Brotherhood

I just got back from running a few errands around town, wearing my favorite t-shirt - my black Airborne one. My last stop of the trip was at WalMart. When I was finished at the store, I had nine items in my basket and decided to go to the Express (20 items or less) Lane. The woman in front of me was finishing up her purchase and I started putting my items on the table top. Once I had my stuff waiting to go, I started looking around for a place to put the hand basket. The customer ahead of me was just receiving her change back, so I didn't want to walk over toward the doors and put my basket in the stack with the others. Just then, I hear "I'll take it for ya, big boy." I turn around to find an elderly gentleman (with a shopping cart), wearing a white tank top and shorts, standing in line behind me. I thank him, put my basket in his cart & proceed to turn back towards the cashier. As I'm turning, I notice a tattoo on his left arm which catches my eye, causing me to do a "double-take". In somewhat faded ink I see about a four inch tall set of wings with "U.S. Paratrooper" written underneath.

Now, I've been around paratroopers plenty of other times, but this was the first time I'd knowingly encountered one outside of a military atmosphere.

As a smile crossed my face, I turned back toward the cashier and paid for my goods and left.

On the way back to my truck, I thought about a monument I'd seen near the Airborne Walk at Ft. Benning. It was dedicated to all paratroopers - past, present and future. I thought about some of the things we were told about "becoming a part of the Airborne Community" at our graduation. I thought about the SF operator in "Black Hawk Down" who said that people will never understand. As I sit here now, I'm thinking about how many people will not even understand why I blogged about this event. I'm thinking about how good it feels to be a part of a true brotherhood... A brotherhood that goes much deeper than Greek letters or alcohol will ever go.


Airborne All the Way!
Crispy


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The Paratrooper that Isn't and Never Was