IED

The single most terrifying aspect of deployment to Iraq was the IED – the improvised explosive device. Just as the name suggests, the device is an improvised or non-conventional militaristic bomb and was placed randomly about the Iraqi terrain during the 2003 Iraq War. These explosives are either triggered remotely are set off when someone steps on them or otherwise disturbs them. They are referred to as “improvised” because there is no set way in which they are designed or constructed. It is deadly because of its close proximity to its target. There is no pre-warning of the explosive and they are typically buried so that there is no visible sign of the device. The Marines feared the IEDs because of their stealth and deadly nature and because they saw what they did to the victims. Death was always a possible result and the loss of limbs was...