sam wilson / falcon (pararescue) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2019-05-27 14:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | !netpost, *laura, *mary, *natasha, clint barton, emily fields, jim kirk, marcus cole, mia rinaldi, sam wilson, steve rogers, valkyrie, violet parr |
Where I'm from, the last Monday of May is dedicated to Memorial Day in America. I imagine that's true for other people, too, even if you're not from the universe I'm from. That's one of those things I imagine crosses universes.
In any case, for us, Memorial Day is when we honor and remember people who died in service with the United States Armed Forces. (We've got a couple other military-related holidays, but this one's specific, and it's always bothered me a bit to hear thanks for my service on a day meant to honor other people instead. Today's not my day.) It's meant to be a somber holiday. A chance to reflect on sacrifice, on duty, on friendship, loyalty. A lot of people stop there, but for me, it's also been a chance to think about what we fight for and about what's worth fighting for. I think that's because when you lose someone important to you, the natural response is to wonder, did it mean something? Did they live a good life? Did they make a difference? Was it worth something? At least, that's how it was for me after I lost Riley.
Riley was my partner. My wingman. And I was his. We served in the Air Force together, in the 58th Rescue Squadron. He was the best friend a guy could ask for. Reliable, confident, someone you knew you could trust with your life. When I lost him, it felt like my whole world fell apart right there. All the time I served in combat, all the things I'd seen, and nothing could prepare me for that moment. I owe him a hell of a lot. I hope he knew that. I keep coming back to that, year after year. I hope he knew how special he was. And I hope I’ve made him proud.
So that's my story. I know we've come from a lot of different places, seen a lot of different things, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who lost someone important to them during some sort of combat situation, whatever that might look like. What I was hoping is that you'd share some of those stories with me, too. Publicly or privately, whatever's most comfortable with you. It used to hurt like hell to talk about the friends I'd lost, but the more I did it, the more it felt like I was honoring their sacrifice and their memory. I'm hoping that can be true for you, too.