[D9 (RIP)]

I have a camel spider story from GW I.

We had been laggered up near a wadi for a few weeks, in a little clump of trees. After we moved out, we had a visit from the Doc telling us we needed to be on the look out for camel spiders. As rumor has it, a bunch of people were finding them rolled up in their cammie nets (which strapped on the back of our hummers). The danger, Doc explained, was that these camel spiders would bite you while you were sleeping. Their poison had the effect of a local anesthetic, and then they would literally eat the soft flesh of your cheeks, ear-lobes, or lips.

Nobody was really sure whether or not to believe it, since these kind of storeis are always going around. But the next day they issued some bug nets that we were told to sleep under. Only problem was they didn't have enough for everyone and I didn't get one. If we were one of those who didn't get a bug net, we were supposed to make sure that wherever we racked out it was not under the cammie net of the vehicle. No problem, right? So I found a nice, soft, flat spot in the sand about 5 meters away from our vehicle, laid out my bag, and hit the rack.

When our TF set up a perimeter, TOWs, HMGs and the tanks were on the perimeter. And whenever we would refuel, we would do it at night away from the pos. So it was not unusual to hear the rumbling of a company of tanks or duece-n-a-halfs go by your vehicle in the night, on their way out for a rendezvous with the refueler. That night, I heard tanks going by our vehicle, and knew they were close, but being used to sleeping around the vehicle didn't pay any special attention to it until the next morning.

When I woke up, LOL, I noticed that the tank tracks were about an arm's length away from where I was sleeping. I literally got lightheaded just thinking about it. I'm sure my little sleeping bag looked just like a little bush to those tankers going by in the night. Anyway, bad as they are, the camel spiders didn't seem so menacing after that.