brigade. A sort of service diary, 'The Curse Mountain' describes Gilad's service in Lebanon, and was published on the 11th of May, 2001, in Yediot Ahronot.
Originally published in Hebrew, I have attempted to translate the article to English to the best of my abilities.
Chapter 1: http://www.ubersite.com/m/59575
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Chapter 2 / Going In
First time in the Bufor; The briefing; The fear; Safety instructions; The toasts; The lying to mom
I went up to the Bufor for the first time after my squad-leader course. My teammates arrived a month prior, and I joined them late. I met them by the entrance gate to Lebanon, just before dark; convoys to the Bufor don't travel in daylight.
On the waiting platform we jumped on each other with hugs and kisses. Eli the team-leader demanded we stop being mushy, and started the briefing. It's only a 45-minute ride, but the prep-talk sounds like we're getting ready to go to war. Then we do a combat assignation; they write down each soldier's name, personal number, and which vehicle he's assigned to. If anything happens - they'll know who's gone. Next we do a drill for running over an explosive device; an enemy encounter drill; a shelling drill; and up on the Safari trucks we go. "It's a whole different world out here," whispers Bendori, my best friend on the team; and I'm thinking that from this day on they'll no longer be able to tell me "You have no idea what Lebanon is. Just wait till you get there." I'm finally there; that's what matters.
Seven p.m., a slow drive. A food Safari, G.I. Safari, diesel Safari, behind these an ordnance truck with a big crane, another G.I. Safari, the Commander's Hummer, the Lieutenant's Hummer, and an Electronic Warfare Hummer. We drive slowly. Tanks spread out along the road - covering. The lights of Kiryat Shmona are getting farther and farther away; the night looks so black, you can hardly see what's happening 200 meters in front of you. Through the narrow slit in the Safari's walls Bendori is trying to explain the scenery; over there is the Hardela bridge; there's the Nirks traffic artery. He briefly reviews where trouble could come from; throws in a bit of combat legacy; whispering. There are hardly any villages along the way; not a soul around. We start climbing upwards. I swear you can hear your heart beating, and from second to second the cold grows stronger. Suddenly I get an immense urge to shout out to my commander that we're getting too far away; I bite my lips and keep quiet. "Did you bring your lucky underwear?" Bendori asks me. I've got them on me, I answer. "Don't take them off," he says; "Until proven otherwise, your good fortune depends on these underwear; even if that means 32 days."
The outpost gate opens, and we're in. Total darkness. The car stops, the doors open; heavy fog everywhere. People coming down, people going up; everyone's running at full speed. The commanders are hissing in a particularly thunderous voice; "Move! Quickly, quickly!" When a convoy arrives and the exposed platform in the center of the outpost is packed with dozens of soldiers, the Hizbollah could fire shells; so you can't stay put, you have to rush and take shelter in the protected space. I can't see anything, can't tell who's who; grab tightly onto someone's shirt and drag after him. Half a minute later I'm already in one of the SRs - safety rooms. It's a long and narrow nook with three-story beds, also dubbed a submarine because of the resemblance and the crowdedness. "From now on this cramped hole is your home", says Bendori. "You sleep in the SR, eat in the SR, watch movies in the SR. You don't take walks in the Bufor." Eli the team-leader walks in. "Let's go take your for a walk," he tells me; "You've got to know the positions, don't you?"
We walk back out into the darkness. "We're on Ali-Tahr ridge," he explains. "The ridge abrasion overlooks six outposts: The Bufor and Dlaat are held by the IDF; Brosh, Gamba, Hadar, and Valencia are held by the South-Lebanese Army. We're here 10 kilometers from Metula, at a height of 717 meters above sea-level. The outpost commands over Marj-Ayun and the Litni. They don't call us 'The eyes of South-Lebanon' for nothing; this is one of the most strategic spots. Before this crusader stronghold was captured in June 1982, the Palestinians used to bombard the Galilee panhandle from here. Six soldiers were killed in that conquest."
"Down here are the Nabatia tobacco factories; there's Tibnit; here is Arab Salim; over there is Jabel Safi." I look, and can't see a thing. Nothing registers. Eli says the area is hardly populated, and there are basically no civilians around - certainly not at night. "If anyone even gets as close as one kilometer, he's sure as hell not an innocent, so he dies on the spot," he says.
"It's so quiet here," I mumble, and Eli mentions that shouting is forbidden in the Bufor; you can't talk loudly. "You also don't turn on any lights here, nor do you walk around with anything bright," he says; "You'll get used to it."
There are over a hundred soldiers here: armor, ordnance, medics, and we. The size of the outpost is fifty meters by twenty. On a normal night we man four guard stations; white, red, blue, and green are their call-signs. When the fog is heavy or the alerts hot we position more stations. Aside from the soldiers in the guard stations, no one walks around in daylight; it is forbidden to leave the cement-roofed protected space.
"Expect a wake-up call at five am," Eli tells me; "Like every morning, between five and six-thirty everyone has to be up, alert, with full gear. These are the trouble-prone hours; Hizbollah loves the early morning twilight. For the terrorists it's an ideal time to perform an attack on the outpost. They know, for example, that in the twilight it's difficult for us to identify the sources of the shooting, so they launch mortars without reserve."
A year later I found myself giving the exact same briefing - this time as a team-leader - to my own soldiers. They didn't arrive in an armored vehicle column - that was too risky; they were brought in by chopper. When a chopper lands on the Bufor soil, it's a sitting duck; it might suffer a direct missile or shell impact. That's liable to be the Hizbollah's greatest achievement yet. So the pilot must take off again within 59 seconds - no more. Whoever's out - is out, whoever's in - is in, whoever didn't make it is screwed. Even if you're hanging on the rails; even if you're on the ramp - the chopper will take off and rush to disappear on the horizon.
A chopper would come in once a week. Often even that weekly flight would be cancelled because of hot intelligence alerts; the soldiers would stay in the outpost for 35 consecutive days.
It was February of 1999; the Bufor was covered with boggy mud. It was midnight when we landed there - me and my soldiers. Again there were shouts of "Move! Quickly, quickly!" in the background, and the air was filled with thick smoke and sand; everyone grabbed onto each other while running; people were coming up, people were coming down - total disarray; and after a minute or two prevailed the creepy silence; everyone disappeared into the SRs. Anyone who wasn't there will never understand how terrifying that is.
User Reviews
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-12-10 18:50:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Circe (user info) at 2005-02-18 07:23:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Thank you.
Submitted by jumpinjellyfish (user info) at 2005-03-15 14:47:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Great.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-27 13:59:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Related? Uhm ... no, not really. I mean, I suppose you could find some connection, but ... I dunno.
What precisely did you mean by 'related'?
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-02-27 13:22:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
But, I mean, they *are* at least loosely related, right? In terms of support and such.
I phrased my comment incorrectly. I should have said "You're all absolutely insane."
But I meant in a nice way.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-02-27 13:17:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Yes. That wasn't what I meant.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-27 13:07:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-02-27 12:57:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
Better. And I don't mean to be rude, but...
Both sides are fucking insane.
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Is there anyone on Uber who isn't?
Incidentally, you do realize this story has nothing to do with the Palestinians, don't you? Just making sure, 'cause I have a feeling that's what you meant with this.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-02-27 12:57:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Better. And I don't mean to be rude, but...
Both sides are fucking insane.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-20 12:55:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2005-02-20 04:17:30 (#)
Ranking: 2
you is teh sexy!
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Aww shucks.
I think random and spontaneous compliments must be the best kind; and that one sure was random - assuming it was even meant for me.
Oh yeah, and:
READ THIS ALREADY, MOTHERFUCKERS!
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2005-02-20 04:17:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
you is teh sexy!
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-19 07:14:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I noticed, you cheeky Jewish monkey, you. Camp away.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-19 03:25:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Why yes! Yes, I am the bonus points police! ("BPPD! Freeze, motherfucker!")
Incidentally, I did translate this myself, even though Franz the translating Leprechaun volunteered to do it for me.
And yes, I am camping my own post. What of it? It's not like anyone's gonna read this and notice anyway.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-18 22:38:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
And by "him" of course, I mean you.
Note to self: read name of person's message before you respond to it.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-18 22:37:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I...don't know. What are you, the bonus points police??
I guess I was just impressed that someone would take the time to translate such a long document into English from a language that I am totally unfamiliar with. Unless this was translated for him, in which case I would still give him a +2 because it was an interesting read.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-18 16:14:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-18 07:28:07 (#)
Ranking: 2
Scary.
Bonus points for speaking Hebrew.
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Just out of curiosity: Why is speaking Hebrew a bonus?
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-02-18 07:28:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Scary.
Bonus points for speaking Hebrew.
Submitted by Circe (user info) at 2005-02-18 07:23:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Thank you.
Submitted by wardy (user info) at 2005-02-18 05:45:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i'md toodt drunk doto giv eout _2's, but he y man, if theyr'e coming at you... mother fucker, deal with thert shit, and do with it wath you wil.
awesome shit amn. good shti.
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2005-02-18 05:29:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
<3
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-02-18 05:17:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Almost forgot:
Credit to the Fresh.co.il forums for the image.