The Gun Line MkIII

I’M HOME!!!

That’s it:  Mission Accomplished.  End of Mission.  Rounds Complete.

I’m home…  No more soldiering for Sergeant B.  It’s over…

Or is it?

It was once thought that once a soldier had returned from whatever war he/she was fighting, that everything would go back to the way it was, as if nothing had changed.  We now know that that is not the case; the experience of warfare changes a person, regardless if they were on the front lines, eyeball to eyeball with the bad guys, or sitting in the Command Post listening to comrades dealing with what they had to deal with on the roads of Iraq…

Now that I am back in my home town, I am slowly getting myself used to the idea of being in a place filled with the verdant scenes of greenery.  Where the cars are not expected to suddenly explode.  Where the folks I bid farewell in the morning can reasonably be expected to return at night, there not being the threat of IEDs on the side of the road.  Where I can read the street signs and billboards.re I will have to find useful employment and get on with the living of life outside of the tan and dusty environs of Iraq.

As the deployment passed, I had the time to ponder my life.  I had the time to look at myself forthrightly and honestly, and resolve that this deployment would be a turning point, a synchronization of the different influences in my life.  When this train of thought settles and clears, I will expound further upon it.

There are also kudos to be given:  The support shown by folks willing to provide comfort to a deployed soldier was humbling and gratifying.  The stalwart efforts from unlikely sources deserves mention.  The efforts of both organizations and individuals must be mentioned in its own post, which is quickly forthcoming.

And I will keep you appraised on this part of the journey:  Of the recovery and reintegration.  Of lessons learned personally, and of opinions on the effectiveness of our activities in Iraq, as seen my my own eyes.

I will share with you the sights and sounds of my deployment, and beg you to keep in your hearts the knowlege that there are still brothers and sisters over there, in harm’s way, who continue to need your prayers and support as they ply the dangerous avenues of Iraq, though those very avenues are beginning to become less perilous, and we can begin to see the end of this portion of our Great War on Terror.

Stay tuned, dear readers, the Adventure Continues…

But for now, I am home, safe and sound, with all of my pieces and parts intact.  By the grace of God, my eyes did not see the horrors of war.  I was never required to Pipe a brother or sister to Glory – the Highlander Battalion suffered no fatalities – we brought ‘em all back alive…

Sgt. B.

Rockford, WA