Kabul Airlift Vol. II
"The days leading up to our departure to HKIA (Hamid Karzai International Airport) were filled with comments of "we're not going" until the day we get briefed on a timeline for our departure schedule, a timeline that we were behind on. I only received ketamine and morphine because another Corpsman and our Medical Officer drove them to us just before we got on our transport.
We arrived at our departure site and waited. We boarded, flew and then arrived in Qatar. Again we boarded, flew and finally landed in HKIA in the middle of the night. The next morning we set up a defensive posture around some fences that people were sneaking through, we were told this would be 24 hours out and we'd be back; we did not return for about a week. On our defensive position the random gunfire became a more constant occurrence and in the mountains next to us multiple clouds of smoke popped up with a plane encircling the location.
Abbey Gate. We consolidated at the Abbey Gate and sleeping conditions were where you could find them. Our sleeping site was less than 20 feet from raw sewage.
When the gate was opened I was pulled into the ocean of people. About a minute later, which felt like an eternity, a Marine form Golf Company pulled me out and then the tear gas started. The following hour all Corpsmen spent tending to all the civilians and Marines affected by the gas. Even though we had a sleeping site, our first 48 hours at the gate was spent at the gate sleeping when and where we could if we had the chance.
Once some sort of organization was setup we dealt with treating patients when they arrived and searching individuals before they went to their next checkpoint. Sanitation did not exist and most of the people were searched with bare hands. There were only two restrooms at the gate. An old unused guard post became a third and not soon after urine was constantly flowing out of it and the other two were overflowing. Not too long after dysentery became a problem among the Marines.
August 26th. We were told the gate was closing and that we were falling back to a staging area to wait at around 1400. Between the times of 1400 and 1700, most caught up on sleep next to the outskirts of the tarmac. We were woken up by the sound of an explosion. Seconds later cracks of gunshots zipped overhead and a burst of fire from the tower next to us stopped what was directed towards the airport. We kitted up and consolidated and ran to the CCP to begin treating patients.
Every day was chaos, but we adapted to it."
- Vignette from an Anonymous Corpsmen who served as a Navy Corpsmen with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines during the Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation at Kabul.