“Look, the people are waving at us,” Charles said to the pilot. Almost unconsciously, the pilot rocked the wings back and forth in a wave.
Nneeeaaaoo.
As the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE dipped lower over the Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, smiling faces and waving people stared back up at Charles through the viewfinder.
Nneeeaaaoo.
He thought, These are real people that could actually be killed. The thought made him even more determined to protect them.
Nneeeaaaoo.
He remembered a time when a village he had been protecting had been bombed, left with only craters in the earth. Charles impulsively moved over to the other equipment and checked the radar. No sign of Turkish or Iraqi jets. That was good.
Before being sent on this mission, he had practiced chemical warfare, once every quarter, or once every 3 months. After the first Gulf War in 1991 when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the U.S. sided with the …show more content…
He got into the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE with the pilot and began another long day flying over the Kurdish villages. When they reached the villages, Charles took his place manning the equipment.
As the Weapons Systems officer, or WSO, Charles was the backup pilot and Charles Dusch inside of the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE navigator. During the day, he was responsible for defense look out, and kept the weapon and navigation systems running. He also found - and killed - targets, in the air or on the ground. All throughout the day, the EAGLE flew and flew above the Kurdish Villages, keeping an eye out for enemy jets. When the sun began to set, the pilot turned back. When they landed at the base camp in Turkey, Charles watched a Turkish jet leave to go bomb the very Kurds he had just been protecting. He realized that his protection through Operation Provide Comfort was the difference between life and death to these people. He had always known that, of course, but now it seemed more real and imminent than
Nneeeaaaoo.
As the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE dipped lower over the Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, smiling faces and waving people stared back up at Charles through the viewfinder.
Nneeeaaaoo.
He thought, These are real people that could actually be killed. The thought made him even more determined to protect them.
Nneeeaaaoo.
He remembered a time when a village he had been protecting had been bombed, left with only craters in the earth. Charles impulsively moved over to the other equipment and checked the radar. No sign of Turkish or Iraqi jets. That was good.
Before being sent on this mission, he had practiced chemical warfare, once every quarter, or once every 3 months. After the first Gulf War in 1991 when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the U.S. sided with the …show more content…
He got into the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE with the pilot and began another long day flying over the Kurdish villages. When they reached the villages, Charles took his place manning the equipment.
As the Weapons Systems officer, or WSO, Charles was the backup pilot and Charles Dusch inside of the F-15E STRIKE EAGLE navigator. During the day, he was responsible for defense look out, and kept the weapon and navigation systems running. He also found - and killed - targets, in the air or on the ground. All throughout the day, the EAGLE flew and flew above the Kurdish Villages, keeping an eye out for enemy jets. When the sun began to set, the pilot turned back. When they landed at the base camp in Turkey, Charles watched a Turkish jet leave to go bomb the very Kurds he had just been protecting. He realized that his protection through Operation Provide Comfort was the difference between life and death to these people. He had always known that, of course, but now it seemed more real and imminent than