For all Veterans of War
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The last speaker was finally coming to the podium, this was who we had all been patiently waiting on. A few months ago we had been in a major battle and casualties had been extremely heavy on both sides. We were all still coping, dealing with the loss of our friends, our brothers in arms, men that we would have given our own lives to save. We also remembered those that we had killed, too many to count. It had been hard at first to take a life, then we became indifferent, in the end, we were all wanton killers just looking for a next target. Could we ever enter back into a normal life?
Our commander started out slow, and the audience leaned forward to hear. It was like the beginning of the battle, a shot here or there in the distance that grew louder and closer and became more intense with every breath. He told of the shock of war, the fog of battle, the smell of death, and the sounds of the dying. He held nothing back even as we heard gasps from the audience at the reality and truth in his words. As he spoke it all came back to me, I had been shocked by a mortar shell that had landed near my position and was sitting there mentally unconscious but my eyes were open and I was seeing the battle raging all around me. It was like I was there but paralyzed. Captain Mitinger (Mighty Mite) grabbed a strap dangling from my body armor and slammed me up against the perimeter wall, his eyes locked onto mine and I snapped out of my funk, he lifted my rifle into my hands and simply said, find a target son as he was walking away seemingly impervious to the bullets and mortar rounds impacting all around us. How many did I kill that day? I had fired hundreds of rounds, but could only count two that were for sure kills.
Back to reality, the Mighty Mite was making it real to the mixed crowd of military and civilians. Our family members were there to see us receive our medals and awards, if they knew the whole truth would they be as proud of us as they seem to be right now? What would they think if they could see the carnage and the devastation? What did I think of myself? I was certainly proud of the members of my Company, I loved each one of them. But could I ever love myself, could I live with what I had done and what I had seen? Captain Mitinger was adding his closing remarks, his eyes scanning the audience as if he wanted to look each individual right in the eye and wake them up like he had done for me not so long ago. Then he looked over to us, the men who had fought for him, and with him. And he said these words; "Our day is done and the dust of battle has settled over the land, now mixed with the blood of our dead. Soon the wind will blow that dust away, and it will rise up high into the sky, and fall back to earth again with the cleansing rain. There to once again be brought to life in one form or another. These bodies that we dwell in came from the earth and they will return to the earth, so let us remember our fallen by honoring the living, and by praising the one who gives life even to the dust of war."
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**Disclaimer: I often use the freewrite prompt to tell a story instead of doing a pure freewrite, so they sometimes take longer than 5 minutes and usually have some editing. But I try to do my story straight through at one sitting without any unnecessary breaks.
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Free for use photo by HG-Fotografie
Over 20 Club Graphic by the ever so talented @fireawaymarmot and personalized for me by @snook
Old' Steem by the most wonderful @snook
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Prompt: speaker
Set your timer for 5 minutes.
Start writing
Use the hashtag #freewrite
Publish your piece (include a link to this post if you wish)
Copy and paste your URL into the comment section of the prompt post.
Or, if you don't want to publish your freewrite, just copy and paste as a comment under the prompt post.
If you don't know what a freewrite is, here is a link to the introduction post.
Thank you @mariannewest
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So sad and beautiful at the same time. I can't even begin to imagine what our vets have gone through and continue to go through. I always give thanks to our vets and all men and women that I see in uniform. God bless each and every one of you! Tip!
Amen!
Beautiful, what a fabulous #freewrite @deaconlee I enjoyed this story.
Not only the battles we live through but the afterwards as well. For some, they never recover. Thanks for airing this subject.
Damnit @deaconlee. You have done it again. You have managed to make me feel the feelings that I have been trying to repress. This is an amazing story of the regret and sorrow that we soldiers feel and live with.
I just finished my first 5 minute freewrite, but didn't see this prompt, so mine is a funny story. I look forward to participating more in the future.
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@derangedvisions/my-first-5-minute-freewrite-entry-cats-aren-t-as-cool-as-dogs
This is amazing. Seriously as I'm going through so many freewrites today, this brought tears to my eyes. You did so well at putting the emotion into words. I can not imagine what it must be like to go to war.
Thank you for sharing.
OOps, I forgot the prompt. :/
Also, today I am here in a rush of spastic, distracted thoughts to deliver Today’s Daily Prompt for the freewrite. Feel free to join us if you have the time and thank you for joining us today! It is such an awesome community to be a part of and now we have a new page with contests, new challenges and even more community:
Thanks for the "Prompt" delivery @byn, you are a shining star here on Freewrite and a huge asset to @freewritehouse! 👍
Thank you! You are so encouraging, I really appreciate you :)
Hi @deaconlee! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @whatisnew!
@whatisnew wrote lately about: Day 152: 5 Minute Freewrite: Tuesday-Prompt: Brand Feel free to follow @whatisnew if you like it :)
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