The officer patch on the breast of his cut—the vow he took for his brothers—that was the first time he ever felt like he was standing on steady ground. It was easy to look at the men who stood next to him and know he would die for them—in more ways than he’d ever been willing to die for anyone. He’d lay his life on the line, and more than that, he’d put bodies in the ground without hesitation. And he had.
