A friend from basic, Grant Chapa, wrote this while in Iraq.
“Ive been in Iraq about 8 months now and I’m getting ready to go back to the states. In the time that i have been here, i have learned a lot of things, one of which being that life is a gift that we all too often take for granted. Ive seen comrades and friends of mine get killed. These people had families and children and were relatively young. They should have had many years left ahead of them. I realize that God has a purpose for everyone and that what happened was for a reason. I know too many people who have fucked up their lives, who have so much potential but just choose to let it go to waste. I’m not the best person in the world, either, but i now know and understand the value of life. Recently we had another comrade die. His convoy was going through a city and an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade, similar to a rocket) went thorough his window, through his head, and out the window on the other side of the truck. He was 9 days away from leaving this place. He had a family and a kid back home. Tomorrow isn’t promised to us. Unfortunately most of us don’t realize this because we are back home where the worst we have to worry about is getting gas money or figuring out how we can get Friday night off work. Being over here has showed me that Life is a Gift and that we could leave this world at any moment. Make every day count, because it could be your last.”
God bless our troops, God bless Iraq
