The Grenade Launcher

In Iraq, we had a whole company of SIF working together to clear buildings. When you throw a grenade into a building that has walls two feet thick, all that over pressure has nowhere to go. This isn't America where the pressure will break the dry wall or blow the door off. There are two women, six kids and an old man inside. I am standing in a real life nightmare, a horror film. The smell of death, empty bowels and vomit hangs in the air. It's amazing how smell stays with you. You can forget details and images, specific words and conversations, but the smell of a moment is forever.