["Alina's Place" by Fredrik]
- Travis Williams: That morning, we loaded into the vehicle,
and I get tapped on the shoulder
and I got told that I need to bounce up
to the next vehicle.
I said, "Catch you guys on the flipside,"
and that was last thing I ever said to 'em.
Next thing I know, I just hear the loudest explosion,
and I see that's my squad's vehicle that got hit.
The bomb flipped it upside down
and ripped it completely in half,
and everything inside of it was just parts.
And we gotta wait for the chopper to come recover 'em,
so the guys from the rest of our platoon had to go out there
with blankets and cover up these body parts
so the dogs don't come and grab my friend's arm
and have a meal.
When I got back into our room for the first time,
it was just a mess, you know? [voice breaking]
We had to spend the next couple days
just packing all this *#*# up and mailing it home
to their families, mailing their letters
that they hadn't mailed and cleaning up the dishes
that they hadn't cleaned up, and there's dirty laundry.
It was all I had left of my friends,
and I knew when I got home
that I would meet these guys' parents,
their girlfriends and their brothers and sisters,
and it's hard because I feel guilty
for being the one guy left,
but I also feel a responsibility.
I'd better make sure that everybody knows
who these guys were, what these guys did, and you know,
I'm most proud of not blowing my head off by now.
It's just a whole lot easier if you're dead,
but that shouldn't be your tribute to your dead friends.
When they're looking down on you,
they don't want you to be living in the moment
that killed 'em.
You made it, you got home, you should honor their memory
by living the life that they didn't get to live.
["I Want to See You Fly" by Christopher Bowen]
Squad leader Justin Hoffman, team leader David Kreuter,
team leader Brett Wightman,
team leader Aaron Reed, Lance Corporal Eric Bernholtz.
Lance Corporal Michael Cifuentes.
Lance Corporal Edward August Schroeder.
Lance Corporal Timothy Bell, Lance Corporal Grant Fraser.
Lance Corporal Nicholas Bloem, Lance Corporal Christopher Dyer.
*