• I had a cousin who was killed in Iraq two years ago. He died saving his squad mates, and for our country. I believe that sometimes we forget about the men and woman of our armed forces. These brave people give their lives day in and day out to protect the liberties and freedoms that we take for granite. I was proud that he fought for our country and what we stand for. I wrote this peace in his honor and for all the men and women who have fought and died for this great nation and the ones over seas still fighting for our freedom....thank you.



    Just another day in paradise

    I stood by the Humvee waiting for our next order eating and MRI, Mac and Fred were beat -boxing for fun, Axle aka “The Ghost” was sitting on the hood cleaning his M-21 and our CO was in the HQ getting our orders. I was starring at a picture mom sent me, the picture was of me and dad on one of our family trips to the lake. I looked up and saw “Sarge” step out of the tent he face was grim.
    “I've got bad news boys ,gather around.” We gathered around the Humvee to listen to him.
    He scratched the stubble on his chin and sighed.
    “We just got word that a convoy of troops was ambushed just a couple of clicks southwest of here and we've lost all contact with them . Now as far as we know their still alive.”
    “So what do they want us to do about it Sarge?” Mac asked.
    “They want us to go in and find any remaining soldiers that are still alive.” There was silence for a moment until Axle spoke up.
    “It's no good Sarge if we go in there they'll ambush us and we'll end up just like them.” The others including me agreed, we all knew what enemy insurgents did to soldiers when they captured them.

    Sarge nodded. “I understand how you boys feel about it but we can't leave them to rot like that.”
    “Sarge is right.” I said. “If it were us they would do the same.” Slowly the others nodded in agreement.
    “Alright then Mac your driving, Fred your on the gun, Sam you and Axle are in the back, and I'm riding shotgun.” We all pocked our gear and started to get in the Humvee when Sarge looked at me and said. “Get a medic kit in case we need to patch someone up I nodded and went back to the medic bay to pick up a first aid kit and anything the doc's told me to take along. I got back to the vehicle and piled in with the others. Normally we were chatty as canaries on our way to the target area. But for some reason no one wanted to talk, not even Mac who was the big mouth in the group.

    When we arrived at the sight we found the convoy was trashed. Several soldiers were lying on the ground next to the convoy. We got out and took a look around being very cautious of the area.
    “Axle.” Sarge said. “You and Fred scout the area, Sam you and Mac check for survivors.” We got to work instantly. Axle and Fred were gone in an instant, Mac and I found a few wounded so we started patching them up. We got them in the Humvee when Axle and Fred came running hard from the West through the alleyway.

    “Get in the Humvee!” Fred shouted. “Insurgents coming fast and their mad!” I looked at the area there were still several wounded soldiers we needed to tend to.
    “Sarge we can't just leave these guys behind.” He nodded and sighed.
    Fred you, me, and Axle are going to set up a perimeter so we can give Mac and Sam some time to get these guys into the Humvee.” The guys got the Humvee in front of us and got a few plastic barriers that were lying in the street so it would give us cover. We were patching up the second to last man when we heard the sound of an Arabic yelling from the West just as Fred and Axle said they would come from. Then suddenly there was a single shot. I knew it was Axle's rifle by the distinct sound it made when it fired. An explosion hit just twenty yards behind me.
    “Here they come!!” Yelled Fred. Then came the sound of AK's raining fire on us and the sound of the M-249 SAW and M-16's ripped through the enemy line. I could hear the men screaming in pain as the bullets ripped through their bodies.
    “Hurry up you guys!” Sarge shouted. “ Were going to get over runed soon!”
    “Were almost done!” Mac shouted back. We picked the guy up and placed him in the Humvee. When a bullet ricocheted and caught him in the shoulder. He grunted in pain but ignored it and got the man inside. “Were all done let's go!!” I shouted. I pulled a few grenades off my belt and tossed them. We got in and took off like a bad out of hell. I could hear the thunder of the grenades as they exploded.
    “How many we got Sam?” Sarge asked.
    “We got four of them. We'll have to get them to a M*A*S*H unit soon we only patched them up enough so we could get them back.” He nodded and turned back to the window. I took a look around the Humvee Fred was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, Sarge was on the radio telling HQ we were on our way back, I went back to starring at the picture mom sent me and Mac was singing a happy little tune of his own. “It's okay, it's alright, it's just another day in paradise.” We looked at him laughing and joined in with him.