Departed
Somewhere across the world, somebody would be complaining about their dead end job whining about how things never work out for them, somebody would even try to take their life because it was ‘too much’. Today, I had to bury two of my closest friends and the worst part was, they’d be like all the others- a thirty second memorial on the 8 o’clock news. They deserved much more than that, but I knew in our memories and their families memories, Abe and Twitch would live forever.
We all lined up in our camouflage suits, awaiting the funeral of Abraham Rod Strauss and Jason Michael Dawn. I stood next to will and he seemed as upset as I was. Ty slowly approached the podium; a sad, silent clap followed his presence.
“Ladies and gentlemen, officers and grunts, here lies Abe Strauss and Jason Dawn- both of my closest friends. I don’t think they’d be in caskets if somebody helped us, but I don’t get paid to be unpatriotic.
Dead silence. Ty wiped the sweat away from his eyes.
“Abe and Jason where to of the bravest men I knew. And sometimes I think I didn’t try hard enough, but I can’t beat myself up anymore. Truth be told, those men were both an honor to serve no matter which battalion.”
Everybody cheered at the truth Ty projected. “Wish me luck.” Will said as he inched his way towards the dreaded podium. He seemed like he couldn’t speak. Finally he cleared his throat.
“… I wasn’t exactly best friends with Abe, but I respected him. After a fistfight we had, I apologized for my behavior. We had an understanding of each other after that. As for Tw… I’m sorry, Jason we had our laughter. I tried to comfort him, but he wasn’t cut out for war, he was cut out to be a teacher. I don’t know if anybody knows about this, but Jason was a quiet genius. He knew so much, he should’ve had a degree. And as for everybody else, I’m sorry if I left a bad impression. I didn’t mean to act as I did. Thank you.”
He walked off. It was me and Trent’s turn. We decided we’d share the mic.
“Abe was like a father to us.” I started. “And Jason was like a brother. We were all related not by blood, but by battalion.” Trent chimed in. “They both moved us and they were excellent soldiers. We were all moved deeply” My voice came back. “What we were trying to say is, Abe and Jason; friends, motivation, inspiration, and family of battalion five.

…
Abe and Jason were buried along with my scope, Will’s revolver, Ty’s detonator, Trent’s pen, and a full drawing of Optimus Prime. I haven’t let go yet, but that day made me feel so much better. I grabbed my pen and started writing.
To Mrs. Strauss & Family,