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I haven't told anyone this entire story as it isn't something I'm comfortable talking to people about face-to-face, but I feel it's probably something people should know and think about at least.

I was deployed to a place called the Triangle of Death in Iraq in a little town called Yusifiyah. We had been there for 6 months with a lot of intense fighting and were set to rotate to southern Iraq in a much less active spot. We were set to be replaced by the 502nd IR, part of the 101st Airborne. They had been a large part of the initial invasion of Iraq against Saddam's forces, but this was 2005 and was a much much different war.

When you transition units in the military, there is a period where you integrate (Front seat/back seat rides) where you show they incoming unit your current operations. I happened to be at an outpost by one of two remaining bridges across the Euphrates River when this started. We tried to caution them, show them the ropes, but they didn't want to listen to any of us. They kept saying "we have a destiny" along with other hyper aggressive statements. They didn't even seem to see the Iraqi's as human beings. They were just like "we're gonna fuck this place up and fuck them! Rape, kill, pillage, and burn! Hoooah!"

Across the street from this particular outpost was a Iraqi guy and his family who owned the small farm around outpost. They had been really good to us, pointing out IEDs on roads as well as running and grabbing us food and supplies when we couldn't get any. For example, our supply truck was destroyed by an IED one time so all we had were MREs to eat. We talked to the farmer and gave him a shopping list and money and he bought us food at the local market place. He was a great guy and did stuff like that for us all the time.

We took the 502nd guys on a foot patrol and the farmer came out of his house, greeting us as he usually did making his way towards us. We waved and started talking to him. When he went to shake the hand of one of the 502nd privates, the private just hauled off and punched him in the mouth, shouting "fucking sand nigger!" Our platoon sergeant restrained him and sent him back to the outpost with my sergeant and I to escort him while he tried to placate the farmer.

We took that private to his sergeant, who congratulated him. When our platoon sergeant got back, he tore them a new one but they didn't seem to care. I wasn't privy to the conversation between my platoon sergeant and his, but it didn't seem to have any impact either. Their attitude persisted until we finally left to our new location.

Turns out, these same people were these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_killings

They murdered that farmer's family a few months after we left and raped his daughter.

As if this wasn't enough, a few months prior to this, I had been injured when my truck rolled over during a firefight (I was the gunner) maybe 200 meters from where the killings took place. I had to be medivac'd to Baghdad where I recovered for a few weeks. When the truck rolled over, I lost my wallet in the dirt out there in what we called Iraqi moon-dust, which is a powdery silt type soil you find all over.

Flash forward to a week or two after the killings took place. I receive a package from Sergeant Green. It's my wallet mailed March 12, 2006, the same day as the killings. I recognize it's highly unlikely it happened just like this, but I can't help but wonder if they found my wallet on their way to commit the murders or even if they mailed it just before it happened.

I'm not a religious person (I'm an atheist), but I like to think that it was perhaps the universe's way of trying to remind them of the front-seat, back seat period with our unit where we had a simple message for them "treat people with respect and like human beings, it is all they want."

I still have the wallet (I've had it since high school, old Calvin Klein leather wallet my sister gave me). It reminds me of the farmer and his family. I can't help but wonder if maybe we had been more focused on getting our message across to that 502nd group if this could have been avoided. Maybe we were in too much of a hurry to leave to safer territory that we neglected something that might have made a difference. We even had the option to volunteer to stay in Yusifiyah with the 502nd if we wanted, but I declined, not out of fear of combat as I was comfortably numb to it at that point, but because I just wanted to go relax and was homesick. It makes me think that I could have made a difference but didn't because of something simplistically selfish. It's probably silly to think that and perhaps a bit cliche, but it is what I think.


https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2n269n/serious_retired_soldiers_on_reddit_what_was/


</form><p>2005-2006년 즈음 이라크 죽음의 삼각지대에 파병되었던 미군 참전용사.


자신이 배치된 지역은 수니파 반군이 가장 활발하게 활동하던 지역 중 하나. 주민들은 전반적으로 미군과 접촉하기를 꺼렸고, 대부분은 반군에 '온정적'인 입장들이었다고 함.


그런데 미군 기지와 거래를 하며 부수입을 올리던 농부가 있었음. 짧은 영어도 하고, 미군들이 개인적으로 부탁하는 물품도 어떻게든 구해서 척척 내놓는 인심 좋은 아저씨였음.


미군들이 순찰을 나가려고 하면 가끔은 찾아와 IED가 매설된 지점을 알려주며 조심하라고 알려주고, 보급 트럭이 박살나서 미군들이 MRE만 까먹고 있으니 미군측에게 쇼핑 리스트와 돈을 받아 로컬 시장에서 물자를 모두 조달해다주는 지역 미군들에게는 아주 유명한 아저씨였다고 함.


밖에서 아저씨와 접촉을 하는게 너무 눈에 띄면 위험하기에 어지간하면 기지 밖 접촉은 피하려고 했는데, 그 인심 좋은 농부 아저씨는 글쓴이와 몇을 초대해서 집에서 저녁 식사까지 함께했다고 함.


농부 아저씨에게는 올망졸망한 딸 둘과 아들 둘이 있었는데, 미군들이 찾아오면 배시시 웃으며 숨고는 하다가도 미군들이 아버지와 이야기를 하고 있으면 신기한 눈으로 슬금슬금 다가와 구경하는 호기심 많고, 내성적이고 귀여운 애들이었다고 함.


지역 미군들도 이 가족을 각별하게 생각해서 몰래몰래 초콜릿 부식이나 MRE 같은걸 잔뜩 주고는 했다고 함.


그런데 글쓴이의 부대가 이제 슬슬 순환배치를 위해 철수 준비를 하게 되고, 그 전에 인수인계를 위해 101공수소속 502연대가 들어왔다고 함. 그런데 글쓴이는 걱정이 되기 시작함. 이 놈들은 "이라크 놈들을 다 죽이고 강간하자! 후라!" 하고 외치는 트리거 해피들이었음.


한번은 그 농부 아저씨를 502연대 놈들과 순찰을 도는데 만남. 평소 하던대로 글쓴이가 인사를 하는데, 502연대 놈 중 하나가 그 농부 아저씨에게 갑자기 '씨발 샌드니거 새끼!' 하며 주먹을 날림. 글쓴이의 소대장은 그 놈을 포박해서 502연대 부사관에게 끌고가지만, 부사관은 그런 그를 '칭찬'함. 이러한 태도는 글쓴이의 부대가 철수할때까지 지속됨. 정말로 불온한 분위기가 풍겨 글쓴이는 그 중 특히 불온한 녀석 몇을 눈 여겨 보며 농부 가족을 걱정했다고 함.


그리고 글쓴이의 부대가 재배치된지 얼마 뒤.


미군 최악의 흑역사 중 하나, 마흐무디야 강간살인 사건이 일어남.


그것도 농부 아저씨에게 주먹을 날렸던 그 놈을 주도로 502연대 일부 장병들은 농부 아저씨와 아내, 가장 어린 여섯살 난 딸을 취중 살해한뒤, 14살 난 장녀를 윤간 뒤 살해함.


그리고 글쓴이가 사건 몇 주전 전투중에 트럭이 뒤집히며 잃어버린 지갑이, 사건 주모자 중 하나인 그때 주먹을 날린 일병을 칭찬한 부사관 명의로 강간살인 사건이 있었던 그 날 발송일로 적힌채 글쓴이에게 배달됨.


글쓴이는 이 지갑을 그들이 강간살인을 하러 가던 중, 혹은 농부의 집에서 강간살인을 즐기며, 농부가 글쓴이에게 돌려주려고 찾아놓은 것을 발견해서 보낸 것은 아닐까 생각하며, 계속 남아있기를 지원하지 않은 것을 후회하며 살아가는 중.