Band of Brothers

Photo by Joel Rivera-Camacho on Unsplash

The names on this wall of all who were lost.

What were your dreams? What did you want to be when you grew up?

Young men of 18, 19, 20 years old and all the others who never were able to return home.

Did you have your first kiss? Did you get to see your siblings graduate? Did you tell your parents you loved them? Were you scared when you left?

What did you see in those wars? What violence did you have to witness, only to shove it down so you could carry on your duty? Was this duty something you wanted to do or something you had to do?

The sacrifice of so many that never returned home. Never got to be the fathers they always wanted to be. Souls left on foreign soil, never to walk in the land of the free.

Then there are the ones who came back. The ones who made it home, got hugged by their families. Got to grow up, got to be fathers.

Though they may be here in body, I would like to know, how many are still overseas? How many are still missing their band of brothers, still terrified by the things they saw and did?

How many are home but not at peace?

— Nicole Barden 4/14/2021

Originally published in Illumination on Medium