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 when one
             of the ships' whistles sounded. Everything seemed to be fine, whistles and bells go off all the time. But something was different. This whistle was the emergency meeting whistle and meant everyone was to meet on the flight deck for important information. The only out of the ordinary part of this in all of our minds is that this whistle was real, this meeting we were about to go to was real. A silence drew upon the ship. When the whistle stopped you could hear a pin drop. Soldiers and Sailors became unemotional, speechless and fully in shock. For what they were about to hear would change their lives forever.
             The words "fall in" were sounded. While getting into form
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