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medpundit |
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Saturday, September 04, 2004And the sense of hope that accompanied the sight of each survivor was tempered by the horrors among even the lucky. One speeding ambulance contained a girl who appeared to be about 5, blood rolling down her short and matted black hair. She stood in the back of the crowded ambulance, palms pressed against the glass, wild-eyed and screaming in a black floral print dress. Because of the sirens and the gunfire and the roar of the overworked engine, her screams seemed soundless, drowned out by everything else. Then she was gone from sight. ....The morgue had reached capacity. Children and dead Russian fighters were arranged in rows on the grass. One row contained 13 dead and bloodied children, aged roughly 4 to 16. The youngest, a boy, shirtless and with his hands folded neatly on his stomach, was unclaimed. A few were covered with sheets or towels, which mothers passing by lifted, to see if they hid the faces of their missing children. One girl, a young teenager in a dress, appeared to have been executed, having been shot through the eye. The covered remains of one woman, carried out of the hospital and set in the hospital yard, told of a terrible end. Her bare feet protruded, showing soles of feet that were covered with fresh nicks and cuts, as if before she died, she had run and run and run. My oldest son turned thirteen two days ago. I have no doubt that when he's eighteen we will still be waging this war; that it will be bloodier and more widespread; and that there's a good chance he'll be among those fighting it. But I wouldn't begrudge the nation, or the world, his service. Not with enemies like this. posted by Sydney on 9/04/2004 03:41:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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