The Charge

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Recommended: Leadership development in the military

PrologueThis short story is about the impressions of a soldier just before he is thrown into the hell of battle. The date of the battle is of no consequence. These thoughts have no doubt come down through eons of man’s history. From the cave man to the space stations of tomorrow these thoughts will live forever.*****War’s face never changes. Men converge on diametric edges of a field. Whether corn, wheat, or just a meadow blanketed in wild flowers, the arena has never matter.

The men on each shoulder of the field necessitated the charge. The leaders have decided the field must be acquired. The question that consistently comes to my mind is why. I have battled numerous times and have never seen victorious armies inhabit the conquered field. Never have I seen advantage made from bloodshed.The only resource needed to make a charge, in battle, is heart.

If a man doesn’t have the heart, a charge is not in him. Many say courage is what you need, but that is not so. You can have a Lion’s courage, but if lacking heart, courage will run dry, heart is everlasting.The men around me I know have heart, and for that I thank the All Mighty. I’ll not have to look for them, because they will be right at my side when the time comes.

These men have shown their heart in many clashes for me to distrust them now. We have been told that only a few of us will return, but in a charge that is understood. To charge an enemy, you sense from the beginning you will not survive. That isn’t the question which will last after all is done. They will only ask, ‘did he die well’. I can see the sun rising.

The time is nearing for us to do our duty. ‘Duty for country, duty for flag, but above all, duty for our comrades’ is the soldier’s motto. The man next to you is your country, flag, and brother.We all know this day is to be a challenge to our friendship. There are times when I think I may turn to cowardice, but then I look at my friends and know that cannot be.I always am, I’ve always been, and I will always be, because humanity needs me. The captain has just called roll and we are all here as we’ve always been.

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