WIA/KIA

I am going to puke. We got an IRON Alert to say that two men in the platoon were WIA (wounded in action). I know they are not my husband's men anymore, technically speaking, but they will always be his boys. These are men I know and love and respect and would do anything, absolutely anything, for. They are just wounded and apparently nothing major according to the Alert, but goddammit!! these are my boys and I want to go to the rock pile and FUCK someone up for hurting them. But I'm stuck here and can't do a damn thing besides worry and pray. This sucks!!

IRON Alerts have got to be the most horrifying thing you can see in your email inbox. It's a notification from the command that there has been a WIA or a KIA in the battalion along with which company, platoon, whatever the soldier(s) is in and how bad it was. No names. Now, the IRON Alerts come out after the family has been told, so if the alert is your first news about it, your soldier is not involved. SO opening one of those means it may be someone you know and are friends with, which breaks your heart, while at the same time you're thinking, "Thank God it wasn't mine." I hate IRON Alerts. They make me want to cry and they make me feel like a horrible, selfish person all at the same time.

I will say, however, that I am so glad it wasn't a KIA (killed in action) in the platoon. If that ever happens, I swear to God, you will have to lock me up in one of the little white coats and drag me off. But it is NOT going to happen. These are Rakkasans, some of the most bad-ass, well-trained mother-fuckers on the planets and the Afghanis got lucky. Damn, I hate this.

We have had one and only one KIA in the company since this thing started and thank God for small favours. I spent the better part of 2 weeks calming people down, answering phone calls from panicked wives and parents, passing out tissues, letting people cry on me, collecting funds and shopping for bereavement gifts, which is a challenging, hopeless, horrible thing to get shanghaied into doing. What do you buy for parents who are grieving the loss of their son that doesn't come across as trite or unfeeling? I think we did OK and let his parents know how much he is loved by the men and families, but this is horse shit. I am NEVER doing that again. The boys are all coming home. All of them. Even if I have to enlist and go guard their asses. They will all come home.