Elephant

The phrase, “seeing the elephant” has many meanings. In the US, it usually refers to describe the experiences of war and soldiering and was first used colloquially by soldiers writing letters during the Civil War.

There are other origins: The article I link to tells the story of the Emperor Charlemagne, who became obsessed with the idea of seeing an elephant when it was described to him by traders arriving from the Middle East. With the help of an exiled Arab lord and a trader named Isaac, an elephant was obtained in Baghdad, of all places, and was brought by land and sea to Aix (modern day Aachen, Germany), where the Charlemagne resided. The elephant was a big hit in the Frankish world and many people traveled miles to “see the elephant.”

Seasoned, combat veterans still speak of “seeing the elephant” to signify they have “shared the incommunicable experience of war,” as Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote shortly after the Civil War. In this case, seeing is experiencing all the emotions of war: boredom, panic, fear, helplessness, camaraderie, and honor. Serving in the Green Zone is not combat but it is a combat zone, as evidenced all too well during the past week. Those who were here last summer, the last period of heavy indirect fire in the Green Zone, say this past week has been much worse. For one thing, there have been more casualties and the fire is more accurate.

The first heavy barrage I experienced came in February, the day after Moqtada al Sadr announced a six-month extension of the cease fire. That next morning we were attacked with several rockets fired by disgruntled elements of Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM), the Shiite militia controlled by al Sadr. It came in the early morning hours, waking me up. As I rolled to the floor of the trailer, I heard the impacts of the rockets in the distance; I had no idea how close but I could hear them. That’s the moment I heard the elephant.

Since getting back to Baghdad from Qatar on the 28th, I’ve heard that same sound again and again. I asked an Army captain co-worker of mine, who survived an IED on his un-armored HUMVEE in 2003, if the barrage over the last week counts as being under fire. He said yes, it does.

So, at least I've traveled miles and heard the elephant.