The world war 3 was nothing compared to the others. I was there and saw everything. My name is James hart and this is my story.
I was packing while our transportation awaited outside in my driveway. I walked down the stairs and gave my wife a goodbye kiss. Seeing her tears stung a lot, but she knew I had to do this. It was tradition in my family, the men would go to war and i prayed to god that i would return home to my wife, Isabelle.
I walked out the door and got on our bus full of soldiers. I went through the bus, seeing every mans face content, but under that, fear, they were terrified about war and not knowing what to suspect. I sat in the back on the left and waved to my wife. After about an hour I fell asleep, probably because I was up all night wondering what tomorrow would bring. I awaken to the sound of shuffling. Everyone picking up their bags and getting off the bus. I did as well. We got off and went to a room with bunk beds.
A man with a jacket full of medals walked in and ordered us to line up. We dropped our bags instantly and lined up straight. He walked by all of us. He hesitated in front of me and kept walking.
“Good afternoon, boys, as you all may know I’m Sergeant Mike. I will be around and we will be going to war. Our enemies declared we got to war in a few days. I know its on short notice, but we only have a few days to get you ready. That means two days straight training and one whole day resting. Meet me in the back in ten minutes”. He turned his back and left.
We scurried to get a bunk bed, like kids, fighting over dibs on top. I grabbed a bottom one and set my bag on it so people knew it was claimed.
“Is this one taken”? A man asked tapping on the top bunk.
“No, its all yours”. I answered.
“I’m Francis”.
“Hey, I’m James”.
“Nervous”?
“Nope, you”?
“Don’t tell anyone but - uh, yeah, I'm scared s***-less”.
We both laughed and our ten minutes were up. We scattered to the back where Sergeant Mike wanted us to be. There was an obstacle course, I was always good at these, all throughout high school I would be the first one who would finish. I was actually excited about this, showing off my talent to prove to them, I am where I belong.
“Hello, pretty boys, it rained last night so its going to be slippery. There are 50 of you, the first 25 will be going to war. We need to win this war, so we need the best. The other soldiers have went through this, now its your turn. Make me proud”. Sergeant said, looking at every single individual.
We teamed up, teams of ten. The five on each team who won, would be going to war. I was with Francis and other guys. They looked like the kind of guys who were only here to be labelled a soldier so they could get the ladies.
Sergeant Mike blew his whistle and I was off. Francis and I won and so did three other in our group. As other teams won, we had to practice our aim with guns. When I was growing up, I would shoot birds with my pellet gun. I aimed the gun to the target, which was a figure of a man, I won that too.
The last two days were hell. Francis was going to war with me. We talked about it and somewhere in our conversation we dozed off.
The sunrise peeped into the cracks of the wooden shelter, which woke me up. I sat up and wrote a letter to my wife. Just in case I didn’t make it, I wanted her to read it and know that I thought of her. After five minutes of writing and thinking, Sergeant Mike came in and yelled for us to get up. We stood up in a straight line. He gave us our uniforms.
“Be careful out there, fight like there is no tomorrow”. He said with sympathy. We all got dresses within the minute. We got out equipment and headed for the battle field.
We got there and ducked down behind a big rock. Guns were fired from across the field. We fired back, threw grenades and bought in the tanks. Francis was beside me, throwing grenades and shooting.As i got up to shoot back, a bullet went threw my right shoulder, I jerked back from the angle I was shot from and three other bullets plunged threw my skin. Francis was by my side saying “Its going to be alright”.
“Give this letter to my wife, promise to give this to her, tell her i love her”. I said.
“Sure”.
I reached into my pocket, grabbed the letter and handed it to him. He instantly put it into his pocket. I began to get cold and was feeling tired. My eyes were giving up on me and I couldn’t fight my eyelids open anymore. I let the darkness take over.
Francis survived the war and was awarded with medals. He held onto my letter. After five months in battle field, Isabelle my wife, was hoping to see me. To tell me she was pregnant with my baby. Also that she was going to name him James Junior. Francis knocked at her door and was holding the letter tightly in his hand. She opened the door and the expression on her face changed quickly. She began to cry, knowing her James was gone.
“Isabelle, James wanted me to give this to you”. He said, handing her the note.
“Thank you”.
"He really did love you, ma'am".
"I know" She said smiling, but you could see the hurt in her eyes.
He left and she closed the door behind her. She walked into the hallway and unfolded the note.
“Hey honey, I just woke up, we should be leaving to war soon, I already miss you. I thought about you last night. I miss you beautiful blue eyes and your golden hair. You are my everything, Isabelle, you were the one who made me happy. I miss you already, jesus, my eyes are getting watery. I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU! If I come home or not, remember, I love you. I’ve never went on one day not saying I loved you, love always, James”.
Isabelle refolded the letter, held it to her heart, placed her free hand on her rounded belly and whispered "I love you too".