Unspoken Abandonment by Wood Bryan

Author:Wood, Bryan [Wood, Bryan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3 – Welcome Back

After reading my journal for the first time since it had been written, the memories came rushing back. Some had never faded, but others, more minor details, had managed to crawl into that spot in the back of my mind where they could have remained hidden forever and never given another thought. I sat crouched on the garage floor, tears rolling down my face, remembering those details that had long been forgotten.

Every Day, I had written in that journal until I stopped writing one random day for no specific reason. I originally decided to keep the journal to document and remember what I thought would be the most incredible adventure of my life. Instead, it became page after page of details that I knew I would trade anything to erase from existence. So one day, I just decided to simply stop writing.

Several weeks after I stopped writing, I was injured in Afghanistan and flown home to recover. My injury was not terrible, but it was bad enough that I knew my time in combat was complete. Although my days in Afghanistan were behind me, my next battle was about to begin.

I arrived in Fort Drum, New York about four days after leaving Afghanistan. I was now assigned to a medical recovery battalion for the purpose of recovering and going through physical therapy. My equipment and gear were still with my unit in Afghanistan, and I had only one uniform and one set of boots. My instructions directed me to the battalion’s Sergeant Major for assignment and further orders. I wish I could remember his name, but it has long since escaped me.

“Specialist Wood reporting as instructed, Sergeant Major,” I announced as I entered his office.

“At ease, Wood. Welcome back home, son.”

“Thank you, Sir. It’s certainly nice to be back.”

The Sergeant Major gave me my next order by saying, “You’re going to be assigned to Company A. The First Sergeant there will get you squared away, and he’ll make sure you get what you need.”

I thanked the Sergeant Major and asked for directions to Company A. The Sergeant Major handed me a map of the base, and he quickly penned a circle around the area where I needed to go. “Head over there, and they’ll take care of you.”

Thankfully, I was able to get my car from home before reporting to Fort Drum. Having a vehicle on base made life much easier.

I drove through the densely forested areas of Fort Drum, making my way toward my temporary new home. I had the windows down, and I took deep breaths, taking in as much fresh air as possible. The air was clean and smelled so refreshing as it filled my lungs. It was such a stark contrast to the dank air in Afghanistan that I realized I had almost forgotten what clean air even smelled like. My experience at Fort Drum had so far been very simple, and I was optimistic for the future. That is, until I arrived in Company A.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.