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weapons. Quite a few of the older men there who had themselves served in the
military wanted to know how Hernando had become a Corporal so soon.
Hernando simply said he supposed that despite their gruff and  in your face
demeanor, he must have somehow impressed hisNCO s . The truth was that
Hernando had not only impressed theNCO s , but his accomplishments had also
come to the attention of the commanding officers both at Basic Training and at
his MOS training that followed. Hernando had such a can-do attitude, was so
punctual, was so eager to learn and eager to help his team mates& and so
successful at helping them, that he had become something of an inspiration to
the other recruits and to several of theNCO s as well. The result had been a
recommendation for advancement and an approval. Before he had completed his
MOS training, he had been advanced to Corporal Rodriguez.
Late that afternoon the friends had left and Hernando and Maria spent some
time with Hernando s parents catching up on all of the family news and talking
of Hernando and Maria s future. Depending on how things went, Hernando was
seriously considering making a career out of service to his country. His
parents and his wife accepted this and encouraged him in it.
Finally, that night, back in the privacy and comfort of their own home, Maria
and Hernando shared themselves with one another as only a newlywed couple who
have experienced a long separation can. It was more than a physical
experience. It was an emotional and spiritual experience born of saving
themselves for one anotheralone, and of a life-long commitment to honor those
marital vows come what
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may. Their intimacy went far beyond the physical caressing and touching; it
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went to the depths of their very souls in a way that only those rooted in such
lifestyle can experience& a lifestyle that both were willing to sacrifice their
all to maintain. They would each maintain it with the firm knowledge that the
other would be true to it, would be true to their holy vows,would be true to
one another regardless of what else happened. She willing to send him forth
and sacrifice their time together and potentially sacrifice him& he willing to
go forth and sacrifice his time with her and potentially his own life.
That evening their love was not diminished by the news they shared with one
another, it was enhanced.
Maria learned that her darling was destined for combat, fighting to maintain
the lifestyle and freedom they both cherished. Hernando learned that he would
have more to fight for than he had imagined. For his sweetheart Maria shared
with him the news that the family they had so recently created through wedlock
was soon to grow into a threesome. Hernando s sweetheart, the love of his
life, was pregnant with their child.
July 26, 2006, 19:23 local time
Mountainous Retreat above the
Coruh
River
West of , Turkey
Rize
The news was disheartening. No more Allied troops in Asia. It was hard to
believe despite the last six months of seeing it happen. The remaining Allied
forces were pulling back across the Bosporus and the
Dardanelles, taking up a stronger defensive position on the far eastern end of
the European portion of
Turkey, the only portion now free of GIR occupation. The courier who had
brought the news was someone he trusted, trusted with his life and so he knew
it was as accurate as possible at this distance.
 You come to do that out here, he thought.  Either you find those you can
trust with your life& or you lose it.
It was not a new concept to him. It was something that had been drilled into
him in training. It was something he came to accept as second nature through
his many years of military service. But until you had faced combat up close
and personal it was just a concept. Over the last six months he had learned to
put it into practice through the hard cold truth of reality fighting with
partisans and resistance forces in the remote areas of eastern Turkey.
Captain Hanson, former Commander of U.S. Air Force Security forces atIncirlik
Airbase& a command that no longer existed& contemplated those last six months of
reality.
It had started with his assignment toIncirlik airbase just off the
Mediterranean coast near the Turkish city ofAdana . He had been assigned there
immediately after the devastating attack onIncirlik in early
November of last year when the GIR had used massive raids and paid the price [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]