Carefully prepared for the journey ahead
We roll out, stacked three deep
Dressed to do battle, cloaked in armor
Damned if we do, damned if we don’t,
Yet hoping that risk and peril is outweighed by reward.
On a mission of service
That is our calling
Experience varies between us
From the untested rookie to seasoned vet,
All finely chiseled, each with our own purpose,
Together a team, equipped for any condition.
To a destination unbeknownst to us
We trust in our commander.
May we make it back unscathed
Yet still find action.
Tensions rise as we board the aircraft
Hatch closing behind us.
We ride in confined darkness
Locked and loaded.
Banged up from a turbulent flight
A sign of what’s to come?
Irksome bruises here and there
Nothing major.
Aboard a truck ill-suited for roads like these.
This “protection” shouldn’t pass for adequate.
Alert to the dangers along the way
We’ve several uncomfortable hours before camp.
We’re greeted by a bright, tropical dawn
Sweaty as the night through which we entered into
A restless sleep.
Commander briefs us
As we wait for the skiff to carry us the rest of the way.
Our skin sticky, each covered in goose bumps.
We cast off
Knowing action may meet us along the way.
Parched, we need water
And we get it.
The beach barely in sight
Heavy, thunderous, booming
Approaching well overhead
Commander calls out the big gun.
Cover me!
Shooting with precision
Spray spitting from the barrel.
We take them on as they come in waves
Won’t make the beach until they retreat.
Finally a break
We make our way to shore
Taking refuge and respite.
Flesh wounds patched
As adrenaline subsides
Only to be recharged again and again
In a cycle that goes on for days to come.
Same rendezvous point most evenings.
Each morning another briefing
Based on the latest recon.
Then back into harms way
Narrowly escaping ambush on the inside
A sharper adversary than what we’re used to
But we have confidence under our commander
And he has the same in us.
Tried and true
We make it through.
The skiff returns.
Mission complete.
And so we go back, the same way we came
Over land, then airlifted and homeward bound.
A welcoming party it was not
Ushered hastily from the tarmac.
Greeted with a disregard and disrespect that would beat us down
In a way that can’t be tended by a field dressing
Sure to break one in three.
Displaced!
Wish we could just go back.
Risk bullets to this any day.
Finally reconnected with our commander,
But we were changed.
He looked on us with a certain anger diluted by numbness
He’d seen this many times before.
Ironic that after all we’d been through we ended up like this.
Battered, beaten, broke
Damage that could have been so easily avoided!
With just a little appreciation, conscientiousness, care
Instead of tossing us off the plane
Straight into the insensitivities of society.
One look and he knew
We’d never be quite the same again.
