Wounded

I was lucky. I wasn't a statistic. At least, I wasn't coming home as one. I was coming home as a soldier returning from war. I came home because I was wounded, and that probably saved my life.

If the bomb had blown up any farther away the I would've come away from that incident unharmed, only to go back to die. I wasn't able to continue fighting, because my leg was so badly wounded, that they had to amputate.

But I'm not bitter, or angry about it, like you might think I am. Instead I like to think that my leg gave itself up for my life. Silly, I know, but it works, and I'd rather live life without a leg that not be able to live at all.

So I guess I am a statistic, because I fall under 'CASUALTIES'. I could have been under 'DEATHS'. So I'm thankful.

I'm thankful for not dying in war; not having to know that I didn't get the chance to say one last goodbye. Thankful that my commander didn't go home to my mom and tell her that her baby girl had been killed fighting for her country; that my mom wouldn't have to relay that information to my big brother, husband, and my children; that I came home as a living statistic, rather than a dead one.

I'm thankful that most of my friends came home with me. And I'm thankful that the ones that didn't went to a better place; a place that isn't corrupted with the terror of war, poverty, homelessness, and hunger. That they didn't suffer as long as the rest of us, and that we could come home to comfort their loved ones in their time of grieving. And I'm thankful that we have all moved on.

However, my friends became statistics. Some are among the 4191 Americans that died. Others, like myself, are among the 30 774 who were wounded. And others still are lucky enough to be the ones who came out of war physically unwounded.

None of us will be emotionally unwounded though. We will all carry the the emotional scars of war. Some will bear the burden, and others will not be able to handle it. We will ALL cry as our country goes to war with others, not only for our troops who are willingly giving their lives, but also for the troops that are from other countries, very possibly forced into dying for the 'right reasons'.

We will cry for the people who become a statistic because they died while fighting. For every person who leaves with a face; an identity, and comes home as another number; their identity lost in the media, turned into a number, and soon forgotten by the people they need to be remembered by. By the people who are able to stop wars, the people who will be the future of peace.