Excerpt: Casualties of War

From the minute we saw Brian’s plane touch down at Longview International Airport, I couldn’t wipe the big, cheesy grin of happiness off my face. “International” makes our airport sound important, but the only reason it’s called that is because there’s one flight to Canada.

News of Brian’s return had somehow gotten out to the media, so by the time our family arrived at the airport the WDAL news crew was also waiting. I spotted Matthew Kemp, the local news reporter, standing off to the side looking at his reflection in the airport window. As I watched, he tilted his head and raked his fingers through the front of his hair. All the moms in town thought he was Longview’s version of Matt Lauer, and I guess he had a reputation to uphold.

Dad had come in from the road to welcome the prodigal son back from war, he’d gotten back into town just in time to shower, shave, put on some clean clothes and drive us to the airport. I’d overheard Victoria telling Mom that she’d spent all afternoon at the beauty salon, making herself look perfect for the first time she saw Brian. I had to admit, she did look even hotter than usual and she smelled like some kind of complicated flower.

“Oh my God, there he is!” screamed Victoria. “He’s here! He’s home! He’s really home!” I don’t know what it is about some girls that makes them want to jump up and down when they get excited, but Victoria was definitely a jumper. In the midst of her jumping, she grabbed my arm and nearly tore it off in the process.

In among the throng of people exiting the gate area, a soldier in dress uniform was walking slowly, looking a little dazed. One arm was hidden under his coat, held close to his thin body by a fabric sling. A black patch covered one eye, making him appear vaguely pirate-like. It was then I knew; my brother was home. Alive. Out of danger. A coarse knot of happiness and relief formed in my throat, and I wasn’t even embarrassed to feel tears prickling behind my eyes.

On the other side of me, Dad drew in a sharp breath; he’d seen Brian too. “There he is…our soldier,” he said proudly to no one in particular, a proud grin stretching across his face. “That’s my son.” Mom was already crying, following behind Victoria as she ran toward the approaching passengers.

“Here he comes now. We don’t want to miss this…and let’s roll” Matthew Kemp was urging the cameraman, who snapped on his big light just in time to capture the moment when Victoria threw her arms around my brother’s neck and collapsed against him. Brian was smiling, but the force of Victoria threw him off and he took a half-step backwards.

“Oh, Baby,” she sobbed, not seeming to notice she'd unbalanced him. Victoria’s face was buried deep in Brian’s neck, “Thank God you’re safe!”

Mom stood nearby, her hands over her mouth. Tears streamed down her face as she waited for her turn to hug her son. When Victoria finally released him, Mom reached up and gave him a long hug, “Brian…oh, sweetie. You can’t imagine how we worried.”

“Welcome home, soldier,” Dad saluted him heartily when it was his turn. His voice was hoarse with emotion. He wiped his eyes quickly, then held out his hand to shake Brian’s. “Good to have you back. Good to have you back,” he repeated.

“Glad to be back, sir,” Brian nodded. He finished shaking Dad’s hand and looked over at me. “What’s up, Dov?” he smiled. “New look, huh?” When Brian had been deployed nine months earlier, my hair had still been the color of muddy water, and I didn’t put much thought into what I wore; mostly saggy jeans and random t-shirts.

“Yeah,” I nodded, suddenly feeling sort of awkward. The next thing I knew, I was hugging my brother, but gently, because I could feel his sling between us.

"Thanks," Brian muttered, "My ribs are still a little sore."

Close up like this, I could see he had tiny scabs all over his face, as if he’d been sandblasted with bits of gravel.

“Welcome back, Corporal Howard,” Matthew Kemp interrupted, pushing a jumbo microphone between us. “We don’t want to interrupt your reunion here, but the whole community wants to know how it feels to be back on American soil. Back in your home town.”

Brian hesitated; he seemed overwhelmed by all the commotion. “Well,” he said, smiling, “It’s awesome. To tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel quite real, but you couldn’t slap the happy off my face right now if you tried.”

Kemp grinned. “That’s great, just great. Can you tell us, Brian, what happened over there? How were you injured?”

From where I stood, I saw Brian’s eyes grow suddenly distant; he swallowed before he answered. “Well,” he said slowly, “My troop was on patrol in Kirkuk, and we were engaged.”

“And by ‘engaged’ you mean attacked,” Kemp supplied helpfully.

“Attacked, yeah.” Brian paused. “We were attacked and, uh, some members of my unit…eleven brave and courageous soldiers…well, they lost their lives that day.”

“Wow. That’s terrible. Just terrible. We are always so sorry and proud when our brave men and women make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.” Matthew Kemp paused for a respectful moment before continuing. “Now Corporal Howard, how do you account for your making it through that terrible day alive? When everybody else in your unit was killed.”

Brian’s chest moved; he looked to be breathing a little hard. “I don’t know,” he said. “Just…lucky I guess.” He broke eye contact with the reported and met mine. "Could I sit down, do you think?” he asked me. "I-my…I’m feeling a little worn out all of the sudden.”

There was a flurry of activity as we all escorted Brian to a nearby bank of chairs, Kemp and the cameraman trailing along behind. Once he came to a place to sit, Brian sank down onto one of the chairs gratefully.

Sensing Brian didn't have much left to offer, Kemp turned to “Tell us what you are feeling tonight, Mrs. Howard,” he invited.

Mom sighed happily. “Oh, it’s so wonderful to finally have him here safely,” she said, reaching over to squeeze Brian’s uninjured shoulder. “Of course he’s got some injuries…he’ll need to recover from those…but we’re just very grateful to be one of the families fortunate enough to have our soldier come home.”

“I imagine you certainly must be,” Kemp agreed. The camera man pointed to his watch and Kemp turned and looked into the camera. “With the very happy family of Longview’s own Corporal Brian Howard,” he summed up, “I’m Matthew Kemp for WDAL news.”

“And…cut.” The cameraman snapped off light. It was relief to be out of the bright glare, but things suddenly seemed a little flat and dim.

“Thanks so much for letting us intrude on your reunion,” Matthew Kemp said, wrapping the cord around his microphone. “Didn’t mean to interrupt, but it’s a great story. Gotta’ bring the happy news when we can, these days.”

“We understand,” Dad nodded. “Besides, I imagine everyone in Longview will be glad to know Brian Howard made it back safely. He was quite an athlete when he was at Longview High,” he added.

“Oh, I know,” the reporter agreed. “I remember covering that game against McIntosh Central. He ran for ….”

“…210 yards,” Dad finished, laughing. “Wasn’t that something?”

“It sure was.” Kemp looked at Brian, who was listening to whatever Victoria was whispering into his ear. Suddenly distractedly, he shifted position and grimaced; his good hand reached up touched his ribs.

“Kind of brings it all home to see him come back like this, doesn’t it?” the reporter commented to Dad.

Dad didn’t answer right away. “Yes, it does,” he said finally. “But at least now he’ll be able to get on with his life knowing he did his part. Yessir, he’s a real hero in my eyes.”

Kemp nodded in agreement. “And in the eyes of this country, Sir.”

Mom clapped her hands together; Brian jumped and she laughed and put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “I’m sorry Brian, I didn’t mean to startle you! I was just going to say ‘let’s get this show on the road! Is anyone hungry? I’ve got a roast in the oven, and sweet potatoes. Apple pie for dessert…all Brian’s favorites.”

Brian nodded. “Wow, Mom,” he said, smiling up at her. “That sounds great. I’m starving. You know what they say about mess-hall chow…” He made a face. “I can hardly wait to eat some real food for a change!”

Everyone laughed, including Brian, and began to make preparations for departure. I trotted off and found Brian’s duffle bags circling on the baggage carousal, and Mom and Victoria kept Brian company while Dad went off in search of the Suburban. With Brian obviously not quite himself yet, Dad wanted to give him curbside service.
When I got back with his bags, Mom and Victoria both decided they had to find the restroom before we left for home. “Keep an eye on my baby,” Victoria instructed me, bending down to kiss my brother’s clean-shaven cheek. “This is the last time I’m letting him out of my sight.”

Brian laughed. “I'm gonna' hold you to that,"he told her.

Mom leaned down and kissed a spot just above the place Victoria had kissed. “You just rest,” she said softly. “We won’t be long.”

“You’d better not be,” Brian agreed. “Now that you’ve started my stomach growling with all this talk of apple pie.”

Mom giggled like a giddy young girl and scurried off after Victoria. I sat down on the chair next to Brian; it was the first time I’d been alone with him in nine months. “So,…kinda’ a lot to take in, huh?”

Brian turned to look at me. “You don’t know the half of it, bro,” he said. “My head is pounding right now. And at the same time…it’s kind of like being in some sort of weird dream I had a long time ago. ”

I nodded as if I understood, although I couldn’t really.

Brian suddenly broke into a grin, “But really, it’s just awesome to be back,” he said.

“I’m sure it is.” I replied, but I was thinking about something I’d seen in his eyes just before his last words. Something that suggested that even though Brian felt like he was in a dream, all my brother really wanted to do was lie down and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.