Alwaysawarrior

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MY BATTLES ARE STILL FOUGHT NIGHTLY

Many think that when your war is over it's finished
The war may be over but our own battles still rage on
Inside of us who were there and fought we know this

The first week or two your fighting for your own nation
Then you realize your fighting to save your own brothers
And finally you see you are fighting just to survive it

Each day and night you know that a bullet may find you
That shrapnel from a rocket or mortar can rip you apart
You dare not once think or dream of getting out alive

For that would be tempting fate and no one wanted that
So you struggle on fighting to survive your tour of duty
Hoping and praying to God the next round won't find you

Then suddenly one day your name is called out very loud
Your Sargent tells you to pack your gear your going home
At first you can't believe the words he shouted out to you

As the sun was setting I stood by the runway with my gear
My emotions ran high as we all said good bye to each other
For these were my brothers and now I was leaving them all

I couldn't believe that I had survived a year in that hell
But instead of being happy I felt terrible for leaving them
As though I was running away when they still needed me most

The aircraft's engines roared to life as I threw my gear in
The load-master grabbed my hand to help me climb on board
As we headed for the runway I saw my buddies waving goodbye

Suddenly I became very ill and threw up in a nearby bucket
I apologized to the load-master for having lost my dinner
He reassured me he understood why saying you survived man

I became aware quickly that even though my war was now over
That it really wasn't as battles were still fought nightly
And they still are even today some forty seven years later

© Terry Sasek - Alwaysawarrior - all rights reserved.

No one ever told us as we trained for and eventually fought
in our war that even though we might survive it and we made
it back home, that the war would follow us back home too and
that each night those battles would be fought over and over
again and never end until the day we leave this earth. It has
been said by each generation that war is hell, but unless or
until you have survived one you have no idea at all just how
scary and evil hell can be here on earth. I saw a large patch
that was sewn on the back of a veteran's jacket that had read
"When I die I am sure to go to heaven because I have spent my
time in hell". And unless you were over there too, you have no
concept at all just how true that statement is to every combat
veteran who has fought for the freedom of their nation or for
the freedom of the innocent victims whose nations were at war.

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MY BATTLES ARE STILL FOUGHT NIGHTLY