Sadness

Sadness
I met this guy today. He is a soldier in the unit that we are here to replace. He is a small man short and slim. He seems to smile sometimes but through a bitter sadness it seems. He eyes are sad as he walks slowly by. The work he does here seems to be meaningless to him but he is praised by all who know him. I made the mistake of asking why he seemed so sad all of the time. I did not ask him I asked someone who works closely with him and this is what I was told. You see he had a lifelong friend, a hunting buddy and just a true best friend. This friend was a member of the same unit as he is. One day last year this friend was tasked with the mission to escort a dignitary around the city of Baghdad. I understood that this was not the normal job of this soldier that he had been called in at the very last minute. They dawned all of the appropriate gear and headed out. They were driving an up-armored suburban. Then it happened out of nowhere came a crazed terrorists. I can only assume that this terrorist was like all of the rest, not afraid to die for a cause only known by a few in this country. This was it the test of a lifetime would they pass or fail. As the vehicle approached driven by this terrorist I am sure that he was warned to stay back but kept coming. This soldier new to this job acted appropriately either out of instinct or fear. Does it really matter which? The soldier put his vehicle in the way of the terrorist to ensure that the “target Vehicle”(the one with the dignitary in it) was not approached. When this was done and the terrorist realized that they would not be allowed to get any closer they blew up the vehicle. I was told that whoever had wired this one had done it right because the vehicle blew out not down like most of them do. The soldiers were killed instantly. The blast rolled the vehicle that contained the dignitary. Other than a little shaken the dignitary was okay. I just do not understand why anyone would want to put their lives on the line to tour the city, the ruins the obvious dangers involved had to be unsettling. None-the-less two heroes were born that day and Weed lost a lifelong friend. This sadness is now understood.