- Text Size +
“How many hours are going to pass before we get out of this hanger?” complained Nick as he squirmed on the floor.

“Man, I know they said that it could be up to 48 hours, but I didn’t really think it was going to be that long.” Replied Brian.

The 48 hour mark was nearing and the guys were still laying around in the hanger. Looking around at all of the unfamiliar faces, some showing pain and sadness while others showed eagerness, the feeling that surrounded the men was a feeling of uncertainty.

It was nearly impossible for them to imagine what they were about to face. Was it as bad as they feared? Or maybe was it not as bad as the media made it seem. Whatever the case, it was completely unchartered territory for them. They would never say it out loud, but all three of the men had never been as scared as they felt at that moment.

A few minutes later a very tall, very intimidating man stood in the center of the room. It was like a silence fell over the room. You could have heard a pen drop. The man began speaking and the men in the room hung on to every word that escaped his mouth.

“Everybody on your feet.” He instructed sternly with a voice as intimidating as his looks. “Gather your bag and form a single file line. You all are about to start a new chapter in your life. You are no longer a lawyer, engineer, carpenter, or freaking drive through employee. You are now an Untied States Soldier and today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

“You are about to board a plane and head into Kuwait.” He continued. “Once you arrive in Kuwait, you will spend a few days taking it easy and become acclimated. I am warning you now, it will be very hot. Most of you have probably never faced this kind of heat. So right now don’t worry about fighting, worry about preparing yourself for 130 degree heat.”

AJ and Nick looked at each other. That kind of heat. Nick was sure that he would be dead within a day or two. He has never been able to handle heat. Yea sure every once in a while it got really hot in venues, but never had it gotten that hot. And they were expected to run around in the fucking desert with that type of heat? “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He whispered to AJ. “That is fucking insane.”
“Man I would kill for a drink right now.” AJ replied putting his head in his hands.

“Man me too….wait you aren’t drinking again are you?” Nick asked with a little panic in his voice.

“I have had a few drinks since I got the news, but nothing serious.” AJ admitted although he did kind of sugar coat the amount that he had been consuming. He figured that he wouldn’t be able to drink in the Middle East, so it wasn’t like he could really go back to an old habit.

“Be careful with that man. I know you say it is just a few drinks, but it is really easy for it to become more.”

“EXCUSE ME!!! Is there something that is so important that you have to talk about it right now? Maybe it is something you would like to share with all of us?” The uniformed man asked Nick.

Fumbling over his words Nick replied, “Ummm….no…sorry I was just…Ummm…”

“That is what I thought.” The man pulled his gaze away from Nick and back out into the crowd. “Keep it moving, get in the line.”

The room became hectic as the men formed a line to board the planes. As the three of them moved closer to the plane, they handed off their bag it be loaded and then took one last look around. This would be the last time they would be standing on American soil for six months. Taking a deep breath the men said one last goodbye to the home and stepped onto the plane.

They had been in the air for four hours and already Brian found himself missing home. He was so afraid of missing the next 6 months of his family’s life. So much can happen in six months. What if Leigh Anne meets someone else? How would he handle coming back home to find out he had been rejected? He knew in his heart that Leigh Anne would never do anything like that, but the thought lingered in his mind. How much would Bayleigh change in six months? How much would home change? All of these questions just continued to go over and over in his head, and he could feel depression creeping over him.
Nick stared out of the window looking out over the ocean beneath them. It would be six months before he could put his feet in the ocean again. Anybody who knew Nick would know that the water is Nick’s world. He feels at peace on the water. No matter how bad his life gets, he can always depend on the water to calm him. Now he was going to be in a desert for 6 months, without the ocean, without his boat, without the greatest love of his life. How was he going to deal with conflict? Without the soothing waves of the ocean, Nick wasn’t sure if he could.

AJ tried his hardest to sleep. However, sleep didn’t seem to come along very easy. All AJ could think about was how badly he needed a drink. He knew that if he had some alcohol that it would calm his nerves. He also knew that he wouldn’t be getting it anytime soon. He absentmindedly began biting his nails. It was a nervous habit that he had picked up since he quit drinking, and right now he felt he could probably chew off his fingers. He looked around and felt that the majority of the people were comfortably sleeping, but he sat fidgeting in his seat.

After 17 hours and a layover in Frankfurt, Germany they finally arrived in Kuwait. Stepping off the plane the heat hit them hard in the face. It was 3:30 in the morning and already the temperature was over 100 degrees. They three men made their way to their assigned sleeping quarters to go to sleep. The reality was finally hitting them. They could no longer deny the fact that they were truly going to be fighting in a war. Fighting for their lives, fighting for their family’s lives, fighting for their country.