本帖最後由 dkcapital 於 2015-4-14 06:40 編輯
~ 毋忘羅伊 ~
Remembering Roy – By Blake Hall Sunday, August 29, 2010
As U.S. troops leave Iraq, an officer honors the memory of a young interpreter
毋忘羅伊 - 一位軍官對一個年輕譯員的緬懷尊敬。(華盛頓郵報))
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082702133.html?sub=AR
A teenage Iraqi interpreter, code name "Roy," served with a reconnaisance platoon in Iraq in 2007. (Blake Hall)
一個青少年譯員﹐代號”羅伊“﹐2007年在伊拉克一個偵察排服務。
我遇見羅伊是在2007年初﹐我在伊拉克領導一個由斥堠兵及狙擊手組成的偵察排﹐回國渡假兩周剛回來。羅伊是我們的新翻譯。那晚﹐我們的任務是捉拿凱達自殺攻擊的協調者﹐上次企圖捉拿他時﹐一個保鏢引爆了自殺背心﹐炸死了16個伊拉克警察。這次我們很順利的捉拿成功。
I met Roy in early 2007. I was the leader of a reconnaissance platoon of scouts and snipers in Iraq and was just back from a two-week leave in the United States. Roy was our new interpreter.
That night, my platoon was sent out on a raid. Our target was an al-Qaeda suicide-attack coordinator. Scanning the intelligence report, I learned that previous attempts to capture him had ended with his bodyguards detonating suicide vests and killing 16 Iraqi police officers. An image of my lead scout team entering a house in southern Baghdad and vanishing in a ball of fire flashed through my mind.
I gave my platoon a 30-second rundown of the situation and the mission, and we scattered to our vehicles. As I pulled on my night-vision goggles and the pitch blackness turned a glowing green, it hit me that less than 24 hours before, I was eating lunch at a Panera in Atlanta's Hartsfield
Airport. Life is full of surprises.
在押解俘虜到巴格達監獄時﹐我看見一個小鬼穿著迷彩服﹐從第二輛車下來。
But that night, at least, the surprises went our way. We raided the target's home without incident, capturing him while he slept in his bed. Later, as I watched two of my snipers lead the shuffling insurgent toward a U.S. prison in Baghdad, I saw what looked like a little kid in camouflage get out of the armored vehicle two down from mine.
“誰讓這12歲孩子跟我們出任務﹖”我問部下。“是羅伊﹐新翻譯” “他媽媽知道他已經過了就寢時間嗎﹖”
I glanced at one of my scout team leaders. "Who let the 12-year-old out with us?"
"That's Roy, the new terp, sir."
"Does his mom know it's past his bedtime?"
我走向羅伊時﹐他正在點煙﹐看見我來﹐把煙丟在腳下踩熄了。這個動作顯示他有自律﹐而且在乎給我一個好印象﹐我想該留住他。
Roy was lighting a cigarette when I walked up to him. As soon as he realized that I was the platoon leader, he threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out with his tan combat boots. With that gesture, he showed me that he had discipline and cared about making a good impression. We'll keep him, I thought.
他的頭只到我胸膛﹐嬰兒肥尚存的臉﹐光滑的看出來從沒需要刮鬍子。我沒問他年齡﹐因為我不想在第一次見面時就冒犯他﹐所以問他為什麼來做翻譯﹐我永遠忘不了他的回答。
Roy's head came up to my chest, and baby fat rounded out his face. He had cheeks so smooth that I could tell he had never shaved. I thought about asking him his age, but I didn't want to offend him during our first meeting. So I asked him why he had become an interpreter. I'll never forget his answer.
有一天凱達來到我的學校﹐他們說“你們不再是學生﹐把書本收起來﹐現在我們要教你們聖戰士之路” 我的兩個最好的朋友說“我們是學生﹐想學習﹐我們不想作聖戰士”
“然後呢﹖”
"One day the Qaeda came to my school. They say, 'You are not students anymore! Put away your books! Now we show you the path of jihad!' My two best friends say to them, 'We are students trying to learn. We don't want to do the jihad.' "
"And then?"
羅伊給了我一個蒼白的微笑“他們把學校的人集中起來﹐把我的朋友跪下來﹐用刀砍掉了他們的頭”
Roy gave me a wan smile. "Then, they gather the school in one place, they kneel them down, and they cut their heads with the knife."
“第二天﹐我就到(美軍)基地去報了名﹐來為你們工作。我恨凱達”
"They beheaded your two best friends, Roy?"
"Yes, sir. I walk to the base the next day and give them my name to work for you. I hate the Qaeda."
我相信他﹐從他的眼神可看出﹐他是見過死亡﹐經驗過創傷。在911我的國家被攻擊﹐我看到同胞從高樓跳下﹐我只想到我要反擊﹐對凱達的恨把我跟羅伊團結在一起。
I believed him. His eyes had the look of a man who has seen death and experienced traumatic loss. My country had been attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, and I knew I had to fight back when I saw my countrymen leaping from skyscrapers. Our hatred for al-Qaeda united Roy and me.
在接下來的日子裡﹐羅伊的翻譯讓我知道了﹐一些涂鴉顯示的是惡意的街區﹐有些清真寺的廣播不是在祈禱而是號召攻擊異端。他像是(美國) 各式運動團隊裡的供水小弟﹐但沒了他﹐我的隊伍在當地文化語文上是又聾又啞。
In the months that followed, Roy translated Baghdad for me. He made meaning of the Arabic calligraphy. He told me when graffiti indicated a hostile neighborhood. He let me know when the mosque wasn't broadcasting prayers but rather a call to attack the infidels. When he stood next to the scouts I led, he looked like a waterboy for a varsity sports team, but without him, my platoon was culturally blind and deaf.
我們叫他羅伊﹐因為用真名實姓被暴徒知道會對他的家人造成危險。招募翻譯的合約商給他取的名字叫羅伊﹐卻很適合他。像年輕孩子學牛仔﹐他看起來最多只有15歲﹐他總是信誓旦旦的向我發誓他是19歲﹐我相信他所有的話﹐除了年齡。你必須滿18歲才能為美軍工作。但他顯然迫切的想要為我們工作。
We called him Roy because if an insurgent heard his real name, then he and his family could be in danger. The contracting company that hired interpreters had assigned him that alias, yet it seemed to fit him. The name made me think of young boys pretending to be cowboys, and Roy looked like he was 15 at most. He always swore to me that he was 19, but I trusted Roy's word on all subjects except his age. You had to be 18 to work for the Americans, and Roy, more than most, desperately wanted to work for us.
* * *
在巴格達中央的Dora街區﹐羅伊﹐我﹐及一個斥堠兵在夜晚﹐市區無電﹐窗戶沒玻璃的10層樓的屋頂上﹐等待敵人暴漏行蹤。
Roy and I were lying still on a rooftop observation post with one of my scout teams in Dora, a neighborhood in central Baghdad. The night was quiet but for the intermittent crackle of gunfire, and the lack of electricity meant there was no artificial light to dim the white stars. After two weeks in Dora, my battalion had more wounded men than we'd had in more than a year of combat. Now, perched on top of a 10-story building that had rows of windows but no glass, my scouts and I waited in silence for our enemy to show himself.
寧靜被街尾的清真寺廣播打破﹐腕錶顯示三點十分﹐很準時。
The stillness was shattered by the wail of a muezzin from the minaret of the mosque down the street. Startled, I nearly jumped up. But the luminescent digits on my watch read 0310, and I relaxed -- the muezzin was right on time for the first of the five prayer calls that Muslims heed at nearly the same times every day.
隨著擴音器的阿語吶喊﹐我跟著每句自語
“神是偉大的”
“沒有別的神﹐只有(我們的)神。”
“穆罕默德是神的先知”
"Allahu akbar," the muezzin cried out.
"God is great," I whispered.
"Ash-had an la Allah illa Allah."
"There is no God but God."
"Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah."
"Muhammad is the prophet of God."
羅伊靠過來“你怎麼知道這些﹖長官”
“這是我的工作要知道這些” 我用肩膀推推他“對一個基督徒來說﹐不錯吧﹖”
“是不錯﹐長官”
Roy shifted beside me. "How do you know that, sir?"
"It's my job to know what the mosques say," I replied, nudging him with my shoulder. "Not bad for a Christian, huh?"
"No, not bad, sir."
* * *
幾天後﹐我和另一斥堠兵在屋頂的矮牆後觀察Dora街區的幹道時﹐羅伊證明了他是一個很好的阿拉伯語翻譯。
Several days later, Roy proved that he was still the expert when it came to translating Arabic. I was on a roof bordered by a short stone wall with another of my scout teams. We were watching Dora's main artery, a wide dirt road interrupted by a giant crater filled with sewage water. The giant crater once held a giant bomb. I watched the hole and thought about what it would be like to be driving along, talking and laughing and then BOOM. Bright white light.
在屋頂的下一層﹐除了一個斥堠兵在守門﹐羅伊與其他人在睡覺。我的排每天在Dora地區巡邏12個小時﹐睡眠永遠不夠﹐須輪睡。清真寺的擴音器又響了﹐巨大的聲音在建築物內迴蕩。
One floor below the roof, Roy and half the platoon slept while another scout team guarded the entrance to the house. My platoon was patrolling Dora 12 hours a day, taking turns with another, and we were always tired. I had lost 20 pounds in two months because I usually chose sleeping over eating when we returned to the base. On the roof, the scouts and I were looking at one another with half-closed, bloodshot eyes when the muezzin in the mosque began chanting in Arabic. His voice streamed from the speakers strapped to the top of the minaret and reverberated off the concrete buildings.
不像一般祈禱﹐沒有“神是偉大的”﹐沒有停頓﹐只有一連串聽似憤怒的聲音﹐若是每天的第二次祈禱﹐則是太早了些﹐我感到不安。
Unlike the call to prayer, there was no "Allahu akbar," no pause after each recital, just a stream of words that sounded angry but were otherwise unintelligible to me. I checked my watch. It was too early for the second prayer of the day.
Lesner士官說“清真寺的人今天怎麼自由發揮了﹖” “我不知道”﹐我用無線電叫樓下告訴羅伊到窗口去聽。
Sgt. Lesner, a scout who carried a grenade launcher beneath his carbine, asked, "What's up with the guy in the mosque freestyling, sir?"
"I don't know." I clicked my radio and asked the team downstairs to send Roy to a window so he could hear.
羅伊的聲音從耳機傳來“這事不妙﹐教長召叫街坊起來反抗美國人﹐他叫男人去聖戰”
His voice crackled over my handset: "This is not good, sir. The imam is telling the neighborhood to rise up against the Americans. He is calling the men to jihad."
我叫全排警戒﹐派斥堠到車上拿補充彈藥。下令讓狙擊手準備把擴音器打掉﹐但總部不許﹐只好坐在那﹐聽他們組織攻擊。
I ordered the platoon to full security, sent scouts running to grab rockets and extra ammunition from the trucks, and told the scout team leader to get two marksmen ready to fire on the mosque's speakers. I then radioed headquarters and requested permission to fire. But shooting at a mosque, even one inciting the neighborhood to attack us, would be a public relations nightmare for the Army. Permission was denied, so my men and I sat and listened to the enemy organize an attack.
不久我們就受到了自動武器的射擊﹐但是敵人的射擊準度很差﹐我們開始反擊。
The chants from the mosque were soon joined by the stutter of automatic weapons. Soft ppfffzzz ppfffzzz sounds filled the air like buzzing bees; those were the bullets that passed well over us. Sharper cracks -- the sound bullets make when they pass close to your head -- rent the air too, but less often because the insurgents were lousy marksmen. When we began returning fire, the noise of our own weapons left a deep ringing in my ears.
羅伊和排裡所有人都上了屋頂。羅伊不准帶槍﹐但他還是一起上來了﹐在頂上子彈亂飛時﹐滑入到我身邊。
Roy and the rest of the platoon came to the roof. Roy wasn't allowed to carry a gun, but he ran up anyway, sliding down beside me as red tracers flashed overhead.
200公尺外一座倉庫頂上的橘色搶口火光﹐暴露敵人的位置﹐我拍拍Lesner士官的背﹐在噪音中大喊“給那個屋頂一發槍榴彈”
Orange muzzle flashes winked from the top of a warehouse 200 meters away, revealing the enemy's position. I slapped Lesner on the back plate of his body armor and shouted above the noise, "Drop a 40 mike mike on that roof!"
Lesner的一發正中目標﹐槍聲停止﹐再度恢復了沉默。
Lesner pulled out a pellet-shaped 40-millimeter grenade and dropped it down the tube of his grenade launcher. He flicked off a metal safety and braced the launcher against his body. He took a moment to gauge the trajectory of the shot, then fired. Seconds later, a bright flash burst in the center of the orange flashes. A boom like a peal of thunder pierced the air. The incoming fire stopped, and the neighborhood was silent once again.
“完美的射擊” 我說。
"I'll be damned if that wasn't a perfect shot, Lesner," I said.
腎上腺激素消失後﹐我們筋疲力盡的靠牆而坐。
We snapped fresh magazines into our rifles and scanned the road for several minutes, until, one by one, the men began to drop down and sit with their backs against the wall, adrenaline giving way to exhaustion.
羅伊面向我們﹐點了一支煙﹐深吸了一口﹐學著駕駛兵的肯塔基口音說“不錯﹐可以了”﹐我們凝視了他一下﹐爆笑了出來。
Roy faced in toward the men. He lit a cigarette, inhaled and loosed a long stream of smoke. "Wehl alraght," he said in a deadpan Kentucky accent, imitating my driver.
We stared at him for a moment, then convulsed with laughter.
* * *
麥克是一個資深的譯員﹐在德州住過數年﹐英文很好。他照顧羅伊﹐兩人同住在基地裡的一輛拖車活動屋裡。我在去餐飲部路上碰到了他﹐談到羅伊。
Mike was an older Iraqi interpreter who had lived in Texas for a few years, so his English was excellent. He took Roy under his wing, and the two roomed together in a small trailer on the base.
I passed Mike on my way to the base cafeteria and asked about Roy.
“他很年輕﹐長官。有時候他晚上會哭”“哭﹖”“他想念他的家人﹐他的母親”
"Well, sir, he is young." Mike lifted both of his hands, palms up. "Sometimes he is crying at night."
"He cries?"
"He misses his family, his mother."
我們知道為美國人做譯員很危險。除了在一起巡邏時面對的危險﹐還有回家探親時的易受傷害。反抗份子常會跟蹤從美軍基地離開的人。最近﹐一位譯員在一個假的檢查站﹐被發現在他的手機裡有一位美國士兵的照片﹐他們槍擊頭部射殺。
We all knew that interpreters worked for Americans at great personal risk. Beyond sharing the dangers of our combat patrols, they were vulnerable when they returned to their homes in Baghdad to visit their families. Insurgents would often track an Iraqi who left a U.S. base alone. Recently, an interpreter had been killed when insurgents stopped him at a fake checkpoint and found pictures of American soldiers on his cellphone. They shot him in the head.
羅伊被准許每六星期可回家探親一次﹐但是我們不能直接送他回家 - 那像是直接送葬。我們的方法是把羅伊從機場放下﹐在那裡他可以混入接機群眾﹐跳上計程車離開。我在羅伊第一次回家時跟他談過。
Roy was allowed to go home to see his family once every six weeks, but we couldn't exactly drop him off at his house -- that would be like dropping him off at his funeral. The solution we improvised was hardly foolproof. We would drop off Roy at the main gate to the airport, where he would blend into the crowd of Iraqis waiting to pick up relatives, hop into a cab and be gone. I talked to Roy before he left for home for the first time.
“羅伊﹐你怎麼知道你搭的計程車不是凱達的﹖”
“我不知道”
“如果是的話﹖”
“如果是﹐他們會把我的頭割下來”
"Roy, how do you know that the cab you get into is not al-Qaeda?"
"I don't know, sir."
"And if it is?"
"If the cab is terror, then they will cut my head."
我問他是否真需要回家“當然﹗我媽會殺了我﹐如果我不回去看她” 羅伊從看電視學來的英語﹐有時候道地的讓我忘了他是伊拉克人。
I asked him if he really needed to go home. "Of course, sir," Roy answered. "My mom will kill me if I don't go see her." Roy learned to speak English from watching television, and sometimes he sounded so American that I forgot he was Iraqi.
在我們放下他離去後﹐我不放心﹐用對講機問我的組員“我們會照顧他” 組員領隊說。“什麼意思”
“你記得我們放在椅子下的9厘米﹖”
“那把從伊拉克老將軍屋裡來的手槍﹖”
“是的﹐上星期我們在射擊場教他使用﹐我們給他在回家路上帶著”
After we dropped him off and drove away, I talked with my scout team over the intercom, worried and babbling that I wouldn't know Roy's fate until he returned in a week -- or didn't. "You know what Roy told me? He gets in the wrong taxi and he's done. They'll take him somewhere, and then we'll see him on the Internet."
The scout team leader who rode in my truck eyed me sidelong. "We took care of him, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"You remember that nine we kept under the seat?"
"The handgun from that old Iraqi general's house?"
"Yeah, we showed Roy how to use it at the range last week, and we gave it to him for the ride home."
壞點子﹐用禁止的武器武裝譯員﹐至少違反了兩條規定﹐僅違反一條就可被解職。我想到羅伊的相貌﹐設想他隻身一人搭計程車﹐我瞭解到至少他有武器反抗。
Bad idea. Arming an interpreter with a contraband weapon violates at least two general orders -- and one is enough to get you relieved. But before I opened my mouth, I pictured Roy's muddy brown eyes and curly hair. I imagined him getting into that cab all by himself. I realized that now he had a fighting chance.
“很好” 我說﹐對講機裡靜悄悄“謝謝你們照顧他”
"Good," I said. The intercom was quiet. "Thank you for taking care of him."
* * *
有一天﹐我決定羅伊需要從繁重的任務中休息一下﹐所以我叫排裡士官﹐去找一個譯員暫時替補他的位置。
One day I decided that Roy needed a break from our grueling patrol schedule, so I asked the platoon sergeant to find another interpreter to temporarily take his place.
但到晚上﹐當我會到排裡帳篷找羅伊﹐他的小床空空﹐衣服也不見了。
But that evening, when I peeled back a fold of the tent where my platoon bunked down for the night and looked for Roy, I found his cot empty. His clothes were gone, too.
“羅伊在那裡﹖” 我問一位年輕斥堠。
“排附告訴羅伊他因某事被開除了﹐他真的很沮喪﹐看起來要哭的樣子”
“他開除了羅伊﹖” 我緊握拳頭。
"Where is Roy?" I asked a young scout.
"The platoon sergeant told Roy that he was fired or something. He was real upset. It looked like he was about to cry."
"He fired Roy?" I clenched my fists.
這排附對譯員及士兵都不可思議的嚴厲﹐多沒有什麼特別的原因。在一個月後﹐因不服從命令被調離﹐但是現在﹐我必須要處理這個狀況。
The platoon sergeant was incredibly hard on the interpreters and the soldiers, often for no reason. He would be removed for insubordination in a month after challenging a direct order, but for now, I had to deal with the situation.
一個連指揮部士官告訴我﹐羅伊與其它譯員去吃飯。我悄悄的去了基地餐飲部﹐上下到處找﹐直到發現羅伊與麥可在一起﹐羅伊的頭低垂在餐盤上﹐眼眶紅紅的。我走到他後頭﹐把我的雙手放在他肩膀上。
A sergeant on duty at the company command post told me that Roy had gone to dinner with the other interpreters. I stalked to the base cafeteria and walked up and down the aisles until I found Roy sitting next to Mike. Roy's head was drooped over his tray, and his eyes were red. I stepped behind him and put my hands on his shoulders.
“羅伊﹐我不知道某某(士官) 告訴你什麼﹐但是我是排裡的領導﹐他不是﹐而你是我的譯員。只要你願意﹐在閃電排裡永遠有你的位置…. 你是我有過的譯員中最好的一位。兄弟們都很愛你。”
“你想留在排裡嗎﹖” 我謹慎的問。
"Roy, I don't know what [the sergeant] told you. But I am the platoon leader, not him, and you are my interpreter. As long as you are willing, you will always have a place in Lightning Platoon. . . . You are the best interpreter I've had. The guys love you.
"Do you want to stay in the platoon?" I asked cautiously.
羅伊很快的點頭﹐但沒回頭看我。我微笑了﹐直到那時﹐我才直到他對我是多麼的重要。失去他或替換他是不能接受的。他是我們的一員﹐而且我覺得對他的安全有責任。
Roy nodded quickly but didn't turn to face me. I smiled. Until that moment, I hadn't realized how much he meant to me. The thought of losing him and having him replaced was unacceptable. He was one of us. And I felt responsible for his safety.
我站起來離開時﹐麥克抓著我的手臂﹐微笑著﹐把他的右手放在心上﹐這是伊拉克的友誼和尊敬的表示。“謝謝你﹐長官”他說﹐不約而同的﹐所有的譯員都把他們的右手放在心上。
I stood up and started to turn away when Mike grabbed my arm. Smiling, he put his right hand over his heart, an Iraqi gesture of friendship and respect. "Thank you, sir," he said. In unison, all the other interpreters placed their right hands over their hearts.
我同樣的動作回禮﹐並在我的眼睛像羅伊一樣紅前離開。
I returned the gesture and walked out before my eyes got red like Roy's.
* * *
羅伊和我及一個狙擊手﹐靠牆坐在俯瞰十字路口的公寓地板上﹐我在想這場戰事的發展﹐從初期2003年入侵﹐當時伊拉克人看起來是歡欣鼓舞﹐胡森銅像被推倒﹐到反抗行動最激烈暴力的日子﹐我不確定是什麼讓情勢改變。
Roy and I were sitting on a smooth concrete floor with our backs against a concrete wall. We were with one of my sniper teams in an apartment overlooking a four-way intersection. I was thinking about the course of the war, from the early days of the invasion in 2003, when the Iraqis seemed overjoyed and the giant statue of Saddam Hussein toppled, to the most violent days of the insurgency. I wasn't sure what to make of the shift.
“羅伊﹐是不是大多數伊拉克人一直恨我們﹖”
“不是﹐當美國人剛來﹐每個人都很高興”
“現在呢﹖”我問。
羅伊聳聳肩。
“我們該怎麼修復伊拉克﹐羅伊﹖”
“用核武炸掉﹐長官”
狙擊手和我都在笑。
“但是﹐羅伊﹐你的母親及家人都在巴格達。你不可能真想用核武炸掉伊拉克是解決方式”
“長官﹐修補伊拉克的唯一方式是用核武炸掉她”
“你跟我們這些傢伙混的太久了”
“不錯﹐可以了”(羅伊學駕駛兵肯塔基口音說)
狙擊手笑到不支。
"Roy, did most of the Iraqis always hate us?" I asked.
"No, sir. When the Americans first came, everyone was very happy."
"And now?" I asked.
Roy shrugged.
"How do we fix Iraq, Roy?"
"Nuke it, sir."
The snipers and I laughed.
"But Roy, your mom and your family is in Baghdad. You can't seriously think nuking Iraq is the answer."
"Sir, the only way to fix Iraq is to nuke it."
"You've been hanging out with the guys too long, Roy."
"Wehl alraght."
The snipers collapsed into fits of laughter.
* * *
在2007年九月接替我的排長問我﹐如何能在15個月的戰鬥任務中保全所有人。我告訴他要常祈禱﹐要像敵人一樣思考﹐永遠不要派你的人進入廢棄房屋﹐因為可能被動手腳而炸毀。
The platoon leader who replaced me in September 2007 asked me how I kept all of my men alive after 15 months of combat. I told him to pray a lot, think like the enemy and never, ever send your men into an abandoned house, because it might be rigged to blow.
羅伊作我的譯員做了9個月﹐但是他必需做滿一年﹐才有資格獲得簽證來美﹐所以當我們期滿輪調回美時﹐將他留在伊拉克。當消息傳來時﹐我正在芝加哥朋友公寓﹐幫羅伊填簽証表格﹐從巴格達的少尉傳來的電郵﹐結尾說“我很抱歉”
Roy had been my interpreter for nine months, but he needed to work a full year before he qualified for a visa to come to the United States, so we had to leave him behind when our rotation in Iraq ended. I was filling out the visa paperwork for him in a friend's apartment in Chicago when I got the news. The e-mail from a lieutenant in Baghdad ended with "I'm so sorry."
我希望事情發生的很快﹐我希望那55加侖的裝了炸藥的汽油桶﹐在Diyala省的廢棄屋旁邊造成的白色亮光和靜寂結束﹐我希望他(羅伊) 沒有時間害怕。
I hope it was quick. I hope that the 55-gallon drums filled with explosives that surrounded the abandoned house in Diyala province made the end a bright white light and then peace. I hope he didn't have time to be scared.
紐約時報報導了這2008年一月的爆炸﹕“庭院裡是毀滅的場景﹐撒滿了中古的泥塊及現代的水泥磚﹐被同樣爆炸喪生的﹐有6名美國士兵及一位伊拉克譯員。
The New York Times reported on the January 2008 explosion: "The courtyard was a scene of devastation, strewn with medieval mud brick and modern cinder block, shattered alike by the explosion that killed six American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter."
這報導列出了士兵的名字﹐但是沒有羅伊的名字。現在﹐當作戰隊伍離開伊拉克時﹐我希望羅伊的名字﹐能像戰爭中犧牲的美國英雄﹐同樣的被表揚。第一步是述說他的故事﹐及至少提到他的真名字。他的名字我現在可以說了﹐因為他現在已在一個不會受到更多傷害的地方了。
The story listed the soldiers' names. But not Roy's. Now, as my country's combat troops leave Iraq, I would like Roy to be honored along with the American heroes who have fallen in that war. The first step is to tell his story and to give at least his true first name. I can say it now because he is in a place where no more harm can come to him.
他的名字是穆罕默德。
His name was Mohammed.
blake@troopswap.com
Blake Hall﹐一位退休的陸軍上尉﹐在2006年7月到2007年9月在伊拉克率領一個偵察排。
Blake Hall, a retired Army captain, led a reconnaissance platoon in Iraq from July 2006 to September 2007. He is the co-founder of TroopSwap.com, a marketplace for the military community.
看了就有衝動像把它翻出來。沒有逐字翻﹐時間不允許。 |
