The Choice

He had no other choice. The mistakes he made lead him here. All the fights, all the nights, he never came home. They now gave him one last choice. He could choose jail or he could choose to enlist. Afraid of the cold, dark depths of prison, He chose to enlist in the United States Army. The boy was never afraid of guns, war, or danger. To the man with a choice, life became a thrill ride: Crawling through the muddy swamps of the jungle Or free falling from 1,000 feet into enemy territory. But one day, reality caused his coaster to come to an abrupt halt. In the depths of Hell his platoon was ambushed. A fellow ranger said the sound of a friend’s cry will never cease to whisper in his ear. The smell of burnt, bloody flesh will forever be impressed in his memory. The man with the choice knew what he had to do. The moment the grenade clicked to the cold, hard ground; His world slowed, His thoughts ran back home. A home to which he will never be able to say goodbye. But there was no time for hesitation “There is no greater love than this; That a man shall lay down his life for a friend.” I will never forget how my heart dropped when we got that call. My mom couldn’t hold in the tears. Her streams of boiling hot tears broke my eight year old heart. He will never come back home. I know God commended his his sacrifice And one day I will tell him how proud I was to receive his Medal of Honor. But a medal cannot walk his daughter down the aisle.