A letter to my brother.
By SGT Mark M. Middlebrook, formerly of the 82nd Airborne.
- I met you when you transferred to my platoon from another unit.
- I became your SAW gunner and you became my team leader.
- You taught me what I needed to know because I had a lot to learn.
- You straightened me out when I needed to be.
- We served together through two tours and you kept me alive.
- I followed you like a shadow because you were fearless.
- I promised you that I would always watch your back.
- You had a family so I prayed to catch your bullet.
- You kept me in front with you because I had better vision.
- We went our separate ways after Iraq, you to a new unit and I out of the army.
- I told myself the war was over but you kept fighting.
- I was on the 2nd floor of the UNF library when I learned you had been killed.
- Somewhere in Texas they played taps for you, I heard it in a bar in Florida.
- I took a shot in your honor but it didn’t wash away the guilt.
- Your passing reminded me of -and added to- the weight my body and heart still carries.
- I knew you as only one can once they have been in combat together.
- You were my brother and I loved you as such.
6 comments:
very moving
God Bless
With a heavy heart I offer my condolences. My thoughts are with you.
Thanks, Lola. We owe Murph a lot. He brought my son home twice...alive.
Hope everything is ok with you. Don't think you have went this long without posting.
Thanks, Stacy. Everything is fine here. Tough couple of weeks here for Mark but he has settled back into a routine.
Thanks for asking.
Beautiful and very touching words from the heart. God Bless you and your family. We miss Mike very much and seeing tributes like this let us know that he touched other's lives as well. Mike was my son in law and he was loved dearly by his family. Thank You.
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