I woke up to the sound of a M67 frag grenade exploding. My whole platoon was awakened and ready for hell to break loose. After the first bomb, shots were fired. Everyone stood there motionless until Sergeant Wells left the platoon and started shooting. After everyone escaped their state of shock due to the grenade, they ran out with open fire.

I started looking for Andy; he was knocked out 10 feet from me. I ran over to him and woke him up. He remembered what was going on and shot a guy that was walking up behind me. We ran out and took cover behind our Humvee. A hand grenade was thrown 25 meters away from me and knocked me down and backwards. Andy ran and took cover behind a dirt bank.

We made eye contact, and I signaled to move up three feet; he nodded and took out two guys in our path, and then I moved up. We decided to run up about 40 feet to another one of our Humvees. As we were running, I could see rounds kicking up all around us, and I could hear them zipping past. At this point everyone has been working through pure Adrenalin for about two hours. I started to think that’s the only thing keeping us alive.

Each soldier carried their own necessity. Most carried dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, cigarettes, candy, and even kool-aid; it really depended upon a man’s habits. What they carried was partly a function of rank and mission. With all the items that soldiers carried, including weapons and ammunition, it weighed out to be 18-21 pounds.

Despite the weight we are already carrying, we went around collecting bullets and weapons off the people we killed.

“Aren’t you upset?” says Andy with a slight frown.

“Why would I be?” I responded.

“We killed lots of people today.”

“You’re right, we did, but, Andy, there is one thing you have to understand about war: it's kill or be killed. When someone goes to war, after a while the feeling of sadness goes away, and regret is gone. The feeling of fear will become huge. You will always be scared, for the rest of your life. You will never know when you will die or if you will live to see daylight; when you are being shot at, don't hesitate to shoot back. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but I think that is a bit selfish, don't you?”

“The world is selfish, Andy,” I replied.

After our conversation we went to try and get some sleep.

The next morning we went for a two mile run. It was 90 degrees, and we were in full gear. Andy caught up to me and started talking.

“Who are you going home to?”

“I have a two year old daughter and a wife back home.”

“Why did you leave them?”

“Because my country needed me. As much as I didn’t want to leave them, I had to, and now I have to survive for them.”

From there it was silence, and we all walked until we found a new campsite to lay down the claymores and spend the night waiting.

The next morning we all wake up and eat some MRE breakfast. I had a pork sausage in cream gravy; it came with dried cereal, raisins, peanut M&Ms, and powdered juice. It didn't taste good at all. It tasted burnt and smelled strange, let alone it was really slimy. After the ‘delicious’ breakfast, we all gather into the humvees and started to drive to the next place for camp; it was about an hour away. Me and Andy sat next to each other.

“Reed, what would you do if when you went home your family was gone?” asked Andy.

“I would spend the rest of my life looking for them. What kind of question is that?”

“I don’t know; I was just wondering I guess.”

“Well, stop asking depressing questions. It makes life less interesting.” I said confused.

Andy just looked at me and asked another question that spiked my curiosity.

“How do you know if you have made a difference in this world by sacrificing your life for other people?”

I thought for a second.

“Some people spend their entire life wondering if they made a difference in this world. I guess you will never actually know until you have died for them.”

“But how would you…”

Andy stopped talking, and I hear a loud explosion. The humvee flips three times. When we stop flipping I looked around to see if anyone is hurt. The humvee is full of smoke, and I can’t see much. The smoke was burning my eyes; I can see Andy's hand so I try to pull him out. He is really bloody, but I guess that is normal for a roadside bomb. I can’t pull him out; I felt really weak. I checked all of my buddies and only one is noticeably still alive: Sergeant Smith. I can hear gun shots, so I pull Andy as hard as I can, only to notice his legs have been blown off, and he is dead. I let go and take cover.