Mr. Chicago

by James M. Bleifus

When the Detachment arrived in country, everyone noticed the monochrome. Even the buildings seemed to collapse into the drab tan landscape.

The Det was barracked on the eleventh floor of a building affectionately known as Khobar Towers. It was like an old motel, except there were eight per room, sleeping on cots. The only entertainment was a small b&w TV that showed only game shows. In Arabic.

Duty at Khobar, a town built to keep American oil workers from corrupting the citizenry of Saudi Arabia, was so quiet that the Det didn’t feel like they were at war at all. At least not until the onset of Desert Storm. Because Khobar Towers was a staging area, it had a high concentration of military personnel, making it the perfect target. Once Desert Storm commenced, Iraq began to hurl scud missiles at the town at night. The missiles shook the building like a 747 taking off, causing the Det to scurry down to the basement. They huddled in the dark, listening to the interaction between Scuds and Patriots, hoping that the building wouldn’t fall on top of them.

By the third day, the soldiers of the Det were like zombies. In line for breakfast, they heard gunfire a few blocks away. They looked at the chow line. They were close to the food. They looked, but couldn’t see any fighting. Three days of scud attacks—and no sleep—left them numb to danger.

“What should we do?” Jackson asked.

“I’m pretty hungry, and the shots seem far away. Maybe we should rack a round and engage, if we see something. Otherwise, let’s eat,” Jordan responded.

Nothing materialized, so they ate.

Jackson could see that the prisoners all wore olive-green. Just like us, he thought. Our government can’t afford to buy us desert gear, either. All the American units not on the front were left wearing jungle BDUs, Battle Dress Uniforms. To be fair, they had been issued desert pants, but not blouses, and both pieces of uniform needed to be worn on duty....

James M. Bleifus lives in Cotati. He served with Detachment 1, 970th Military Police Company during the first Gulf War. This is his first fiction in print, adapted from his recently completed M.A. major project at Sonoma State. E-mail: james@bleifus.com