Hard Times and Brotherhood

Most deployed Troops are faced with difficult circumstances just by nature of the fact they are deployed. They are away from their loved ones for months at a time, in dangerous, primitive conditions, mortars, IEDs, firefights. Meanwhile, life goes on back home: girlfriends leave, spouses cheat, mothers, fathers, grandparents, even siblings pass away, babies are born, children get sick, have accidents, graduate, learn to walk and talk. Loved ones are making memories while their Troops are half a world away. If they are lucky special events might be viewed on webcam. What gets them through? Their comrades. It goes without saying that they rely on each other to watch their backs during a firefight, to come to their aide during an IED explosion, and to bolster them when a buddy is lost or wounded. Their Battle Buddies become their family, the ones who are there when their family is not. The bond is strong. The casual observer might wonder about the things soldiers say to each other; the humor, the personal jabs, the seemingly inappropriate comments about death or injury. Laughing at each other and at their circumstances helps keep them sane when the world around them seems completely insane. And when things go wrong at home, their Battle Buddies are right there. The compassion and support Troops have for their comrades is like no other. I’ve witnessed this empathy several times among TB and his buddies. It’s touching to observe these tough, war hardened, sometimes coarse young men pull a friend up when he’s hit with bad news from home. They are what’s good about America.