I live in Southern California and thus have never had a credible reason to own a gas mask. I've never even tried one on.
-Dave Longeuay
Do you own a gas mask? Please let me know...
Here's an Israeli who has to deal with a tragic reality!
Tomorrow, I'm going to go and exchange the old gas masks we were issued
long ago with current ones. What a concept: I want to shout out.
No, I don't want a gas mask! I don't want to put it on; I don't want to
even look at it!
I don't remember when or how I was given my first gas mask; I do
remember clearly going to a small room in a hospital. A soldier was there and he handed me a
blue case. I asked him what it was and he told me it was a gas mask for
my infant. My eyes filled with tears as I repeated several times in
disbelief, "this isn't normal. You don't give a baby a gas mask." He was
all of 18 or 19 years old and he tried to comfort me, "it's okay," he
said, "don't worry."
I have two other memories related to gas masks in Israel. The second was
when I suddenly realized the US was likely to go into Iraq -
and Aliza might be too big for the infant mask. We went running
down to the gas mask distribution center; only to be told they had none
left.
Again, the tears filled my eyes as I approached a soldier and
practically begged him to help. He took us quietly through a side door -
though others had been turned away - and calmly switched the masks for
us.
The third and final memory was around 8:00 at night,
hours before the US entered Iraq for the Second Gulf War. The government
had warned us - prepare to be hit by missiles, as had happened in the
First Gulf War. We'd prepared a room to seal; we'd bought some
provisions.
And then they announced that we should not only have our gas masks at
the ready, but we should activate the filters and try them on. Aliza and
Davidi were young.
Elie was 15 years old. I froze. I didn't
want to see my children with gas masks on - I didn't want to pull them
from their warm beds to this nightmare we thought we might be facing.
It was Elie who told me we had to get the children out of bed. It was Elie who put the gas masks on his brother and sister. The next day, I took the kids to
school. Shmulik refused to go - he offered to do dishes if I didn't
force him to go. That didn't sway me to let him stay home, but his tears
did. He was almost 13 years old - too old to cry; too frightened not
to. I gave in because I wanted him calm and I wanted him to feel he
would always be safe.
I took Aliza to the day care group - with the mask. I explained about
how she had cried the night before and fought against us putting it on.
The woman told me not to worry - and then she played a game with these
young 2 and 3 year olds. She had them take the masks out and used the
cardboard box as a cradle for dolls and stuffed animals; then she had
them practice putting on the masks.
By the end of the day, Elie was telling me
all about what he had learned in school about chemical warfare and what
we might be facing from Iraq.
Now, almost a decade or so later, Israel is reissuing new gas masks. The
ones we had were made useless once we opened the filters and they've
sat for years in our home. Now, we are being encouraged to get new masks
and so tomorrow I'm going.
- this is the gas mask business.
Please remember to pray and support Israel:
www.rebirthofisrael.com
'Until I die as a shahid.' Gaza kids during party
