The preparation for war is an emotional and life changing experience. From the time you hear the plan to the time you step on foreign soil your fellow soldiers, chain of command and God are the only things you have to survive and put your trust in.
Everyone was relieved that the seventh month float was about to end. Soon we would see our families, be able to smell green grass and once again walk on American soil. When the boat started heading home everyone’s anxieties about going to war had calmed and almost found a way to turn off the reality of everything happening. Rumors had been stirring for weeks about us going into Iraq to be part of the start of the war. We all had been following CNN and reading related news about the war, but none of us really could make much sense of it. The questions of who was behind this and what was going to happen was on all of our minds. Even the men who were never into politics or watched CNN were glued to the television.
On our journey home a lot of us felt that it was our job to be there if something would happen. Others thought we did our time away from home and there would be replacements, those who were fresh and not so homesick. It was mid-afternoon
. . .
We convinced ourselves that there was no way we were going into combat. No one really slept that night and still not much was said about the orders we received. We all could guess what was going to be said. When the whistle stopped you could hear a pin drop. As the announcement started, looking straight ahead at our cornel, everything around me muted and visually disappeared. This whistle was the emergency meeting whistle and meant everyone was to meet on the flight deck for important information. We all agreed that we would go in, work as a team and come home alive. I could hear sounds again and my heartbeat returned to normal. All of the shaking legs and bodies around me were slowly going back to normal. I had been eating, sleeping, working and living in very close quarters with these guys for a year-and-a-half. Through that point it didn’t matter because the emotions coming off his face and his jesters told the story. We double and triple checked our gear and stood by for the word.
Approximate Word count =
807
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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