The sands of the desert whipped across my face like souls of the lost and forgotten soldiers that had fought by my side only days earlier
As I say this now I realize that I am not so different
I am lost
I am forgotten
I search this hellhole for my saviors at the risk of discovering my destroyers
But then, I am much different from these souls
My heart beats on, though my brain begs for an end
I eat nothing and live off hope
Hope is my refuge now
I let hope engulf my body
I let it surge through me, willing my wary legs to take another step
However slow it may be
Hope hides the reality that I have known for so long
I will die here
Like all the other fallen heroes, I am doomed
Doomed by the lies and deceit
Doomed by broken promises
Promises of honor and valor
Given to us by the upper echelons of Washington
But they have not known war
We have all circumvented the truth that was so blatantly evident when we saw the destruction
The loss
The death
There is no honor
There is no valor
We have made an egregious mistake
To all the fallen heroes I say this: we were fooled. We were all fooled.