The Warrior

Prolougue: Jake

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Hello All, I wrote this piece in 2016 for a history project and I had gotten very invested in it during the time I was writing it. It's only piece that I'm posting because I'm not sure some will like it, if it offends anyone I'll take it down but I don't think it would. Have a great day and please comment if you like it.

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When they asked me if the war was over, I would lie. The conflict felt never-ending. The war may end, but people who served in the war and fought with pride, sweat, tears, and faith which they carry like a battle scar in their hearts everyday. When I close my eyes and try to sleep I see everything that I lost, the faces of the men I killed to stay alive, and the men that became my family in those dread- fully long four years. I remember every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of my two friends who got their heads blown off by the Japs. Matthew Clark and Dylan Baker, who were my platoon brothers, and forever will be my brothers by heart. Dylan was young: just 17 years old. He had a lot waiting for him after the war. He told me while we were on lookout, camouflaged in the island trees.
" Hey Jake."
"Yeah?" I replied, looking at him. His face was filled with curiosity. Dylan had big brown eyes that just popped every time he talked to someone.
"Where do you see yourself in five years?"
" Well bud." It was a question I've never put too much thought into. I'm a young fella twenty three years old go- ing on twenty four. I never thought much about life after war.
" I see myself somewhere very far away from this island and its people. Maybe I'll sit back on a beach chair, feel the sand between my toes and watch the sunset while drink- ing an ice cold beer." Dylan looked at me, as if surprised by my answer.
"Well," he said.
"What about you?" I asked him.
" Me. I've got a lady back home. Her name's Sandy Brown. She's blonde with green eyes and is the best cook. Man, I miss the way she smells like cherry shampoo. I can't wait to get back home and marry her," he replied. Dy-When they asked me if the war was over, I would lie. The conflict felt never-ending. The war may end, but people who served in the war and fought with pride, sweat, tears, and faith which they carry like a battle scar in their hearts everyday. When I close my eyes and try to sleep I see everything that I lost, the faces of the men I killed to stay alive, and the men that became my family in those dread- fully long four years. I remember every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of my two friends who got their heads blown off by the Japs. Matthew Clark and Dylan Baker, who were my platoon brothers, and forever will be my brothers by heart. Dylan was young: just 17 years old. He had a lot waiting for him after the war. He told me while we were on lookout, camouflaged in the island trees.
" Hey Jake."
"Yeah?" I replied, looking at him. His face was filled with curiosity. Dylan had big brown eyes that just popped every time he talked to someone.
"Where do you see yourself in five years?"
" Well bud." It was a question I've never put too much thought into. I'm a young fella twenty three years old go- ing on twenty four. I never thought much about life after war.
" I see myself somewhere very far away from this island and its people. Maybe I'll sit back on a beach chair, feel the sand between my toes and watch the sunset while drink- ing an ice cold beer." Dylan looked at me, as if surprised by my answer.
"Well," he said.
"What about you?" I asked him.
" Me. I've got a lady back home. Her name's Sandy
Brown. She's blonde with green eyes and is the best cook. Man, I miss the way she smells like cherry shampoo. I can't wait to get back home and marry her," he replied. Dylan's face glowed with happiness speaking about Sandy as if she were the only thing he thought about in this war.
" Marry? How long have you've been together ?" I asked. " Three months."
" Three months? Isn't that a bit short to be thinking
about marriage?"
" Now Jacob. she's not any girl. She's the one, the only
one for me. We plan on having five kids and two poodles." You could look at Dylan and see that he really loved her. The way his voice sounded every time he said her name
was breathtaking. Like it was the only word he knew. " Ain't that something. How did you know?" "What do you mean?"
" Well. How did you know she was the one? Was it like love at first sight? Some romantic shit like that."
Shaking his head he says," Here man. You feel it right here. That's how you know." Dylan smiles at me and points to his heart.
Now if you asked me again if the war was over at the time I would say yes. Yes, because Dylan was able to go home and see Sandy and have the five kids he wanted with her, but that didn't happen for many of the men, and sadly It didn't happen for Dylan. They died while thinking about their families and the love of their lives.
*****
It wasn't until after the Japanese signed the unconditional surrenderance on the USS Missouri that I thought about what Dylan said to me about " Just knowing." When I saw her It wasn't love at first sight. It was more like hate and love at the first sight. I felt drawn to her. I wanted to know why she had so much anger in her. I wanted to know why she was so close to the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito. It was later when I was back on base in Tokyo that I came to realize that I just knew it had to be her.