The year is 2016. Joseph, a survivor of 9/11 follows his father's footsteps and enlisted in the military. Not long after, he along with two of his friends were deployed to Iraq among the ranks of some of the best American fighting men: the US Army...
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2018
Hunter's Air Force Base
Savannah, Georgia, USA
Sgt. Joseph Mueller
The sound of the plane's engine zoomed without pause in my ear. The cool air of the cabin brushed on my face, neck, and hands. Faintly I heard an announcer's voice... faint enough for me to not catch it. I was sleeping. On a long flight home from Iraq... all the way Stateside. It was the longest sleep I've had in ages. Amid the cool air touching my skin, another feeling came along. A gentle nudge on my right shoulder. A whisper in my right ear.
"We're almost there, Joe."
It's her. Cpl. Thompson, aka CT. My childhood girl-best-friend turned teammate, and possibly something more any time now. I flew to Iraq beside her sitting aboard the plane, and now we go back Stateside similarly. She rubbed her shoe on my legs. Not waking up yet, I just hummed peacefully. Trying to get more of my attention, she tugged the bottom of my ear.
"Yo. Earth to Miller. Touchdown in two minutes."
You're gonna have to do better than that, buddy...
And indeed she did. The tug on my ear disappeared. And suddenly I felt something slowly bore into my right ear. Quickly it changed to a tickle on my earhole.
"Ah!" I exclaimed in surprise. Yep, that got me awake, as I scratched my ear. I looked to her and she was just giggling.
"Morning, Joe," she greeted with a smile.
"Yeah... morning. We're home, C."
"My turn! Hahaha..."
Well, there she does it. Quickly she closed her eyes and leaned on my bicep. Her short blonde hair rubbed with the sleeve of my Multicam uniform. I did a quick headcount of my squad. Me, CT, Ramirez, Mitchell, Chang, Park, and Davis. They're all here. Still barely awake, except for Pvt. Mitchell sitting across me. Just watching with a slight smile. And went back to thinking of his girlfriend back home. I put a finger over my lips, and he replied with a nod.
Moments later, the cabin shook as we landed. The sunshine beamed into our cabin, as the plane's ramp door opened. Here we are. America. The land of the free, and the home of the brave. I pinched CT's nose.
"Aaaahhh... hey that's cheating..." she jokingly complained. She woke up.
We grabbed our bearings and stepped down the plane's ramp. There was a few hours where we had to assemble, get our debrief, and finally we're dismissed. There, our first tour is over. The clock showed 10 am. We walked out the air force base, and I looked around. My eyes caught upon the nearby sidewalks. A lot of uniformed guys are there too, making their way to the interstate bus station to catch their rides home.
