To honor a fallen comrade

Only god knows why when its time to lose another person so dear to our hearts.
We all know we must die, but none of us know when it will be our turn to go on or if we will be spared against all odds.
But we use this time to come together, to remember our fallen friend and sustain each other, through our relationship as brothers and sisters in arms.

When I was medivaced to walter reed, I was sick, alone and scared. But not for long
I soon found out Muse was there for his surgery too,
and it really helped to finally get back to a place where I could face this with an old friend and comrade by my side.

I want to tell you about something real important Muse did for me, just by being himself and being my friend.
You see the docs told Muse that he would more then likely be in the hospital for two weeks if the operation was a success and that the risks were very high.
Yet just 5 days after his surgery, he and I were walking through DC visiting the war memorials.

Walking past the monuments, sometimes Muse would wobble on his feet and when I would ask "Are you okay?" he would just reply "I feel great!" and then laugh.
He always had a silly grin on his face and a smart al-ick joke to go with it.
We spoke of home and how quite fort huachuca was after B co deployed. He felt ashamed for not being able to go with us, but was just glad to finally be getting help.

He told me he had been scared he wouldn't wake up from his surgery, but he didn't want to show that to his parents.
Still he knew he needed this operation and pushed his fear to the side and moved forward with his mission. And there he was 5 days later, with me touring DC.

As the day went on he showered me with punches, hugs, jokes, pinches and big grins. He felt more like a big brother and a best friend, not just a soldier and co worker.
His strength and good spirits were inspiring to me and would help sustain me as I lay in agonizing pain in my hospital bed after my own surgery the following month.

I know a person who believes that sometimes we are called upon to be each others angels in this life. That there will be times, without knowing it or doing anything extraordinary we can be heros just by being ourselves, helping a friend, inspiring or lending them the strength to keep fighting, or showing them a way through difficulty when it doesnt look clear. We become an instrument of something bigger then ourselves.
On that day, he was mine.