"I fear for you, my brother. Those words had just reached my lips. Until now, they had stayedhidden, lodged deep in the cavities of my heart and mind. I'm finally too scaredto keep the emotion in any longer, basically because I realize I don't know whatI would do if you were gone.

I watch you polish your boots, straightenyour pins and press your uniform. Everything must be perfect and somehow, I knowthe thoughts running through your mind. I must be ready, you think, for anything.It saddens me to watch the news now, because with every new scene, the dreadfulfacts of war draw closer. Why? I scream in my brain as I watch troops marchacross the screen, ready at the drop of a pin to fire their guns.

Everyso often, I get angry with you for the choice you made. The choice you made tojoin the Army, to risk your life. I think of my mother, and how worried she wouldbe if you were ever called to war. We would never know if you would come backthrough that door. Then my anger subsides. I look at you, so proud in theperfectly arranged green uniform and the real reason you chose to risk your lifecomes floating back to the surface of my logic. You did it for our country. In away, you did it for us.

I don't know if I will ever have to say good-byewith the knowledge that you might never come home. There is always thepossibility that the phone will never ring and the letter will never come callingyou to duty. However, there is also that lingering chance in the back of my mindthat you will leave us, to fight, and possibly, to die. That is why I fear foryou, my brother. I just love you too much.