WHEN A SOLDIER RETURNS FROM WAR

When a soldier returns from war, he finds it hard….

… to listen to his kids whine about there not being anything to watch on TV… when he spent 20 months watching the same movie over and over again and was HAPPY just to watch commercials on TV again when he returned from the war!

… to keep a straight face when people complain about the traffic, pot holes and road construction… when he just spent a year and a half being transported like cattle on a train and was ecstatic just to DRIVE his own truck again when he returned from the war!

… to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work in the morning… when he had to get ready for work by getting up at 0330 walk 50 meters to take a cold shower and do his business in an outhouse and put back on the dirty uniform he had been wearing all week and be so happy to be able to get ready for work in his OWN bathroom every morning when he returned from the war!

… to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night’s sleep… when he literally slept on a canvas cot with nothing more than his sleeping bag that never got washed for a year to keep him warm and was thankful every night he slept in his own warm clean bed when he returned from the war!

… to be silent when people pray to God for a new car… when he knew that his own family prayed to God for his safe return and he thanked God for listening to their prayers when he returned from war!

… to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying… when he saw his fighter pilots with dread, fly off into danger day after day, night after night for over a year and was grateful that they all returned from the war!

… to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they’re afraid to send their kids off to summer camp… when he was sent off to a different kind of a camp and didn’t know if he’d ever see his kids again and thanked his lucky stars that he did return from the war!

… to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather… when he LIVED in 120 degree weather for a year and lost over 30 pounds that his family did not recognize him when he returned from the war!

… to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold… when he had to stand in line for two hours every evening with hundreds of soldiers for his cold dinner that consisted of three portions the size of a serving spoon and he’ll drink cold coffee anytime because he returned from the war!

… to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog when… he realizes that the year spent away from her was so that she CAN complain about having to walk the dog and not have to see or experience what he left behind when he returned from the war!

… to be civil to people who complain about their jobs when… he saw poverty beyond comprehension and Afghanistan people with no jobs blowing each other up so that they could clean the FOB outhouses for a few US dollars a day and wishes that they would just appreciate that they HAVE a job and did not just return from the war!

… to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year when… he thinks of his one year vacation away from his family compliments of the good old USA to a war torn country, and was allowed to return from the war!

… to be happy for a friend’s new hot tub when… he wishes for a moment that friend experienced what he experienced in the last year and it was him with the new hot tub and his friend, instead, returning from the war!

… to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house when… he missed almost two years of his kids lives and can never get those years back and has to start all over again with them when he returned from the war!

… Not to punch a wall when someone says we should pull out immediately when… he knows that THE WAR WILL NEVER AFFECT THEM THE WAY IT DOES HIM and their comment makes him think how much longer he has with his family before he HAS to return TO the war!

The only thing harder than being a Soldier is loving one because WE KNOW what “HARD” is too!

©Copyright November 27, 2007 by Irma S. Chambers