206                                   U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN aULF, 1990.1991


look just like ours to include Kentucky Fried Chicken, Hardees, etc. I have seen
signs for a Holiday Inn.   The Saudis own and live in homes like ours.
    We occasionally see a herd of camels led by Bedouin tribesmen.    They live
all over the desert here.  They also herd sheep, which eat the very short grassy
shrubs that grow every 10 feet or so in the sand.       The Bedouins are a very
rugged, proud people.    They have been extremely supportive and appreciative
of us being here.  We have gone out of our way to be respectful of their culture.
This is their home, and we are only temporary guests.
    You asked if there were bees, lizards, and other bugs here. Absolutely, yes!
There are so many scorpions here and we regularly have Marines get stung.
There is a black scorpion that grows to several inches in length. I keep one in
a can that is so big it can hold a saltine cracker in its claws while it eats it. (I
did not know scorpions ate crackers.)  The scorpions are very dangerous be-
cause their poison is so strong. There are at least six types of poisonous snakes.
We have caught a cobra, two horned vipers, and another type of viper since we
got here.  They like to hide in our uniforms when we take them off.    The ants
are amazing here; they are strong, fast, and eat anything.
    There is also a giant black beetle, but it is harmless. I woke up last night
because one crawled across my chest.   The beetles like to get into our food.
They can chew their way through cardboard.    There is a very large lizard out
here, about two feet long, that digs very deep holes in the ground.  We rarely
see them.  We thought there were no rats until we caught one running across the
sand trying to steal a package of Lifesavers.         I have not experienced any
mosquitoes, but the flies are terrible. They are afraid of nothing and like to get
into your mouth.   We have all learned to check our clothes, boots and packs for
scorpions and snakes and have learned to survive with our new "friends.
    I have to tell one story about SSgt Gonzalez, who works for me.     We had
driven to a new position at night so the Iraqi army would have a hard time
knowing where we were.       When we were through setting up our operations
center he sat down and leaned back to rest.  A six-inch scorpion stung him in
the hand.  He said the pain was instantaneous and in a short time he started to
lose the feeling in his arm and shoulder.     We immediately radioed for a
helicopter to fly him to the Marine Corps hospital.      The helicopter was five
hours late picking him up.   It almost ran out of gas and had to land.  After it
refueled, it crashed seconds after it took off again.  No one was badly hurt. A
truck finally picked him up at the crash site and rushed him to the hospital.
While the truck was driving, the back blew off and almost threw him on the
highway.   When he finally got to the hospital, it turns out he was also sick,
from food poisoning.   Since the hospital had just been set up, the new doctors
did not know the best way to treat a scorpion sting.   It may sound horrible, but
we laughed for days-if none of that could kill the staff sergeant, Saddam Hussein
surely could not either!
    One of you asked if I wear Army boots.  Absolutely not. I am a Marine, and
I wear combat boots.   The boots may look the same to the casual observer, but
it is what is inside them that makes the difference.  The Marine Corps has never
lost a major battle in its 214-year history.  I am confident that if Saddam