"The Brotherhood"
This was written after a group of aviators gathered after a reunion. I am posting it here especially for the aspirants to the military aviation experience who will get their first taste of the tempering and bonding after their initial officer training baptism whether it be at an academy, OCS, PLC, etc. The older crowd already know this to be true.
"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted at their best; men who suffered and sacrificed, who suffered and were stripped of their humanity*. I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military. But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life. They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me. It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one
another. As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure that when I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades.. Such good men."
__Author unknown.
*I believe he's referring to those who became POWs
HJ Note: Apologies to those of the fair sex, but this was written by and unknown author of Vietnam vintage and is being passed around that grapevine....suffice to say it should be gender neutral today with same sentiments
This was written after a group of aviators gathered after a reunion. I am posting it here especially for the aspirants to the military aviation experience who will get their first taste of the tempering and bonding after their initial officer training baptism whether it be at an academy, OCS, PLC, etc. The older crowd already know this to be true.
"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted at their best; men who suffered and sacrificed, who suffered and were stripped of their humanity*. I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military. But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life. They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me. It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one
another. As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure that when I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades.. Such good men."
__Author unknown.
*I believe he's referring to those who became POWs
HJ Note: Apologies to those of the fair sex, but this was written by and unknown author of Vietnam vintage and is being passed around that grapevine....suffice to say it should be gender neutral today with same sentiments
