Three days.
For three days we sat and waited.
The rain was relentless...so much so, that we knew we were'nt going anywhere just yet.
After all..nothing favored good warfare like fair weather.

Three damn days I sat and waited.
So many thoughts running through my mind...
The first, and in retrospect the least important, was mom.
Mom would be worried.
She expected me home this weekend, and no doubt seeing the news, was gonna think the
worst and freak.
The next..actual warfare.
Would I lose it?
Would I prove to be a coward?
No.
I was sure.
That wasn't me.
And finally..if needed, would I actually remember any of my medical training??
That was the one thought that pulled at me.
I could die for my country and what I believed in, but the thought of one of my
mates dying in my arms because I, the medic, couldn't remember what to do to
help, tormented me.

I was the worst in my class.
I had failed every written exam in the course.
Having Hebrew as my second language made it difficult for me, but that was
irrelevant to my instructors.
I was informed that if I didnt achieve a 90% or higher in the final practical exam..
Triage, I'd fail the course and have to start over.

I finished 2nd in my class with 97%.

The briefing.
At last we were to find out what our mission was.
They made it sound like a walk in the park.
Two weeks max.
We were going in to widen the zone.
Take a couple of hostile villages, let the Militia occupy them and pull out.
No big deal.
They called it "Operation Litani".

The rain had stopped that evening and at 3:00 am the next morning 5,000 of us crossed
the border into Lebanon.

~2nd eXcErPt fROm My MeMoiRz~