It was a hot, dry day in the middle of a desert town in Iraq and Steve and his squad was on patrol through the town of Al Miqdadiyah, with his best mate Doug at his side he lead the patrol through the middle of town. “Hey did you hear that the enemy are making advancements towards us? ” Doug asked nervously “I Don’t think this place will be safe for long” Steve chuckled “Relax its secure we’ll be fine, they haven’t been spotted within 50 km of this place” as almost as soon as the words left his mouth a bullet zipped past him and hit the Soldier behind him “OH S**T! , Duck in cover! they all dove for cover as bullets hailed down at them from the buildings ahead “did anyone count how many bogies!? ”
Steve screamed at his squad “No sir they pined us down to fast” a young private named Paul “ok…. we need to get out of the kill zone, half of us give covering fire and the other spread out as far you can” They did as commanded and half of the patrol suppressed the enemy long enough for the rest to spread out and find cover inside adjacent buildings and behind broken walls or in ditches, “alright now the other give cove… ” Steve was cut off by Paul “RPG!! Steve turned to face the missile racing towards the cover they were in “RUN! ” he screamed but it was too late the missile hit and exploded creating a cloud of debris and dust, Steve went to sit up and shoot’s of pain coming from his gut and chest…. he was hit by shrapnel and was bleeding out, he looked around to see his squad and saw that all the Soldiers in the radius of the blast were dead, including Doug his best mate since primary school, and Paul a 18 yr old boy who he promised he’d make sure he’d be going home to his family at the end of this mission.
As Steve lay dying with his squad and Best mate a memory entered his mind, the first day he and Doug talked about military service 5 yrs ago when they were both 17. “Dude The army is going to be so mad” Doug cried out in joy as he and Steve were walking home one day “I know I’m going to be an officer” Steve replied, “and maybe I’ll be your CO“he added mockingly “HA yeah I wouldn’t trust you to lead me across the road let alone through a battlefield”
Doug said with a laugh, then Steve spaced out and thought about that fact.. e was worried that he might not be a good CO and get his men killed, who all trusted him to lead them in and out of danger and through missions, and back home to their families but how could he know that he was going to make the right decision all the time, as this thought passed through his mind he Shuddered and shook off the worried thoughts about the great amount of responsibility he’ll have to face in the future, (he kept this worried thought with him for the rest of his life… hich as you know is very short. ) he turned to face Doug and said “I promise to lead you to safety and victory on the battlefield” jokingly then suddenly It all faded and a beeping was heard Steve had woken up in a hospital.
