Journal #14

If I were a soldier in Lieutenant Jimmy Cross's unit, I would carry the standard issue equipment assigned to a foot soldier among several other things. If I were to carry any special artifacts I would have to bring a small crystal that my mother gave me as a good luck charm. I would also bring along one of my grandmothers handmade arrowheads that she had given me before she passed away. This is to remind me of my Native American heritage and to carry my grandmothers strength with me, which is something every soldier would need at a time of war. In order to keep my equipment as minimal as possible, I would keep photographs of my family and my lover with me at all times. Probably the biggest thing I would be carrying though, is a burden. A burden of hope, of trust, of love, and of companionship. Being in a war, morale of the soldiers would be low especially at the death of another platoon member, I would carry a huge burden of knowing it could have been me that died had I been more careless; and an even greater burden of knowing I could have somehow prevented the death of a brother. After all, a unit is a band of brothers through life and death.