Childhood memories under rockets

Hello readers,

I know that you want to hear directly what its like living under the fire of rockets, how it is like to grow up with fear of death every single day for 14 years. I decided to share with you some of my memories growing up this way, since the first rocket at 2001 (I was almost 10 years old).

So here it goes:
The first time

I remember it was evening and I was at my friend's backyard we were playing.

We didn't hear that rocket falling but my friend's father called us to get inside the house quickly.

It was on the news, our small city Sderot, back in the days it was so small that hardly anyone heard about it. The reporters were talking about rocket hitting Sderot launched from Gaza.

And I? Coudln't understand, couldn't process it. Why would anyone will try to fire rocket at us?

What should I do now? How will I get home now? Its evening, its dark outside, and honestly I am afraid from another rockets being fired maybe hitting me.

After about 15 minutes just standing there looking at the TV screen but not really watching or listening, I tell my friend I have to go but I am afraid. He decides to walk with me (our houses aren't that far). We go outside we start walking and in the middle of the way we start to hear shootings. Its the first time I heard that sound, piercing through the night. We froze for a second didnt know what to do. We decided to split and we both run to our homes. Man I ran faster than Forest Gump. The next day at school, needless to say everyone talked about this. Everyone were confused. Many were still shaken by this. That night marked the change of our city and the change of our lives.

Guess what, your home exploded, or not

I remember that morning, I was about to enter school when I heard explosions. 

At this point, its nothing new hearing rockets explode in Sderot. Well, what can I do? I go to class.

Than all our teachers start sending all of us to the school shelters. The teachers talk to themselves mostly, we know its because rockets hit Sderot this morning. I remember they brought a TV and VCR and they put Lion King on for us to distract us. But kids will be kids and the rumors game started,

Eventually I get a rumor that the rocket hit my house and there are possible injuries. Guess what? You don't have a smartphone, the teachers don't tell you anything, you ask around and some kids confirm this rumors while others say something different.

In the meanwhile many parents come to take their kids home.  Others call the teachers to check up if their children okay. Time goes by, no contact from my parents, with all those thoughts running through my head of a rocket hitting my home. Its one of the worst times in my childhood I recall.

I somehow got a cellphone from another kid and called home. Well guess what? my parents were okay

they thought the school will know how to deal with us so they were not worried too much about me.

Apparently, that day the rocket hit a house only few meters from my school. Literally there is a fence between the school and the the house back yard.

The first one killed by rocket was a 4 year old child, right after him a 49 year old

I remember that day, it was summer vacation for me between 8th to 9th grade.

I remember hearing the explosions. It fell close to the kindergarden that is also near my elementry school. I remember everyone freaking out that day a 4 year old, Afik Zehavi-Ohayon died, His mother was injured severly, also a 49 year old man Mordechai Yosepov died by the same hit. May they both rest in peace. It was very harsh day, Its hard to describe the atmosphere. Me and my family were getting phonecalls all day long from friends and family all over.

2 weeks ago, a friend of mine that literally lives near where it happened told me the details of that day (he witnessed everything). Seriously, if there's a hell this is how it feels and this is how it looks.

Drag people to shelter under fire

So now its not a specific case but many different cases, in Junior high and in High school.

I never really gave it to much thought until lately when I was asked in interviews about growing up in Sderot under rockets fire.

So it took few years before we got the Code Red alarm (originally it was named "Red Dawn").

It was supposed to help us know its time to get cover or run for shelter if possible.

I

The problem was, that after years growing up and living with this stress, and now the added stress from hearing the alarm (which is an anchor that activates the same symptoms people have after rockets hitting or seeing people get injured or even die).

Some people had so hard time dealing with this that people actually fainted in place. 

So I remember times when us (teenagers 12 to 18) and teachers sometimes had to drag people to shelters because they fainted outside. And remember we had 15 seconds or less to do so.

Its sounds really crazy for me thinking about this now. But this is our reality, this is how we had to grow up. We had no choice.

Remember, This is our reality for 14 years. Many children, teenagers and even young adult don't know a different reality than this. This is what they are growing to. Because of Hamas and other terrorists organizations in Gaza. It has to stop now.

Dov Trachtman - The Man in Fort