March 20th, 2003 –the sky above Iraq was in fire.

American soldiers, young men, thousands of them, were heading out into the hell of Iraq. They left their families, their children, their girls, coming to a country to fight for…I have already forgotten what they are fighting for. I know that many of them, I would say, too many of them, didn’t return home.

Bullets were flying above their heads like monster bees. Furious rockets were exploding at every bloody step they took while they were moving forward followed by planes. The old Baghdad had to pay for terrorism! Huge metal birds were searching their targets. That was not a virtual game!

Convoys, like long desert snakes were waiting at the checkpoints. One blond    soldier was listening to radio nodding his head in the rhythm of a popular American song. The other one was writing a letter, I saw a smile on his face…for a moment he had forgotten where he was.

Iraq is the way to hell!

Fallujah was the base of insurgents. The Americans were almost there. Marines were strangers in the ghost city. They had a job to do. And they still have.

I would like to see those soldiers mowing lawns in front of their homes, there in the USA, in the country of my dreams. I would like to join them in their wandering around having only clear, blue sky in their eyes.

Semper Fidelis, my friends!

Oliver, age 18, Croatia