OdysseanPromise

 Another day in the desert brings another struggle for survival. Every day it is a matter of seeing sunset. Sgt.Allan's HMMWV sat last in the convoy today. It was not a great place to be. It meant that if the first vehicle was hit, he would have to drive through the most incoming fire, then again, the lead vehicle ran the greatest risk for getting his by IED's, and the middle vehicles had the greatest risk of being stuck. Basically, it sucked to run convoy. His squad had gotten a FRAGO to back up some Jarheads that got too deep in the shit in eastern Baghdad. The recent boldness of the insurgents had been astounding. He had not seen anythin

 Theirs was a romance of convenience. He needed an outlet for his sexual drive, and she needed someone who would make her feel wanted. Jennifer Lynder was the perfect girl in this aspect. She had long, straight brown hair and a dozen emotional scars from men who had done her wrong. Richard had intended, so earnestly to be another one of those men. He knew he was going overseas again, but he wanted one last cruel fuck. The night he met her at whatever shitty club he rescued her from would be the first night of several like them. They would fuck, over and over, several times a night. Each time was the same, but each time they did, it made

 When I returned from Basic Training, I thought I was going to be able to start my life over. I was wrong. When compared to the testosterone soaked sheets of the Basic Training barracks environment, civilian life is so tame. When I returned to my school, I returned to a different reality. It had been about three years now since September 11th, and the ashes of tragedy had raised a phoenix of leftist political bullshit. Now we were dealing with an entirely new issue in the war: Abu Ghraib. Stuck up, rich white kids tried to lecture about the dangers of “Neo-Colonialism” while at the same time chastising the American military for

 “You want to have a couple beers with us, pal?” The older of the two asked, raising a box of Coor’s lite in offering. “Uh, no thanks, I can’t,” I replied. My voice felt weak and childish. I watched them disappear into the woods sullenly. I watched as they passed the sign that clearly read, “no alcohol”, this warning was written, of course, right under the warning that read, “no trespassing after closing”, which could still be read in the waning light. On the night before we left, this was where I came to clear my head.     --- I laid in a cot and tried to think about home. Faces foggy

 The CD came in a beaten envelope with a terribly vague return address. When she broke the seal a few grains of sand fell from its prison of mail room adhesive. She dreaded playing the CD, not for fear of dire news, but for the pain of loss that these things always brought her. As she put the disc in her computer, she knew that halfway across the world, he was doing the same. The computer hummed, bringing the images to life. An image of a sun bronzed, dirty soldier in dingy ACU’s appeared. The whistle of a rocket was heard overhead. “Honey, I’ve been doing fine. I just wanted to drop you a line. We’re about to go i

My entire soul was shaking with each beat of my heart. It's just like training I tried to reassure myself as I slowly cleared the first room of the Iraqi household. As pointman, I was the first eyes in the room, and had to bear the responsibility that it entailed. It wasn't long before knocking down the elaborately carved front door that the women in the household began shrieking in terror. It was completely maddening, the pitch at which they screamed. It was so discordant that it was otherworldly. I refocused and pressed on. As I moved into the doorway of another room, I saw a tall Iraqi man, dressed in the traditional long white robes in