Good Friend Outlaw13 was recently back home for a few days of R&R here in the Republic of Texas. It was good to see him, and sad to see him off to return to his 'desert hideaway'.
As I sat at the aeroporto waiting to see him off, I looked around at the large group of soldiers getting ready to board the plane for the return trip, after their R&R sessions were complete. Most of them had flown in from other parts of the country to catch the big bird with the flag on the tail, so there were few family members or friends there to see them off. The local USO was taking good care of them, as they always do. The airport police were on hand, with sub-machine guns loaded and ready to defend them from any a*hole who might want to take a chance for 72 virgins ....
The return flights are different than initial deployment - there is a very mixed bag of soldiers, from many different specialties and units. I was struck by the mix - many young enlisted people in active duty units - not so many, but still numerous were Army Guard and Reservists, some of whom looked to be my age - a smattering of officers ...
With so many of them being young, it got me to thinking (dangerous ...). Outlaw, if you're reading this, you might want to skip the rest of this post, it might be a bit depressing.
When he finishes this tour, Outlaw will have spent about 1/16th of his life deployed to the sandbox defending the United States. For younger soldiers, that figure could be as high as 1/10th, if they are on their third tour (as so many of them are). For far too many, they have given all of their life ...
We as a nation owe more than ever can be repaid to these folks and their families - they have given so much, asked for so little in return, been so mistreated by a few in our society, and yet they willingly go back. I am in awe of the 'common soldier', for there is absolutely nothing common about them.
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