To Love a Soldier (9 page)

Rewind…
Boot Camp

John

It was the last few days before graduation. Boot camp was a lot tougher than I had ever imagined it would be. I had been lifting weights since my freshman year in high school and was always doing cardio exercises. I had figured the mental part of boot camp might be tough, but the physical part wouldn’t be a challenge for me. Boy
, was I wrong! Since day one, the drill instructors broke me down. I came into the Marines feeling like I was as tough as they come. I was a big guy and very muscular. Back home, people moved out of my way when I walked. Here… well, here was different. I always had to step out of the way for anyone who ranked higher than me, which was everyone, since technically I wasn’t anything but a maggot until I completed boot camp.

Every day, I woke up early, exercised, and got pushed beyond my breaking point, but I kept going. I had no choice. I stepped aside and snapped at attention all day and night for the officers. There were a lot of
decent guys I’d met here. Some of them couldn’t cut it, and I felt bad, but I couldn’t let my emotions fuck things up for me. I had managed to make quite a few friends, and also some enemies of sorts. Even though boot camp was like nothing any of us had ever experienced before, there were still some guys who maintained their petty ways. They would form cliques and single out other guys to pick on. I had never been one to put up with bullying, but there wasn’t much that could be done here. This was the Marine boot camp and nobody wanted to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.

A month and a half in, we finally had some downtime one night. Most of us were hanging out in the mess hall doing personal things, like writing letters, reading, or catching up on our old, social lives. The group of other trainees came in. They looked around the hall and clearly were singling someone out. There was this guy, Joe, who had been their target over the last week or so. He lived in my area and we spent some time together with mutual friends, but never became
real close. When the recruiters came to school and he was hanging around the table, I convinced him to give it a go and here we were. He always seemed to keep to himself and I let him be because I knew what a shock this was since I was living it too.

I kept my head down. I really didn’t need the trouble. Anyone who had been hazed before just kept getting it over and over, until finally they broke and just couldn’t deal with it
anymore. That’s what happened to most of the guys I knew who didn’t make the cut. I had worked so hard to get through this; I didn’t need a bunch of dumb fucks ruining it for me.

Their so-called leader, Jim, walked in front while six others followed. He walked slowly down the middle of the hall, looking at everyone he passed. My turn was next. I kept my head down as he slowed down to check me out, but as he was right in front of me, I couldn’t help but veer my eyes up and make eye contact with him. He stopped short, almost causing a pile up of jerkoffs behind him. I did my best not to laugh at his idiot followers.

Jim was somewhere around 5’11,” with a strange build. He looked like he lifted weights because he had muscular arms, but he didn’t work out in any other way. His stomach was skinny, along with his legs. He gave me a bit of a dirty look and didn’t seem to be moving forward. Here we go, I thought.

I pushed my chair back and stood up slowly. My head passed his stomach, his chest, his head, until I towered over him. Then I tilted my head down to look at him again. “Jim.”

“John,” Jim said. “Is there a problem?” His puppets started to circle me. I guess their leader wasn’t man enough to do his own fighting.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Nope. No problem,” Jim said. “We’re just looking for someone.”

He stepped back and turned, continuing walking past with his followers no more than a footstep behind him. I sat back down and grabbed the book I had been reading. I kept glancing up to watch what was going to happen next. They made their way to the end of the mess hall where Joe Reed was hanging out with a few guys. I put my book down and watched. I felt bad; Joe was a good guy. We had done a lot of training together already because we were bunked together. He came into boot camp weak and shy, but I
could already see him changing. He was working out on personal time to better his chances, and he was also going out of his comfort zone to interact with people. I considered him a friend, I guess. Jim walked over to Joe, who was sitting. They guys around Joe all got up and walked away.

What the fuck, really? I thought.

Joe kept his head down until Jim kicked his foot to make him look up. The hall became silent. I could hear everything now.

“Look up at me, Reed,” Jim demanded.

“Now what?” Joe asked.

“I’ll tell you now what,” Jim yelled. “You were supposed to take over latrine duties for Charlie here.”

“Yeah, you told me to do that yesterday,” Joe said. “But you don’t outrank anyone, Jim, so have Charlie go do it himself like his DI ordered.”

Jim’s voice grew angry. “The problem with that is the Drill Instructor saw nothing was done
and now Charlie has to clean them all, the whole fucking base.”

“I can’t see how that’s a problem,” Joe snickered. “He’s a piece of shit so he’ll be in his element.”

Jim stepped back, while his groupies surrounded Joe. I couldn’t believe that Joe not only had the balls to stand up to them, but he also didn’t seem scared, either. What was I doing? Joe was about to get jumped, and I was just sitting there.

Fuck this! I stood up and quickly walked to the end of the hall. Some of the other recruits began to get up and follow me. I reached them at the same time Joe stood up to face them. Jim started with throwing a punch, which Joe easily blocked. He took Jim off his feet with a leg sweep. Four of the other six jumped on Joe and started punching. I rushed in and grabbed two of them by the backs of their shirts. I lifted them up with one arm each and tossed them over the mess hall table. The other two standing by were getting a beating from the fellow recruits who’d followed me. That left two on Joe.

He managed to push them off and get to his feet. I grabbed one of them and spun him around. He looked up at me in fear. My temper flared. I grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground. He struggled and began punching my chest. I barely felt the blows as I jerked my head back and threw it forward. I head-butted him square on his forehead and let him fall out of my hands. He dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. I turned my focus to Joe to go after the other one, but by then, he was already been taking care of business. He was definitely using what the Marines had taught him; he took down his opponent in a matter of seconds. The guy fell to the floor and Joe looked up at me.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I’m good. Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t help sooner when they started all this shit.”

That was it. We bonded, and it was the beginning of our brotherhood. From that day on. Joe and I were best friends and soon to become brothers in arms. It actually helped us in our training and exercises going forward. We became more aware of each other’s thoughts and therefore actions.

Now that graduation was in a few days
, and I couldn’t wait to see my family again. We had talked a few times, but it wasn’t enough, because we were so close, especially me and my little sister, Liz. I couldn’t wait to introduce Joe to Liz and my mom, Lisa.

“Bro, where do you think we’ll go after this?” Joe asked.

“I have no idea, man. I just hope we don’t get assigned to a shit duty.”

“What, like infantry?” he asked.

“No, I’d be fine with that. I just don’t want some administrative title.”

“That’s true. We didn’t just go thru all of this to end up getting that kind of job,” he said. “I just hope we get put in the same unit
, because my family would feel much better knowing you have my back.”

“Maggots!” a drill instructor yelled as he walked towards Joe and me.

We stood at attention and simultaneously yelled back, “Sir!”

“At ease,” the drill instructor said. “Listen up, candy asses. You think you made it to graduation in my beloved corps?”

“Almost, Sir!” Joe answered.

“Well, you’re not there yet, scum,” the drill instructor yelled again. “You think I don’t know what took place in the hall a while back? I know everything!”

Our faces dropped. Even though those douchebags had deserved what they got, we knew we were in for a world of hurt and worse, possible discharge. Joe stepped forward.

“Sir,” Joe started to explain.

“Shut your cock sucker.” The DI lowered his voice. “I don’t need an explanation. I saw everything. Hell, I was the one who covered for you both when those pussies were crying in the sick bay.”

“Thank you, Sir,” I offered.

“Don’t get weak on me, maggot. I did it because, out of all the potential Marines, only you and a few others manned up. I know what you both are getting into after boot camp because my brother is going to be your sergeant. I want to make sure he gets men like you behind him. Finish strong, boys. Finish strong.” He shook his head and walked away.

Joe and I just looked at each other with concern. “We’re going overseas, aren’t we?” he asked.

“I got your back, brother. Don’t sweat it.”

Two months passed. We graduated boot camp
, and I introduced Joe to my mom and sister. We both got to go home for two weeks, and we painted the town red. I wish I had known this motherfucker better back in high school because he was a lot of fun! I secretly hoped that he and Liz would have a spark, but it never happened. She barely paid attention to him. She did admit that she vaguely remembered him from school, but that was it. She was in her own little world at the time, and I didn’t spend as much time with her as I would’ve liked to. She wouldn’t say it, but I knew she was pissed at me for joining the Marines. She loved her country and respected the military men and women who served, but at the same time, she harbored resentment for the military for taking our father from us.

He was the reason I had joined. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. He had led a military life and ended up being a Navy Seal in the end. He died on a mission, along with most of his Seal brothers. His footsteps no longer interested me after boot camp, though; I wanted to lead my own life and be my own man.

Our two week getaway was over quick. Before we knew it, we were back on base and being assigned to our respective units. The drill instructor wasn’t bluffing; Joe and I were set in the same unit and we went through additional training together. We finally got to meet the drill instructor’s brother, Sargent Paul Thompson. In front of other commanding officers, we had to go by the guidelines, but other than that, he made us call him by his first name. He was a real down to earth guy. He loved his men, and he was hard on them in training to help ensure they’d be ready for whatever they were about to face.

Soon enough, we were done with our additional training and being shipped off. We were advised to say our goodbyes, which we happily did. Joe and I were off to fight the good fight.

Insurgents suck

Joe

The first few weeks after arriving in the Middle East had been quiet. We hopped from base to base, waiting for action. It gave us time to get to know the fellow brothers who were rolled into our unit.

It was like a whole different world over here. Most of the gunshots we heard were Marines training at our ranges. Other than that it was quiet, except for the occasional half ass sniper who rarely hit his mark and would be ferreted out before getting a second or third round out.

We were highly trained soldiers, especially compared to our enemy. Some of us took them as a joke, while others like John never underestimated them. I followed John’s beliefs because I trusted him and it made me feel safer. Occasionally, our base would take a rocket or grenade attack, mostly with little or no damage. After each one, I would always see John running over to make sure I wasn’t hit. John wasn’t only a brother to me; he was like some guardian angel. I think the whole unit felt the same way. He watched over all of us, and was always open to us when we needed to talk.

Sargent Thompson was the same way, which seemed to bring him and John closer. John was his point man for everything, which to most people would suck, but John looked at it differently. He knew the
Sarge trusted his judgment and knew he could rely on him, no matter what.

We began to lose track of the days. We were spending less time on base and more time trying to clean out towns of insurgents. The reality of war was hitting us more and more as we were losing men in our unit. We had all grown up watching movies of places like Vietnam and fighting soldiers of World War II. Our enemy back then was true soldiers. Hell, even the German soldiers followed the ‘rules of engagement.’ These animals would hide in buildings, use innocent women and children as body armor, lay IEDs anywhere, not knowing if it would be a soldier or a civilian stepping on it, fill cars with bombs and drive them into bases. We saw no honor in that. We saw no bravery. Our enemy was cowards and flat out animals.

After two months of clearing towns, we had to roll in about 15 Marines to cover our lost brothers. By then, we stopped being friendly. We were tired of the pain of losing friends. We didn’t want to know their names. We didn’t want to know anything about them. I think John and Paul were hit the hardest. They had both taken those men under their wings. To them, it was personal. John started going on missions with other units at times when our unit was back at base. He was changing, and it concerned me. I could see the pain in his eyes. He was taking everything our unit would unload and holding it inside, only able to talk to Sargent Thompson.