Many thanks to the most awesome JadedandBoring and NightstalkersKM for beta-ing this chapter.
This is based on a true life story. Dedicated to Joey.
I have an evil cat and a Jeep, but Twilight is not mine, nor will it ever be.
Reviews are better than Kellan running in sweatpants.
"The years of our youth that we will never forget. When life was simple and all we knew was love.
The people in this book is why I choose to fight. It is for them that I am willing to lay down my life.
There is nothing glorious about war, but I will go to it to keep the people I love away from it.
9/11, Never Forget."
First Lieutenant Joseph J. Theinert,
2nd Platoon, Bunchee Troop, 1-71 Cavalry Battalion of the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division
June 3, 2010
A loud bang snapped me out of my sleep. Rubbing my hands over my face to get the sleep out of my eyes, I rolled out of my bunk and threw on my pants. I had no idea what time it was, but the sun was peeking in through the seams of the tent. I laced up my boots at record speed. The one thing the army had taught me was to get shit done, and get it done as quickly as possible.
I exited my tent to find the source of my early morning wake up call. I located a rookie who was moving some crates around for the mess hall and had dropped the lid of one. I gave him a quick lecture on the importance of moving such things quietly, not for the reason he disturbed my sleep but because I didn't want the rest of the troops coming out of their tents guns blazing at this poor bastard. He apologized profusely. Normally I'd go for my run, but since we had patrols later on I didn't want to wear myself out. I needed to be alert. It was still early, just after 6am, and my patrol didn't start until 11 so I figured I'd go back and get a bit more rest.
Climbing back into my bunk, I slept peacefully for the next 3 and a half hours. Finally it was time to wake up so I showered and dressed. Breakfast typically consisted of chipped beef on toast, beans, eggs, spam, sausage, potatoes, biscuits, juice and coffee. The eggs tasted like shit, but covered with enough pepper and ketchup they were tolerable. Being stationed in the middle of the desert was bad enough but when you added terrible food to it, made the experience that much more enjoyable…not.
The other trick with military food, aside from covering it in ketchup and spices was to eat it fast. There were two reasons behind this. The first being the hotter it was, the better it tasted. The second was you never knew if your meal was going to be interrupted. I'm not saying we shoveled it down like a bunch of pigs, but we certainly didn't waste time to "savor" each bite. Being on base was quite different but out here, in the middle of the Afghanistan desert things could blow at any time.
After chow, I headed over to get my gear together for today's patrol. My men were ready and waiting. We headed out into Kandahar, sweeping the roads for Improvised Explosive Devices. Our task was a dangerous one, but so far every exercise I'd led out, we'd returned with all of 20 of my men unharmed.
Our sweeps used a metal detector to find the covered IED's. Care needed to be taken when sweeping, though, as many of these devices were extremely sensitive and it didn't take much to detonate them. My crew had already disabled three on our trip so far. I had just finished disarming number four when I found number five. I ordered my crew back as there was never any knowing how this was going to end.
"Lieutenant, get out of there, come on!" I heard one of the group calling to me.
"I've almost got it Paul, stay there".
"God Damn it, Emmett, get out!"
"Paul, stay back! That's an order!."
A final click sounded and all I could muster out was "Oh fuck".