“‘I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he bounces when he hits the bottom’~George S. Patton famous military general,’”

Samuel read in a confused voice.

He had been reading about World War II.  He had been so confused who George S. Patton little did he know that George had received one of the highest honors the distinguished service cross but not just once but he had received it twice! Samuel was a snotty 22-year-old who was in the military and was 1 week away from getting shipped out to fight in the war against aidid a special military group that was very powerful in the middle east.

Samuel tall stature made him stick out in his platoon which leads to more abuse then normal at boot camp, leading to him being one of the best soldiers in his platoon. His blonde hair rolled down his shoulders before he entered the army now his hair matched everybody else in his platoon. His platoon and two other platoons were debriefed to take the Aidid's out of there place and take hostages to know what the Aidid's plans were for the region. Samuel didn’t want to think about the idea of killing other people but he knew that was his job in the Army. He pressed his head against the pillow thinking about his childhood, falling asleep.

In his dream he thought about his childhood. In his deep slumber his mind raced with flashbacks from when he first could remember. His first day of school, his first time riding a roller coaster, his first time riding a bike. Overall of that, however, one thought filled his mind and that was his first love. She was his dream, he thought they would never separate but they ended up breaking up quite quickly. After three years of not talking they started talking again and ended up hooking up again. His most vivid memory was when he asked for her hand in marriage, and she shouted,

“Yes silly!”

But his dream was cut short with his mother waking up. He had a severe panic attack during his sleep. And when he went back to bed his dream wouldn’t come back.

The next morning moved slowly, time felt like it was slowed, everyone seemed to be moving slow. Samuels family had waited for him to come down from upstairs so they could wish him off. They had made him breakfast but since he was in such a hurry he didn’t have the time to finish it. Samuel reached the bottom of the stairs to his mother sobbing in the living room when she saw him she forced a smile that wouldn’t convince a toddler. She balled,

“I don’t want you to go, but they need you over there. Do your best and keep yourself safe, and don’t forget your best instinct is your first!”

Samuel followed,

“I love you mother, I will stay safe over there, see you soon!”

His mother stopped crying for a few seconds. Then she gave Samuel the biggest hug, followed by,

“I love you, son, I will see you soon.”

The room filled with silence, all of the family had come to wish him off and they all got there appreciations in. However one person stood out, his father who he hadn’t seen in over 5 years. Earlier in Samuel’s life, his father left and didn’t seem to be coming back. Conquering the elephant in the room his father spoke,

“Samuel, I am so proud of you.”

Samuel was quick to respond,

“Thank you, Dad, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!”

It turns out his father had spent the last few years in prison. He robbed a liquor store and a cop car was conveniently parked outside. His father only cared about one thing now, saving people who are innocent from being hurt by hostile people. He exclaimed,

“Go make those bastards pay for what they're doing to those people!”

Samuel swallowed hard and realized how much was resting on his shoulders,

“I will Dad, I love you.”

His father gave him a hug,

“I love you, son, You do your country a favor over there!”

The family in tears had met at the door as Samuel got in the car with his uncle who was going to take him to the pickup location at the airport. His whole family hoped for the best but planned for the worst. Samuel also had made these plans writing a few death notes in the car on the way to the airport and writing his will on the plane. His anxiety filled his body with fear of what was to come when he stepped off that plane into a new country. He wasn’t the only the one either, the airplane was filled with soldiers and they all talked about what they were getting themselves into.

Samuel and his platoon landed in Iraq, as soon as they got off the plane they got a briefing of what they were going to be doing. They were told,

“Alright listen here magots, welcome to Iraq, this is the desert, you’re gonna be hot but suck it up, get to know each other because your mission doesn’t depart till 15:00 on Thursday.”

That meant that Samuel and his platoon had plenty of time to get to know each other. The next few days were filled with small talk and games, the big thing to do was get a deck of cards and play blackjack or euchre. They realized that they were closer than they thought. They all had the same haircuts and it made them seem like a unit.

There was a guy who had come from Wisconsin which was close to Samuels hometown in Illinois. They started talking and realized how much of the same past times they did. They also realized how much they felt like outcasts in their platoon. The rest of their platoon came more from Indiana and Ohio. They both had been last-minute moves into this platoon. Samuel started the conversation the same way everyone else did,

“Hi, my name is Samuel, I’m from Addison, Illinois”

The stranger responded astonished,

“My name is Paul, I’m from Kenosha!”

Samuel thought for a second and realized that Kenosha was fairly close to where he lived. He followed up with,

“You ever been to Woodfield Mall?”

Paul responded ecstatically,

“Obviously, my parents took me all the time! I loved the nearby Lego store, and every Christmas we would go down and see family. When we finished our visit, I would go spend my Christmas money on the newest coolest lego set.”

Samuel also loved Legos. He asked for Paul to say his favorite lego set and simultaneously they both responded,

“The Eiffel Tower!”

They both stepped back and realized how close they were without even knowing each other about 30 minutes ago, they decided that they would just stay close during missions and try to make sure they both would make it home in one piece.

The bond of the two young men was something to behold when they entered the mission briefing everyone knew that the two weren’t going to be separated by the enemy. The sergeant giving the briefing knew this and encouraged everyone to find a ‘battle buddy’ as he called it. The platoon split into many groups with people that they knew from the last few days. Paul and Sam paired up, Bob and Rock paired up (they called him rock because he had a strange resemblance of Dwayne Johnson), and a few other fatheads paired together to make some of the greatest fighting forces on the planet.

The sergeant began,

“Alright here's how this is going to go, y’all are going to intercept vehicles and make sure they aren’t taking weapons to the enemies.”

They all responded in unison,

“Sir, yes sir!”

The sergeant was infuriated,

“I can’t hear you, babies!”

The soldiers stood,

“Sir, yes sir!”

The sergeant had a smirk,

“I still can’t hear you, is that all you got!”

The soldiers fired up,

“SIR, YES SIR!”

Sergeant responded happily,

“That’s what I like to see ladies”

The soldier's loaded on the trucks and started their journey through the desert. Their truck filled with silence followed with a quick question.

“Who’s ready to go make sure these darn enemies don’t get these darn weapons?”

The soldiers responded in unison again,

“Us, Sir!”

The sergeant wasn’t happy,

“What was that?”

The soldier's angrily responded,

“US, SIR!”

The truck filled with silence again, they had reached their destination. It was a small outpost with a road going through it. The road had a gate that the soldiers were guarding.

The outpost had nobody there, the last group that was there left some food and some water. The platoon posted themselves at their spots and the first vehicle rolled up. It was an old Ford pickup truck that looked like it's seen better days. The back of the truck was covered, and the truck slowly came to a stop at the gate. The driver got out of the car,

“Sir, I was told to get these across the border, have some cash and let me pass?”

Samuel stopped and stared at the man and said,

“No bribes, I just need to see what's in the back.”

The man looked helpless,

“Come on man, I got family! They got them hostage!”

Samuel understood the situation now. He pulled off the tarp covering the back and found something unbelievable. The back had been filled to the brim with weapons and ammunition, enough to keep someone with ammo for months. Samuel went to his sergeant and asked what he should do. His sergeant responded nicely,

“You should go have a drink son, this is an impressive find!”

Samuel felt wrong, he felt that even though he knew those weapons were going to eventually be used against his fellow comrades he also knew that behind all of that are people getting killed for no reason. Samuel knew this was too much for him, but since he was already here he was forced to stay. The day went on in silence, the man in the truck went back to his village and his family was fine. Samuel’s platoon ‘fought’ the enemy by making sure the arms never got to the enemy. About a month into their mission his sergeant asked them,

“Do you babies want a real challenge?”

Samuel and his platoon had no idea what he was talking about, and then he followed up with

“I’m talking about going to the front lines!”

Samuels platoon thought quickly,

“SIR, YES SIR!”

They packed their bags the next morning,

“Samuel, I’m not sure I want to go the front lines”

Paul exclaimed.

Samuel couldn’t believe what was happening either,

“I guess we’ll have to see what happens.”

Paul had his doubts but he grabbed his gear,

“I guess we’ll see when we see them in our scopes.”

Samuel responded,

“I guess so.”