Coming Home

We three cheechakos were wondering if we'd died and gone to hell. The Company came in looking like death warmed over. The wind, subzero temperatures, lack of sleep had turned all the men into a form of zombie. We got really insecure.

The commander proclaimed a day off, us newbies pulled the duties while everyone else slept for nearly two days. There followed the cleaning of the stoves, drying of tents, and preparation for the post-operation inspection.

I met my squad leader, Staff Sergeant Salazar. He was a quiet professional type who went through my gear with a fine tooth comb. He nearly lost it, though, when he found the wool boot socks that my grandmother had darned. He had me set up my wall-locker and foot-locker displays. The amount of measuring, folding and polishing that went into that was absolutely astounding.