The Curse Mountain - Chapter 3 (Part 2) (601 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Avals (View user info) at 2005-03-16 13:19:35 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
Chapter 2 (Part 1): http://www.ubersite.com/m/59962
Chapter 2 (Part 2): http://www.ubersite.com/m/60385
Chapter 2 (Part 3): http://www.ubersite.com/m/61802
Chapter 3 (Part 1): http://www.ubersite.com/m/61976
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay girls, let's go
Now's the time to get them worked up, put the sting in. How do you work soldiers up? You scare them, stress them out; that's the technique. A person who's scared is usually a person that reacts faster, so there's no choice but work on their brains a little.
Bendori and I head to the platform. A cup of coffee is waiting for us, as always; it's in the procedure. When there's tension in the air and butterflies in your stomach, you put seven spoonfuls of mud and one teaspoon of sugar in the coffee. I think the coffee that night was the most bitter I've ever tasted. And then everyone goes quiet.
"Kids, tonight it's going to happen," I say. "Tonight we encounter. It's a sure thing; and I'm not just talking gut feeling this time. So observe the proper rules of movement; don't go making up any sudden movements on me, flow with the scenery. We move slowly. Night-vision goggles don't leave your eyes for a second. While walking - complete silence. If anyone identifies a launch he reports to the rest of the force immediately. Is there anyone who doesn't remember the cover point we set in case of emergency? Nagar, hydrogen tanks in your left pocket? Okay."
"Tonight you hold in your hands not only your own lives, but also the lives of fifty other soldiers in the Beaufort, and, just as importantly, the reputation of the entire company. I'm counting on you."
While I'm speaking they paint each other's face. Then Bendori announces six minutes for a last cigarette. You light up whatever you've got, as long as it's not a Lite. In the Beaufort no one dares pull out a Lite.
Now's the time for a few laughs; the laughs before a mission. I break distance to relieve the tension a little, let them make fun of me for a bit; call me a midget. "What size are you, 35?" someone tells me. "You look like a kid in that storm suit." "Yeah, I'm a midget with hair spikes." "That's why they say I look like Aki Avni." That way they relax a little. Someone takes out a camera, and everyone start smacking him. "Are you insane? Now we're done for, for sure. Everyone you just shot is wasted, tomorrow in the papers."
And then the moment arrives. "Okay girls, it's time to go," Bendori announces. Weapons in the air. "Three, two, one, cock it!" We cock the weapons together in the same exact second, so anyone outside the outpost isn't able to count how many weapons were cocked.
"Iron numbers report in!" One, two, three, and so on up to fourteen; fourteen is me. We head out.
Won't let me die
It was around eight pm. Winter. It's raining, but I'm terribly hot. The feet sink in the stinking mud. Black, disgusting mud; Lebanese mud. And you struggle to raise them, over and over again; and feel sticky; and the bags on your back are so very heavy.
The position where we're headed may be only 150 meters away from the outpost, but it's a concealed point, a blind spot unobservable from above because of the bends in the moderate incline leading to the top of the mountain. A 150-meter march takes a half an hour in a situation like this, because you're being careful; the trail you're stepping on could be booby-trapped. Your movements are soft and gentle - the kind that can't be noticed from afar. If someone slips, he not only breaks an arm or busts his head open, but also exposes us all.
I walk first, with Nisawi the Negev operator beside me (a Negev is like a MAG light machine-gun, only smaller); behind us walk the rest in a column, twenty meters between one another. When we spot something suspicious we stop for a moment; everyone kneels and watches. When you kneel you lower your silhouette, so you're less exposed.
When we approach the position I signal everyone to hold up. I open up the night vision device and look through it to make sure there are no hostile IR (infra-red) beams around; that no one's marking us with a laser sight. I observe the target point with every technical means available, and then walk in to inspect it, with only a Negev operator and a marksman by my side; everyone else covers from a distance. We've lain in this ambush point several times in the past, so there's concern it's been exposed; that there's a charge waiting for us there, for example, or someone lying in the bushes, and in a second he'll stand up and bang!, nail us with a burst. So at first only three walk in; that way if we catch it, at least we don't lose the whole 14.
The last time we were here I intentionally made sure not to step on a few of the stalks. Now I check if they've been trampled since then; if anyone's been here. I check if the arrival routes to the position have been exposed; whether someone cut any branches to create another way in. I check the ground to make sure it hasn't been dug in; photograph each and every stone with my eyes. Is anything suspicious? It goes on like that for a quarter of an hour. These are moments of mortal terror. I think to myself, "God, God, just don't let it go off now." I feel alone; I miss my soldiers' breathing. These are 13 men that won't let you die; there's no way they'd let you die. If you don't believe that, what have you got left? If I ever die, it'll be alone; in a moment like now, for example. So it's better the charge goes off in ten minutes, I think to myself, when Marco the medic is already by my side - for example. He'll know exactly how to resuscitate me.
When everything's in order I signal backwards with my hands, with a bird gesture; that's how they know that everything's all right, that they can move in. And they walk in. Almost with their eyes closed they walk in. It seems as if they live in an illusion that I'd never get them into a position where they'd get blown up. It surprises me every time how they follow me without asking any questions. They're such children; so innocent. They don't know I'm only a year older than them - that's it; a bit more experienced, but nothing more.
They form up in the shape of a banana and begin observing wadi Zirim. That's it, we're in. Now all that's left is to wait for the enemy to show up.
User Reviews
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-12-10 19:11:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-04-13 13:43:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Has it really been almost a month since I've posted this? Wow!
Anyway, next part should be ready tomorrow, or the day after that at the most. This is just to remind people what the fuck it's about before the new one's posted.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-18 04:19:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This stuff is great.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-17 06:47:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Caul, I take great offense to that!
I'm actually the old woman.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-16 16:14:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Utter fucking insanity. I am deeply impressed by anyone who has the balls to even consider doing this sort of thing. I can tell you for a fact that I don't. I'd run screaming before I even got to the outpost.
Seriously- eeep.
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:47:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Avals sent me pictures of him when he was a kid http://www2.potsdam.edu/honors/greek/DCTM/jewettrj/images/kids_mock_Palestinian_woman.jpg
Cute eh?
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:37:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-16 14:34:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
It's funny, for some reason everyone always assumes I'm American. (Or, in extreremely rare cases, British.)
Your wife has a point there, though. It's not as bad as all that, but I must admit that travelling to Israel isn't exactly the same as taking a vacation in Hawaii -- crazy Allah-loving martyrs and all that...
On the bright side, Israel is probably one of the places most fond of Americans, so that's a definite plus...
In other news, I'm starting to feel kinda guilty about camping my own post so much, so feel free to contact me by:
AIM: UberAvals
ICQ: 16098448
or MSN: FatHead667.at.hotmail.com
And that goes for the whole lot of you. Anyone wanting to harass me - I'm usually bored out of my skull, so feel free.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:57:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:45:43 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:42:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
This was cool, so you're fluent in hebrew?
Can I get this book in a straight English Translation, it seems like a good read
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I am in fact. It's kinda hard to live in Israel without speaking Hebrew.
Since the story was published as an article in a newspaper, and not as a book, I doubt you'll find any translations. In any event, there are none that I'm aware of. Feel free to let me know if I'm mistaken, though.
====================
I though you were state side.
I've wanted to visit Israel for a while. But I can't convince the wife to join me due to the fact she's pretty sure we'd get blown up or something. My favorite thing about traveling overseas is total diferences in culture and such.
Israel is in like my top ten places to visit.
So far i've been to:
Costa Rica
Mexico
Canada
France
Portugal
Switzerland
Germany
Denmark
Norway
Brazil
Panama
Greece
Italy
I really want to go to
China
Israel
Turkey
Peru
Nepal
Iceland
South Africa
Russia
But as you can see my list of "wants" are not the most American Friendly places.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:53:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:49:16 (#)
Ranking: 2
I should have said "recent" instead of "present". This was published in 2001, so obviously I know it's not right now. I just didn't know there is/was clashes at the Lebanon border. Hence the question.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, the previous installment mentions that the mission described takes place in 1999. Israel pulled its forces out of Lebanon in May 2000, which ended operations there as described in this article. There are still occasional clashes at the border, but nothing of the kind described here. (At least not to the best of my knowledge.)
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:49:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I should have said "recent" instead of "present". This was published in 2001, so obviously I know it's not right now. I just didn't know there is/was clashes at the Lebanon border. Hence the question.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:45:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:42:44 (#)
Ranking: 2
This was cool, so you're fluent in hebrew?
Can I get this book in a straight English Translation, it seems like a good read
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I am in fact. It's kinda hard to live in Israel without speaking Hebrew.
Since the story was published as an article in a newspaper, and not as a book, I doubt you'll find any translations. In any event, there are none that I'm aware of. Feel free to let me know if I'm mistaken, though.
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:43:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:36:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
When is that taking place? In the present?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Since the story describes someone's real experiences, it's kinda hard to say it takes place in the present. The author, for whatever reason, chose to write this part in present form. Maybe it's to make the events seem more real, or maybe it's for a different reason entirely. In any case, I try to keep this as true to the original as possible, so there you go.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:42:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
GET READY FOR SOME LINKWHORAGE!!!!
Nah....hahahahahha
This was cool, so you're fluent in hebrew?
Can I get this book in a straight English Translation, it seems like a good read
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-03-16 13:36:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
When is that taking place? In the present?