Here's one good thing about war:


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By now, Nate’s been in more firefights than he can remember, but only one stands out. Surprisingly, it’s not his Matrix dance outside of Muwaffaqiyah. In the light of day, Muwaffaqiyah feels like a dream or maybe a Hollywood movie; the memories are hazy as though they’re not his own ( Read more... )

Here's a non-comprehensive list of the possible ways one might meet an untimely end:

• shooting
  
• stabbing
  
• car accident
  
• drowning
  
• drug-overdose
  
• bomb
  
• blunt trauma
  
• second-hand smoke
  
• being stepped on by a camel
  
• poison
  
• choking
  
• critical parachute failure
  
• suicide

During wartime, about 99% of these are viable options.

In June, they’re told they’ll be going home ( Read more... )

The truth is most advice is bullshit ( Read more... )

Surprisingly, they are not awkward with each other afterwards. Nate lets himself get lost in the technicalities of moving the staging area. Later, he knows, this will be another worry, but right now, he feels numb ( Read more... )

On their last night in Baghdad, they’re billeted in one of Saddam’s soccer fields. Brad finds Nate beneath the southern bleachers. He didn’t even know he was looking ( Read more... )

It’s hard to be the guy ordering other men into combat.

It’s hard to be the guy watching someone else fuck up your life.

It’s hard.

But no one ever promised you it was going to be easy.

The first night in Baghdad, Nate lets himself breathe. All of his men are alive. They’re not exactly safe, but after the relative protection of open-top humvees, concrete walls feel like immortality ( Read more... )

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