I was tired. My hands had begun to swell. They had been injured in the blast and working with my hands had not helped. I was thirsty. Someone had stolen my water and I was becoming dehydrated.
It was at that point when one of my guys came down and asked me if I was okay.
“No I’m not,” I told him. “My hands are jacked up, I’m dehydrated and I have no security.” He stood there, protecting me, so I could wash my hands and drink something for the first time that day.
Sitting in the shade of my friend, I was able to recuperate enough strength to continue. I wasn’t even halfway done at that point. He gave me water, he gave me comfort, he gave me shade, and that may not seem like much but at the time it was a lot. I was working on people over and over and over again and used my hands constantly. And now I was having problems using my hands at all. He gave me water to wash all the blood off of them. I worked through having other people’s blood coagulate and stick to your hands. To be able to wash all the dried blood off my hands, if only for a few minutes, made a big difference. For five minutes I did nothing but rest and drink. He gave me Gatorade and a power bar. He moved a vehicle into position to overwatch my area.
Just knowing that someone is watching you allows you to get down on your knees and turn your back and do what you have to do. To deal with the chaos and do what is needed for so many wounded takes all your attention. It took hours to figure out what everyone needed. At about five and half hours into the ordeal we were told that helicopters would be coming in, but it would only be for Americans. That presented problems. We had to have security and we had to move the American wounded to a different location. Thankfully they sent more helicopters and we were able to evacuate the Afghan wounded too.
Almighty God, remind us that you watch over us and that you hear our petitions. When we know the righteous are never alone, we are strengthened in our faith and emboldened to stand firm against the fiery darts of the evil one. Thank you, Lord, for this reassurance. Amen
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:12)