Sounds of Silence

"Hello Darkness my old friend I have come to fear you once again". These are my lyrics to the Simon and Garfunkel song. It seems that nighttime is the time of noises. This afford the bad guys the opportunity to get away. Just by the type of noise heard we know what type of weapon it was and which side it came from. The most deadly of these noises sounds like WaaaWooom. This is the noise of an IED or VBIED. These usually make the hair on the bad of your neck stand up knowing that there are very few of these that completely miss. The whistle followed by an explosion is one to bring fear of soldiers dieing. This is a rocket. Launched out of a neighborhood close by but just out of sight of the tower guards. The rocket streaks through the sky until it impacts its target. This one has taken several lives since we have been here. Last but not least is the cheapest and most frequent the mortar. The mortar makes noise when it leaves the tube and then does not give much warning until it impacts. Most of these however seem to be duds and fall harmlessly to the earth. Problem is you do not know whether it is a dud or not until it hits the ground. This unknown re-trains you at how to go from a standing postition to a position flat on the ground. These just some of the things that our "Neighbors throw over the fence at night". I am glad that they cannot aim.