It is the middle of the night in a nameless desert in the Middle East.   With a change of the number on the clock the silence of the night is broken with annoying tone of a cheap travel alarm clock. A few seconds later, a loud thud stops the alarm as it is hit and knocked to the ground. 

 
Moans and groans stir about as the six men in the tent wake and rub the sleep out of their eyes.  It is not a typical morning, as they are waking several hours before sunrise.  The men stagger to the shower tent to wash away the last traces sleep from their bodies and begin their day.  After showering, uniforms are put on; each man picks up his body armor, helmet, weapon and the day pack of his ruck sack.  As they all leave the tent, idling outside is a pickup.  The six men throw their gear in the back and sit on it as the Lieutenant walks up from his tent and jumps in the driver’s seat.  All are quiet, as each one is trying recall all of their training as the vehicle pulls up to the command center.  The briefing from command is short and to the point.  “20 hour long distance Recon, and show of presence patrol… Intelligence says low risk as there is minimal resistance capability.”  The team moved on to the armory to gear up for 36 hours, then on to the helo-pad.   Climbing into the back of the MH-53 the air crew gets the blades turning and the roar of the rotor wash deafens everything out.  As the air crew is going through flight routines, the Lieutenant goes over the plan with his team one last time. 
 
Touchdown of the wheels and the seven member team jumps out.  As the “bird” leaves the area, the dust and air starts to settle, and their sense of hearing and sight returns.  They get up and start their patrol.
 
As the sun starts to rise the team starts leaving the sand and enters a long narrow canyon.  The team is moving quietly, but not trying to hide.  They can hear the “morning call to prayer” being called out in Arabic. They continue on trying to complete their patrol in time to catch the “bird” home.
 
Two hours later, the team is deep in a canyon when the dry hot silence is broken with the whistle of an incoming mortar round.   Then a sudden explosion and the team hits the ground and spreads out in fighting positions.  As the explosion clears the canyon begins to bristle with automatic weapons fire all aimed at the team.
 
The Lieutenant gave the orders for the team to start doing a rolling retreat out the canyon; little did he know that they were surrounded with no way out. As they start the rolling retreat, they start receiving fire from behind.  Realizing the situation, each member of the team knows they are in the fight for their lives.
 
At this point, one member of the team realizes his morality and begins to pray for the first time in his life.  Making peace with his maker, he recited what he could of Psalm 23 and asked only to be allowed to survive this to see his wife and kids again.
 
Due to the narrowness of the canyon, heavy air support could not be called in. The team had to continue to fight their way out.  The only thing that could be done for the team was drops of ammunition and water as the helicopters made gun runs.  The twenty hour patrol had stretched into seventy six, with no break in the fighting.  As the sun rises on the fourth day the Lieutenant sees a crack in the enemy’s position and tells the team it’s time to run for it.  Without hesitation they start to retreat for the gap.  Calling in air strikes, the team makes a mad dash for the “bird” under the cover of gunships.   As they reached the “bird,” they piled in as the gunners opened up the mini-guns, as rounds continued to hit and the canyon begin to explode from the air strikes.
 
As the “bird” takes off, the one team member thanks God for letting him live and getting his whole team out unhurt.  As he started to pass out from exhaustion, he said the “Lord's Prayer”.
 
And now I only write about this as Silent Scribbles.