Bryan, US Army, Journalist
So, I got married before I left for Iraq. I was young, 19. During my deployment, I was moving around all over Iraq writing stories and taking photographs about our troops. On July 6th, I got a call from my father; which was weird because it wasn't a typical like, hey son, how are you doing? He had to go through so many different avenues to get ahold of me. He told me my wife had died in a car accident. I was at war and my wife was dead. I'm thinking to myself, you're not supposed to die. I'm supposed to die.
So, I flew home so I could identify her body or whatever. The trip home took like 16 hours in a C-17. I stopped in Amsterdam for a layover and just sat in the airport the entire time because I didn't want to miss the next flight. But anyway, I got home, and I buried her. While I was home, I found out she was cheating on me during my deployment with an Army sergeant. That was the icing on the cake.
The Army gave me an option. They asked, “Do you want to stay in the Army and go back to Iraq; stay in and at your base, or do you want to get out?” If I chose to go back to Iraq I would most likely be dead now.
I'm now 20, my parents were like get the fuck out. I was like, no, I'm going to go back. And I know what it was like, already being with my team. I mean, no, I'm not doing what my little voice says. I don't really want to go back but I feel the need to rejoin my team. My mom loved me, she was like, yeah, take it, take it, it's an honorable discharge. Get the fuck out of there!!
My mom was the person who got me into the military and out of the military. She signed the dotted line for me at 17. You know that? It's fucking cool. Yeah. And she's still here and she's still one of my best friends. There's nothing I can do without her. She's my fucking people.