So… I wrote this on the way to my aunt's house. It's called, "Diary of a Soldier," and it's in the point of view of Jeff, and it takes place during the war in Iraq. Alternate universe, and here Jeff meets Nick, Blaine, Kurt, Wes, and David in his unit, so they have never met before. At first I put their first and last name, but in the second, I just use their last name. List of last names:
Anderson: Blaine
Hummel: Kurt
Riley: David
Greenwood: Wesley
Duval: Nicholas
Frost: Tyler
Nichols: Alexander
Montgomery: Caleb
Michaels: Sean
Casey: Coulter
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee, if I did, Niff would be canon, and Wevid would be canon. : 3 Oh, but I do own Alexander Nichols, Tyler Frost, Caleb Montgomery, Sean Michaels, and Coulter Casey.
April 20th, 2009.
It's my first day over seas, and it's different. One, it's a lot hotter than in Ohio, but that should be expected. Two, I don't know anybody. I was assigned a Unit today, and tonight I plan on at least making small talk with the other person that came with me. The Unit's leader is Lt. Anderson. I guess he's been here awhile, and one of the other soldiers told me he's been here for almost seven years. According to his tags, his name is Wesley Greenwood.
As I'm sitting in the Jeep now with the other soldier's, I know that there is no turning back. I won't admit it out loud, but I'm terrified. My parent's are in the United States, worrying every minute that I won't return. I know I'm doing something good, I'm saving lives.
It's now late at night, at least I think. I can't really tell here. I found out the other soldier's names. There's Nicholas Duval, Wesley Greenwood, David Riley, Kurt Hummel, Alexander Nichols, Tyler Frost, Caleb Montgomery, Sean Michaels, Coulter Casey, and the Lieutenant Blaine Anderson. Coulter had introduced me to everyone, except Caleb, who introduced himself being the other soldier that had joined the Unit that morning with me. Coulter seemed to be nicest at first, but I noticed they all were the same. They all greeted me warmly, telling me how long they'd been there, and I found out that Wesley had exaggerated a little bit, because Lt. Anderson had been there only six years. Nicholas Duval had been there three years, and the same went for Alexander Nichols and Tyler Frost. David Riley and Sean Michaels had been there for four years. Kurt Hummel was the youngest besides me and Caleb Montgomery, having this is his second year. I found that they joke around when were not on duty. They act like they aren't in the army in the off time. The biggest jokester is Coulter Casey and Sean Michaels, where they can't go ten minutes in the off without saying something mildly funny. David Riley and Nicholas Duval are the big talkers, while Kurt Hummel and Wesley Greenwood are quiet and secluded. Tyler Frost and Caleb Montgomery are the active ones, always doing something. Lt. Anderson was strict during action, but actually smiled when off duty. I think I left somebody out, didn't I? I remember now, Alexander Nichols. He's… hard to explain. He acts serious and tough during action, but during the off he just sits around and just talks and I found out today he can be very emotional. He says he doesn't like killing people, but it's what is best. Most of the guys have a family of their own back home. Wesley Greenwood has a wife and two sons. David Riley has a daughter he got custody of after he got a divorce. Alexander Nichols has a son after his wife died in a car accident two years before. Tyler Frost has two year old twin boys and a fiancé. Caleb Montgomery has a wife who is currently six months pregnant with his first daughter. Sean Michael has a ten year old son and a girlfriend of two years. Coulter Casey has a two month old daughter with his wife of three years. It makes me feel lonely, realizing that I only have my parents. I shouldn't feel bad since three other guys were currently single and have no kids, but I wonder if I'll always be by myself.
The other guys come from various parts of the country. Coulter Casey comes from New York. David Riley is from Southern California. Caleb Montgomery and Alexander Nichols are both from Michigan. Nicholas Duval is from Illinois. Lieutenant Anderson is from Iowa. Kurt Hummel is from Wisconsin. Tyler Frost is from Alabama. Sean Michaels is from South Carolina. Wesley Greenwood is from Texas. It's weird knowing that some live remotely close, yet I've never even heard of them before. I guess there are a lot of things I've never seen before. I guess there's always a time for everything, right? There are something's I have seen that I never wanted to see in the first place. Sometimes you can't say what you want. You can't always expect people to get what you're saying. I guess it'd just be nice if any of these guys knew what I was going through. I guess they could teach me things, but I don't know anymore. I'm twenty five. As they say, it's hard to teach an old dog a new trick.
I found out that riding in a vehicle for two hours in the sun, and then suddenly getting out and stretching, you can hear your back crack, which is not so pleasant. Oh, the things I'll have to get used to.
April 21st, 2009
It's my second day here, and it's just as hot as yesterday, if not hotter. Casey told me I'd get used to it. Doubtful, though. I noticed not everyone is as happy as they were the first day. Greenwood and Michaels got into a heated argument this morning. Duval broke it up after a minute. Nichols was sullen, getting dressed quietly and grabbed his equipment, walking out of the tent slowly. We were assigned a destination, and most likely there is going to be battle. The news was spread through our camp quickly by Hummel, and I remember sighing, and slowly getting up and getting dressed. Duval had groaned and rolled over, not bothering to get up until five minutes afterward.
I'm riding in the jeep while Lt. Anderson drives and the men all around me are armed and are prepared to battle. I'm sitting in the middle of them all, taking a break to write this in this little journal. I'm feeling as if something bad is going to happen. My break is over now. I'm grabbing my gun and am moving to the edge of the vehicle.
It's nighttime now. We just got done in the battle. It was surprising on how they all reacted to the situation. Montgomery was hit. I was standing next to him. It was just his hand, nothing major. I brought him out of the line of fire. I pulled him behind one of the makeshift walls we had and occasionally peeked over to make sure no one was coming. He has a hole through his hand now. He may or may not have it forever. We found out Montgomery was a bleeder. We had to put gauze in the hole in order to stop the bleeding. Well, most of the bleeding. Lt. Anderson told me it was risky taking him out and risking my life, but he said it showed a strong sense of loyalty, something you apparently need to survive.
Duval had came to me tonight before we fell asleep. He told me he had done the same thing for Casey his first year, except Casey was hit on the leg and spent two weeks recovery time. He spent the next two weeks in physical therapy. Duval told me that it was a brave decision, yet a tough one. Not everyone would risk their life for on o their companions. He smiled at me and told me his story of his past.
Duval had gone through basic training for two years starting when he was eighteen, then went to the next level of training for two more years, and then came to the Unit three years ago. He's the same age as me, which makes me wonder why it only took me two years to get through basic training then the next level. Duval looked at me and smiled, then walked away.
If I'm not asleep in ten minutes, Lt. Anderson is going to kick my ass…
April 22nd, 2009
Montgomery is better. He stopped bleeding. Duval and Casey made sure that I was rewarded for saving him. Lt. Anderson is thinking about it right now. The battle yesterday was long and hard. I honestly want to collapse right now and just go home. But this is what I signed up for. It's hard to imagine just doing this for the next few years. I've only been here less than three days, but I feel as if these guys are my family. I'd do anything to make sure they're not hurt. Lt. Anderson told me this morning that he felt the same way when he first started. It's extremely tiring, but the pain wears off after you see you're making a difference. I noticed the thing that hurts the most is my back from standing. I've never had back problems before, but it feels as if someone is stabbing me repeatedly and not stopping. Every time I hit it on something, it hurts like hell and I just can't seem to stop it. I want to go home, but I realize then that this is my home now. Greenwood tried to make my back feel better by pressing on it, but it just hurt more. He expects that I either pulled a muscle or I just have a really annoying knot. Duval told me to lie down, that it might help. We sat and talked a little bit, and he told me about his life back home.
He says that he's never had a steady girlfriend and that it all comes crumbling down after a few days. I told him about my parents. We laugh as we see Frost running after Casey, who has a mysterious pair of pants in his hands and Frost is mysteriously pant-less. Eventually, nightfall came and Duval left the tent, and Casey, Greenwood, and Riley entered, each climbing into their bunks and falling asleep instantly.
I guess today was an easy day. Although, Hummel told me after a battle we usually had a day or two to recover. It's now twenty minutes until the lamp has to be turned off, and I have to be asleep. My life has changed. That is one thing I am sure of. I don't know if it will change back, or if I'll always be this person. If I'll always be Jeff Sterling who is a soldier in the army and Unit is 36, and whose lieutenant is Blaine Everett Anderson. If I'll always just be Jeff Sterling, a man from Ohio who doesn't have anyone besides his parents and can barely seem to make it in the real world by himself. This is not how I expected it to be. When I was younger I knew I wanted to be a soldier, but I never knew how much pain it could bring. Emotional and physical pain both.
How was it? I liked it… somewhat. This is basically a practice story for my descriptive writing. Review please?
