This is a story about Travis and Conner…please review.
Song is 'For You' by Keith Urban
TRAVIS'S POV
It had happened so fast…I was sitting there in the Humvee's passenger seat, on my way to Baghdad. That's where we were going to meet up with a few other groups before heading home. Back to America. Away from ten-legged spiders, exploding children, unbelievable heat, and the constant pat pat pat of machine gun fire. Back to Camp Half Blood, my brother, my other siblings, everyone. I was going home.
Of course, I was messing with the driver, and I nudged him rather roughly I guess, causing him to turn the Humvee a little off the main road.
Well, all I saw was smoke and fire...
I didn't feel a thing.
But suddenly I was rising higher...
And I felt like I just made... the biggest mistake.
When I thought about my unborn child...
When I thought about my wife...
And the answer rang out CLEAR from somewhere up above
No greater gift has man, then to lay down his life for Love.
But then there was an explosion. I couldn't feel it, I didn't see it, or anything. It was an IED. I saw the sky get closer, before everything went black. I thought of my wife back home. She was supposed to be having our baby today. I longed to go to her…
And I wondered, would I give my life?
Could I make that sacrifice?
If it came down to it, could I take the bullet... I would
Yes I would, For You
I felt the pain only when I woke up. I heard people talking to me, but I couldn't tell what they were saying. I couldn't see much either. Everything had a red tint. I remembered the explosion. I remembered all my battles in the past three tours to Iraq and Afghanistan , and I remembered my wife and soon-to-be-born child. And I knew that if I hadn't been by that IED, someone else would've. Maybe someone who already had kids. Who had a whole family waiting back home for them. Or maybe someone who didn't have a wife or kids yet. Someone who was planning to propose when they got back. Everyone here…they're my brothers-and-sisters-in-arms. I would give my life for any one of them. I was glad it had been me.
Baby, you don't understand... I don't understand it all myself.
But there's a Brother on my left and another on my right
And in his pocket just like mine... he's got a photograph.
And they're waitin' for him back home.
I was told the bomb had been closest to me when it went off. I can't exactly explain how it felt to know I had saved a few lives by just messing around. When I nudged my Captain, he had accidently turned off the main road, where the IED was. Had I not have done that, we would've all died. We would considered MIA.
And it's weighing on my mind...
I'm not trying to be the hero... I don't want to die...
But right now, in this moment, you don't think twice.
Going home we were postponed because of the injuries the five of us had. I remembered our time in Fallujah. There had been a lot gun fire, and we had gotten stuck in a really tense battle. I remember seeing a kid sitting there after we cleared everyone out of the city. I don't think anyone else saw until later, but there were sloppy stitches in the baby's stomach. A man was nearby, but he ignored the child, despite its crying. So I shot the man. Then I shot the baby. We can't think about human sanity during war. It's kill or be killed.
When they did a biopsy on the baby later, they found the stitches. Inside the baby was explosives that had yet to go off. The man had a remote that would set off the explosives as soon as anyone got close to the baby. And here they say we're the sick ones.
I wondered, would I give my life?
Could I make that sacrifice?
If it came down to it, could I take the bullet... I would
Yes I would...
I listened to the other guys talk about things they did. The stories they told all had one thing in common: It was the ultimate sacrifice. Weather it was playing a game of ball with some kids, or shooting guns at people, it was something that couldn't be done by just anyone. We gave up so much, just to come here and keep our families and friends safe. To keep each other safe.
You don't think about right.
You don't think about wrong.
You just do what you gotta do... to defend your own.
And I do this thing... for you, yes I would... yes I would.
My leg had been removed. I only had my left leg now, and I was blind in my right eye. I was partially deaf, had PTSD, and my right arm didn't work as good. I was pulled onto a plain in a wheel chair, and I sat there quietly the whole ride. What would my wife say?
And I would give my life... I would make that sacrifice.
Cause if it came down to it, could I take the bullet, I would.
Yes, I would, I'd do it for you... I'd do it for you.
I'd take the bullet, yea, Yes I would.
Conner was there to pick me up. So was dad, but he was only able to stay for a little while. Conner brought me to camp, where my wife, Amanda, sat quietly holding my new son on the front porch of the Big House. I smiled when I saw her and my child, along with all my friends and having my brother behind me…I knew that I would take the bullet for each and every one of them.
"I remember seeing a kid sitting there after we cleared everyone out of the city. I don't think anyone else saw until later, but there were sloppy stitches in the baby's stomach. A man was nearby, but he ignored the child, despite its crying. So I shot the man. Then I shot the baby. We can't think about human sanity during war. It's kill or be killed.
When they did a biopsy on the baby later, they found the stitches. Inside the baby was explosives that had yet to go off. The man had a remote that would set off the explosives as soon as anyone got close to the baby. And here they say we're the sick ones."
This really does happen. In the war, terrorists will stuff kids clothes with bombs ((I'm not sure if they stuff the kid's body with bombs, or just the clothes)) and then when the kid gets close to a bunch of soldiers, they blow up. This is how my mom's friend's husband got killed.
Freedom isn't Free.