"Dancel died. He got blown up or something in Falluja. I heard it from Guyer over Myspace." And so it was relayed to me yesterday outside the chow hall.
Surprise and disbelief, common as they are, were my first response. But, then again, I thought, in this line of work it's not that surprising of news. After all, just because our slice of Iraq has gone quiet doesn't mean that everywhere has.
And so I thought of Dancel and all those other guys I endured 14 weeks of Basic with back during a time that seems to far away, so removed. They were all good folks. And no one should really die far away from home, from friends and family in country not their own.
Hours later and by sheer chance, I lucked into Guyer while exiting the MWR trailer. It's been over a year since I last saw him. He repeated the news about Dancel. And told me that White Jones had died in a car accident. And then there was that guy that slept next to Deacon. The one from New Hampshire that looked like Tony Hawke. Yeah, he got out because of drugs and overdosed and died.
Neither of us could remember his name.
Yet it came to me this morning - Donovan. A good young kid from New England that would have been a great soldier if he'd stayed clean.
Dancel, White Jones, Donovan. That's 3 from our Basic Training platoon. And I have to wonder if there's been more.
Here's to you, gents. G-d speed.
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2 comments:
Sorry to hear the news buddy. Hope you're still doing okay in the Sandbox. We are eagerly awaiting your return and reporting to duty in the Big Apple.
That is horribly sad. I second Mr. Smith's thoughts. We're glad you're safe and almost home.
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