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The Homecoming
By: Kelly S. Rossi
The soldier got out
of his rack
This day won’t be
so bad he thought
Only a few more
weeks left in this deployment
Then I’ll be going
home
He thought of all
he wanted to see
And all he wanted
to do
Lets get this day
behind me
Soon I’ll be going
home
He got himself some
breakfast
Made the usual
remarks about the eggs
Then it was on to
the HUVEE for the day
For soon he was
going home
The patrol started
and found them all on guard
For the elections
were approaching
And people planned
to do harm.
The mission it was
simple
The task it was
clear
Get back to camp in
one piece
Because soon they’d
be going home.
The day was going
well
Almost to good to
be true
“Tomorrow’s gonnna
be hell” they thought
“But no matter what
we’ll get through”
Just a few more
weeks and we’ll all be going home.
It was the driver
that said it first
One of the last the
base camp heard
“Whiskey Tango
Foxtrot?!” as the horizon turned to haze
“No big deal, just
a sandstorm” was all the squad leader said.
“Well I guess the
POG’s were right”.
Just pull over and
wait it out
We’ll be home
before tonight.
The driver tried to
pull over
Though he really
couldn’t see
The roadside
dropped off
The canal was
pretty deep
As the HUMVEE
rolled over
It appeared they
would get home
The storm pass on
As other vehicles
did
Finally someone
spotted theirs
And called out for
them to “hang on”
The silence that
answered back made the truth of the situation clear
These five brave
soldiers had finally made it home
Now the waiting is
over
Their mission is
complete
Now the honor and
pleasure is theirs
For the reward is
twice as sweet
Since they made it
home.
In Honor Of Sgt.
Javier Marin Jr.
(1/21/76-1/24/05)
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