None Left Behind Read Free

to give up their lives if necessary wanted to believe that the petty rules and chickenshit of the peacetime garrison went by the wayside. Quite the opposite was true. Days on calendars fanned past in updating service records and wills and powers of attorney, in verifying nextof kin information, in receiving immunizations . . . There was the constant up-training, classes to attend in ROE (Rules of Engagement) and other subjects, personnel and equipment inspections, equipment to be bundled for shipment . . .
    As always, there was more work to be done than soldiers to do it.
    The worst thing about deployment was the waiting, the painful dragging out of the inevitable, the frustration of not knowing exactly when.
    â€œI’ll be home in no time, honey. You’ll see,” men reassured their wives.
    â€œDon’t expect to hear from me right away,” they said. “I don’t know exactly where we’ll be.”
    â€œIf, God forbid, something happens,” they said, “somebody from the army will get in contact to tell you what to do and how much money you’ll get from the government.”
    This would be Sergeant Victor Chavez’ third combat tour since 2001. He had gone home on a quick leave and married his sweetheart, Rebecca. He had to rush to get her into the system as his next-of-kin.
    â€œWe’ll start life when you get back,” she promised. “I’ll be here waiting.”
    Specialist Jared Isbell’s sweetheart told him the same thing. He didn’t know if he believed her or not. He looked at her a long time. Then they kissed, and he looked at her some more before she turned away with tears in her eyes and left.
    The atmosphere grew somber at the end. Small clusters of soldiers gathered outside their barracks in the summer nights to chain-smoke and talk in low tones. Sergeant Montgomery, divorced for nearly two years, could often be seen around Delta Company late at night, reassuring his platoon, letting himself be seen. During its last deployment in 2004–2005, the brigade suffered 29 soldiers killed in action and another 422 wounded.
    One of Montgomery’s section leaders, Sergeant Chris Messer, had a reputation for being something of a hardnose when it came to discipline and training. One night, he let his shell slip a little.
    â€œSergeant Montgomery,” he said, “my little daughter is starting to talk. She can say ‘Da-Da.’ ”
    He looked off into the night.
    â€œDa-Da,” he repeated softly.
    Earlier, he had shown Victor Chavez a small laminated card containing the words to the Prayer of Salvation.
    â€œVictor, this is in God’s hands now. Victor, I got a feeling I won’t be coming back from this one.”
    Chavez looked at him, slapped him on the back. “Hey, man. Knock it off. You’re coming back. We’re all coming back.”
    The 2 nd BCT of the 31 st Regiment, over 3,500 soldiers, consisted of two infantry battalions, one reconnaissance/cavalry battalion, one field artillery battalion, one support battalion, and one special troops battalion of MPs, engineers, military intelligence and the like. As deployment date drew near, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Infanti, commander of the 4 th Infantry Battalion (4/31 st ), stood in front of his men on the parade ground for the obligatory gung ho rally before going off to war. A sense of pride enveloped him. These were
his
soldiers. It was his job, his profound duty to use these men wisely in the nation’s fight against a brutal enemy—and bring back alive as many of them as he could.
    â€œI want all of you to be assured that no matter what happens,” he concluded, “you are not alone on the battlefield. This I promise you: In the Fourth Battalion, no soldier will be left behind.”

TWO
    All new soldiers reporting in to the 10 th Mountain Division were provided orientation packets. In addition to schedules of events and services