An Cosantóir

| 15 Drawing of an early bird minesweep Foot patrol in Tibnine Castle, Lebanon, 1994 (author far left) Gerry replied matter of factly, as he wrapped the towel around his waist, he had been to Lebanon many time before. 'C Company HQ is under fire boy, that's a tank-round gone in from Hill 880's side. I bet them sparkles are from fleschettes peppering their T-walls. We just got word over the radio that their billets are on fire and some of the boys are trapped between them and the bunkers.' Sean was scared then. He could see lines of tracer bouncing of the spot where the flashes were coming from and shooting skyward. They all had friends down there and they could do nothing to help them. The Hizbollah and DFF were beating the hell out of each other and the Irish lads were caught in the middle, catching all the lead. Red flares meant FIRING CLOSE ON OR NEAR UNITED NATIONS POSITIONS but they weren't going to stop. The noise and sky was like Halloween in Ireland. It dawned on Sean then that less than two hours earlier he had been down there with the lads enjoying the craic over a few beers. He had been offered a bed for the night as he had missed his lift but managed to beg a ride in an armoured car with the Battalion Mobile Reserve patrol, the last one out of the camp. Next morning, they found the billets, medical post and canteen destroyed. The T-walls had been cut in half and peppered with thousands of long shards of shrapnel, sticking out in all directions like a giant bleak hedgehog. Birthdays and Halloween always brought him back to that night. Glossary: DFF = De Facto Forces (South Lebanese Army/Christian Militia) Hizbollah = Resistance Fighters (Muslim) Waddii = Valley/dried up river bed T-Walls =Fabricated reinforced concrete blast-walls placed upside down on the ground like an inverted capital T to protect UN positions HQ = Head Quarters Lino = Linoleum floor covering About the author: Michael is an award winning Poet, Historian & Author. 2nd Place Winner of the Patrick Kavanagh International Poetry Award 2011. 3rd Place Winner of Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards (poetry) 2012. Author of 'The Battle of Jadotville: Irish Soldiers in Combat in the Congo, 1961' & 'Allegiances Compromised: Ex British Soldiers in the Irish Army 1913-24'. Michael served as Irish Defence Forces Peacekeeper with UNIFIL in Lebanon & with KFOR in Kosovo. This story was previously published in the 'Tallaght Express' Newspaper, Issue 15, Nov' 2011. www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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