Defense Tech: Bump in the Night: "Now, this is the point when I should have been the most scared – when my fears suddenly, deafeningly came true. But that’s not what happened at all. As I crouched behind a Humvee, all of the fright drained out of me. I could see what I was supposed to scare me. And it didn't any more.

Now, this is all easy to say, because the fighting ended after that single round. Who knows what would have happened in a real firefight. But yesterday, there were no more RPGs, or even a single shot fired on either side. Our unit retreated a bit; soldiers swept the area; the threat passed.

When we got back to the base, around 1:30 pm, we watched the last few minutes of ‘Starship Troopers.’ And then I went to bed, sleeping with a baby's calm."

(Via a DefenseTech.)