Yesterday he'd been at a baseball game, but today... Today was something completely different. He remembered back in the day, he and the guys would talk about what they'd do when it was finally over. When there was no more fighting. Back then it seemed like a pipedream, but they'd needed something concrete to hold onto. Even if that concrete thing had been something just out of reach.
He'd been invited to a few gatherings, mostly held by a few veterans groups, but he'd politely declined. Anniversaries like this he preferred spending on his own. The anniversary of a day that he hadn't even gotten to see because he'd been stuck in the ice.
He'd been walking around for an hour or so, paying his respects to people he'd known, people he'd served with when he came upon the memorial, his destination but found that he wasn't alone. He smiled ever so slightly, he should have known that she'd be here too. He didn't say anything until he was standing slightly behind her. "I seem to remember that your gunner was more of a burbon guy," he had his hands pushed into his pockets, a had stuffed into the pocket of his jacket - it was dark so he didn't need it anymore. She was here on her own, he didn't see anyone else. No reason it had to stay that way. Not today.