It is 0500 hours and the sun light just started to shine through Alex’s bedroom window. Alex is a 28 year old who has a well built body and very strict core values. The strict values come from his service in the United States Marine Corps. His well built body comes from all the hours of training in order to be successful in his USMC position. He is all about work and does not spend a lot of time with his kids. Even though he regrets not being there for his young family, he knows his work is very important for the future safety of his family and for other families. He is serving for the United States, after all. He is a pilot in the USMC and fly’s the Harrier. He loves this jet for many reasons. Alex likes that the Harrier has the ability takes off like a helicopter. This feature gives it the ability to land anywhere it wants to or needs to. The Harrier jet has massive automatic machine guns that shoot 100, 50-cal rounds a second. Another reason he likes flying the Harrier is the jet has a great rate of climb which makes it easy to get away from enemy jets.
Alex was just about to turn off his alarm clock when he heard the phone ring.
“Hello, how may I help you sir, mamm,” Alex answered.
“Captain you’re leaving for Afghanistan today,” Colonel Bradley replied.
“Okay. When are we taking off?” Alex asked.
“At 1500 hours you need to be at the base and at 1800, you’re taking off,” Colonel Bradley replied.
“Okay, sounds good. I will be there,” Alex replied.
Alex hung up the phone and went to wake up his wife. He was worried about what she would think about him getting deployed for the second time. He almost died the first time in air combat and now he has to go and do it all over again.
“Hey, honey. Get up I have to tell you something,” Alex said in a frantic voice.
“What is it? Who was on the phone?” Megan replied.
“That was Colonel Bradley and I get deployed today at 1500 hours,” Alex replied.
“What are you talking about…..? Again, you have to go serve in Afghanistan?” Megan yelled.
“Yes I do. Everything will be all right. Trust me I will be fine,” Alex attempted to reassure his wife.
Alex went out of the room and took the elevator down to the basement to get his stuff ready. He thought to himself, why do I have to go do this again? It’s not right. Other pilots should go and serve. But because of his deep respect for the military, he got the call to go serve so there wasn’t anything he was going to do to stop it. He got all of his gear together and thought, well I guess I’m ready to go and do this again. “Hey Alex, come up here.” his wife Megan said.
Alex went upstairs to see what Megan wanted despite his irritation for being interrupted in his thoughts. I need to get ready. Gosh damn, I have to leave for Afghanistan in 10 hours or so.
“Your family will be coming to the base today to say their good-byes. I just wanted you to know that,” Megan said.
“Ok thanks for letting me know,” Alex replied back.
Alex went back downstairs and got his uniform on. He had so much going through his head that he did not know where to start. The main thing that was going through his head was what would happen to his family if he died? Would they be okay without him there? He couldn’t start letting these thoughts go through his head. He would have to trust that all was going to be okay and he was coming back home safely.
The time had come for him to leave. He loaded up his Toyota Tundra and left for the base. His family followed in the Honda Odyssey. He turned on the radio and his favorite song came on. American Soldier, by Toby Keith. He loved this song so much. He started to sing along.
I’m just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything and everyone,
As he song more and more of the song his emotions changed. He knew that this could be the last time he would see his family. He came back once okay but there is always a chance he might not make it this time.
He continued to sing the song he loved so much.
Oh, and I don’t want to die for you,
But in dyin’s ask of me
I’ll bear that cross with honor,
Cause freedom don’t come free,
As the song ended he got to the Marine base and saw his Harrier jet that he would be flying. It was his favorite jet. From his name on the side to his name embroidered in the cockpit, it was amazing. He parked his truck and went into the base camp to get his air mask and all the other stuff he needed to get ready. He came back outside and loaded up his jet with all the equipment that he needed.
He climbed back down the stairs that led to his jet. As he got to the bottom, his family started to scream good luck messages. He turned and walked over to say good-bye to them all.
His dad wished him good luck and to come home safely. His mom was next in line and, again, reinforced to be safe and to get his job done. “We will be waiting for you to come home,” His mother said. It went right down the line from there, to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, then lastly to his family. He kissed his daughter and then his son. He was just about to kiss his wife when he heard in his head set.
“Guys we need you in Afghanistan ASAP. Let’s go!!”
Alex ran to his jet thinking what the hell is going on. He jumped up the stairs and hopped in the harrier with his co-pilot right behind. They hooked up the air and buckled their seat belts. Alex started to move the harrier to the runway. He thought, why would they would say that? They know we are on our way.
“Harrier 2576, you got clearance for takeoff; go when you’re ready,” Control tower said.
“10-4 control,” Alex replied.
The jet was about 50 yards away from the run way when he heard in his headset,
This is base again, Harriers have a safe trip. Cya when you get back.
“Hey Captain, why would they say that in our head set? They know we are coming over,” Co-pilot Rick asked.
“I know the just what you know. You heard the same thing as me,” Alex replied back through his head set.
“10-4,” Rick replied.
“Harrier 2576, when you get to Afghanistan you need to shoot down any planes you see. You know the orders from last time and they have not changed,” base told us.
“10-4 that is understood,” Alex repeated.
Gosh damn, he thought, we have to shoot down every plane again.
One day later, as the jet flew closer and closer to Afghanistan, he kept on thinking what the command was. Gosh he knew if he saw a plane he will have to shoot it down. Even if it was filled with innocent people.
He looked down at his radar and saw he was 15 miles southeast of Afghanistan.
“Any plane you see from this point on shoot down Rick. You understand?” Alex asked
“Yes sir,” Rick replied.
He kept on flying the jet around. He changed altitude and speed so it would be hard for the enemies to shoot him down. He looked out of the left side of the jet and saw three enemy jets flying right to him.
“Rick, to your left, shoot them down now!!, Alex yelled through his headset.
“Got it,” Rick yelled back.
Alex took the jet straight up. His heart started to race. What if he misses, or if they shoot and hit us? We will be dead. He looked down and saw parts of the planes flying through the air. It looked like asteroids flying through the air. It was amazing that he shot them all down.
“Rick nice work!”
“Thanks man.”
His heart was still racing even though the jets were gone. God, he thought this is a rush. That could have been the end of me.
“Hey Harrier 2576, how much gas do you have left?” Base asked.
“Base we are getting low, we need to refuel now,” Alex replied.
“Land at the army base and refuel then,” Base replied.
“10-4,” Alex replied.
He flew, turned the jet around and started to head towards southwest Afghanistan where there was a makeshift army base set up. He knew the Harrier would have to land like a helicopter because there was no run way to land on. Gosh, I hope there are people on the ground that can refuel my jet quickly. He found the base and called in for clearance. As he got the clearance he started to land. Wow, he thought, this jet is amazing that it can land like a helicopter. The jet finally hit the sandy soil of the desert. Sand was flying everywhere because of the jets. He turned off the jets and hopped out of the jet. He thought boy I’m happy I’m not a army soldier. It would be terrible to live on a base like this.
“Alex when you get done refueling your jet, you can head towards downtown Kabul. They are heading that way,” Base replied.
“10-4,” Alex replied.
The Army people refueled the jet and they were back on their way.
As they got back into the air, they saw bullets coming towards the jet.
“Rick, shoot them down, quick!!, Alex yelled.
“10-4,” Rick replied.
As Rick started to shoot, Alex heard a bullet hit the side of his jet. He thought this is it, I’m done. I will die for the country that I love. A few seconds later he heard another one hit but this time it was not the plane it was the windshield and then into Ricks shoulder and neck.
“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY. MAN DOWN, MAN DOWN, HEADING BACK TO THE ARMY BASE!!!” Alex yelled.
“10-4 Harrier 2576,” base replied.
He put the jet in full thrust and headed back to army base. So many thoughts were racing through his head. Will he make it or will he die? What will he tell Rick’s family if Rick dies? What will he tell his own family? What will he tell base? So many questions with very few answers he thought. He then heard what sounded like cheers in his head set but could not understand what they were saying.
“Base can you repeat that,” Alex asked.
“The president just made an order and he is taking 90% of the troops out in a month. And you guys are part of that 90%,” Base replied.
“10-4,” Alex replied.
Despite the fact that he should be happy that he was going home in a month, he needed to focus on getting Rick back to the ground and the medics. He hated to think that Rick could be dead, behind him, in the Harrier.
“Base we will be on the ground in 5 minutes with a wounded possibly dead soldier. We need medical help when we land,” Alex yelled.
“10-4 to Harrier 2576 they will be there,” Base replied.
He saw the base off in the distance and gained on it every second. He was going at speeds of 650 miles per hour. Rick’s life was hanging in the balance and every second counted.
Five miles out, four miles, three miles, two miles, and then one more mile. Alex turned the jet engines down and got ready to land. 100 feet, 50 feet, 25 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet down. As the jet wheels hit the sandy soil of the desert he turned off the jets and hopped out. The medical vehicles surrounded his jet and took Rick away.
Alex prayed that Rick would make it. God, I hope he makes it. Boy would it suck if Rick died.
Later that night, Alex wrote a note to his wife telling her the good news. He also put in it how he couldn’t wait to get back and play golf. Golf is one of Alex’s favorite hobbies. Right behind running. Alex is an exceptional runner and loves to run. He also told her how he is going to spend more time with his kids. He will be doing because he will be retiring from the USMC.
Later that night, he was given the devastating news that Rick did not make it. He was also asked if he would do the honors of flying Rick’s body back to the states. While he was so torn up about losing his co-pilot and good friend, he felt he should make this last flight with Rick. He knew Rick would do the same if he was the one who got killed. Two days later, he was flying back to South Carolina with Rick’s body on board and he was thinking about how he was going to miss being a USMC. He knew deep down that he was done with the military. He had his family to worry about and he wanted to be there for them. He was excited to see his kids and know he was going to be around and not getting shipped off every time the military needed him. He was thinking about what he will have to tell Ricks family about his passing. It will be so hard, he thought.
“Base this is Harrier 2576. We will be landing in 15 minutes. We also have a soldier on board,” Alex told base.
“Rodger Harrier 2576, you are clear for landing,” base replied.
Alex took the jet off of auto pilot and got ready to land. He lowered the landing gear in preparation for landing. He saw tons of people standing behind the gate waiting for him and Rick. The sad thing was Rick’s family did not know Rick had passed away. As the jet got closer and closer to the runway he eased up on the speed and lowered the jet in for landing. As the jet touched the ground, he could see a hearse drive through the gates that separated the civilians from the runway. He stopped the jet and turned off the engines. He thought finally we are home. As he hopped out off the jet he could hear his family waving from the other side of the fence. Then he saw Ricks family and his wife. They all broke down when they noticed he was not sitting behind Alex in the co-pilots spot. What will he tell them, Alex thought? How will they cope with it? They lost their son. Losing a child has to be the most horrible thing there is.
As his feet finally hit the ground, he went to the back of the jets where five more of Ricks closest friends in the USMC were waiting and Alex and the friends took his casket and loaded it into the back of the hearse. It was the hardest thing they have ever had to do. Why, he thought, just why does it have to end like this? Why does he have to die? This is not right. He then turned and walked in the direction of his family. He thought he could now finally get to spend time with his kids. He couldn’t wait. He got to the gate and he pushed open the metal door and walked through and hugged his kids and his wife. He loaded his stuff in the back of the truck and went home. Home, he couldn’t wait to be home.