Dave, US Army, Retired 1SG... the first time Dave had to shoot someone in a time of war, he was in Baqubah, Iraq to support the 573rd. It was during the second surge. “It was brutal!” 24 to 48 hrs. before his mission Civil Affairs and Phsy Ops dropped leaflets to warn of the impending mission. That day of the mission the town was bombed heavily to allow the helicopters to drop his team on the outskirts of town. Around 06-0700, the team started its mission of clearing houses of any enemy combatants, the first house was cleared and then they started taking enemy fire, Dave saw a guy running not far from his position, he shot, hit the guy and he dropped. 10 to 20 minutes later they pressed on to clear the next house. Inside he saw a horrific scene in one of the rooms, three women who had died in a blast that was called in a few moments earlier “danger close”. He is still upset about the loss of innocent lives that had nothing to do with the war. He dreams of children growing up without a father due to his son being born while he was in Iraq. What also haunts him, is the man he shot, his dreams consist of him trying to shoot a person and they don’t go down, he keeps shooting and still doesn’t go down. He knows it is because his shot killed the enemy combatant…