Joe Galloway has a letter from a soldier in Iraq. From what I’ve read across the web, this is the best description of an infantryman’s life at war in 1200 words or less.
June 24, 2004
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I have three cousins that saw combat in ‘Nam, and a few friends that were there also. They all related about the same words, and you have to drag it out of them. They are reluctant to share with anyone else because they figure (often correctly) that you never having the shared experience, can never fully understand. These men only bother speaking to me because they know I was in the service. I make no bones about not having seen combat, and I hope I never have to, because of the horrors I have heard.
Comment by Bubba Bo Bob Brain — June 24, 2004 @ 10:49 pm
My youngest, recently returned from Baghdad, speaks only of funny things that happened, or stupid things people did. I don’t press. I know he killed in both Afghanistan and Iraq, but he managed to get himself and his men through without a single casualty. That’s enough to know.
Comment by Bunker — June 25, 2004 @ 5:39 am
I think the hardest part for me so far this year has been not knowing what my husband is doing or thinking. I’ve written him over 80 letters so far, and while I cherish the five I’ve gotten from him, they don’t say much of anything about what’s going on in his life. He’s a man of few words anyways, and most of them are just “I love you.” I’m afraid of never being able to relate to or understand what he’s going through…and I’m more afraid he just won’t want to try to explain.
Comment by Sarah — June 25, 2004 @ 7:02 am
I read Joe’s book “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young”. While I could read only 6-8 pages at a time due to the intensity of what was going on, I loved the book and recommend it to anyone who has a question about being in battle…any battle, any war.
My husband showed me some pictures he had taken just before a helicopter landing in a field by a jungle in Viet Nam. The countryside was lush and quite beautiful and I made a remark to that effect to him. That’s when he told me that the Cong were waiting in that jungle for him and his fellow soldiers and shot at them when they got off the chopper. It made me have bad dreams for months. I can only imagine what he dreams about. When I want to know something about his experience, I ask. But I don’t expect a lot of detail.
Comment by julie — June 28, 2004 @ 2:57 pm