...we heard the familiar thump of rotor blades in the distance, to the west.  We scrambled around, grabbing rifles and looking for defilade.  We heard another sound, too, but this one didn't sound like a helicopter.  Nobody could make it out.  Then, breaking out of the clouds, a Marine UH-1 Huey appeared, slowly flying across our field of vision.

Then we could make sense of the noise.  We heard the unmistakable voice of Robert Plant belting out the lyrics to Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog".

It was a surreal moment, like something out of "Apocalypse Now", hearing rock and roll blaring out of a flying war machine.  The helo was, most likely, on a psychological-operations mission designed to rattle the Iraqis-- as if the tons of bombs falling on their heads hourly weren't doing the job.

The Marines loved it.  Grinning like madmen, they threw their fists into the air, pumping them in time to the music...