On Mission... "OIF 1"

In the heart of the desert, an APU spun...

...the sound of a new day, back in OIF I...

300 rounds loaded...and, engine cowling secured...

...a dust cloud is building...another Takeoff obscured...

Out of the FARP…my Wingman takes Lead...

..."110 Knots, Enroute”…toward our Brothers in need...

UHF internal, FM to the Ground - no coms to the rear... 

…my Blood Chit reminds me – 'bottle-up your fear'...

300 AGL…Flying North, along the Tigris…

…every flight uncertain…each mission, in-extremis.

Samarra…Mosul…into the Karbala Gap

…human Battle Scars...marked on a map  

Aircrews become family, no rank or pay-scales…

…Decisions we live with…as Hellfire's fly off our rails 

War was our teacher…less about tactics or strategy...

…in the birthplace of civilization…a hard dose of reality...

A special girl at home…and a bright future ahead...

…her photo on my kneeboard…and ‘a promise’ she said...

Not Heroism, or Valor…Survival the goal...

…For men shaped by war...we, may never be whole...

Just memories, now…war-stories few would believe…

…but, a small band of brothers...with Old Abe on their sleeve…