The Uvalde Raider by Ben English (great books for teens TXT) 📕

She looked questioningly at her husband. “That’s the man you helped rescue in Vietnam, wasn’t it?”

Micah slowly dipped his head in affirmation as Abby handed it to him. He examined the small package that was wrapped in plain brown paper. On what he judged to be the top was the inscription “To Micah Templar,” handwritten in a neat, precise prose.

Curious, Micah removed the packaging that enclosed a cardboard box. Removing the lid, he started examining what was inside. There he found an evenly folded sheet of white paper and a smaller, dark blue box with gold edging. Unfolding the paper, he found himself reading a copied commendation for the second highest medal of valor in the military services of the United States of America.

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

WASHINGTON

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the

NAVY CROSS

to

THOMAS AARON EGGERS III

LIEUTENANT

UNITED STATES NAVY

For service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For extraordinary heroism during the month of January,1969, as a pilot in Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FOUR (VA-164), embarked on U.S.S. HANCOCK (CVA-19). While conducting night time bombing operations against heavily defended enemy positions in the A Shau Valley area, Lieutenant (j.g.) Eggers’ A4E was struck by opposing ground fire. Though his aircraft was critically damaged, Lieutenant Eggers completed his bombing run and only then ejected over the enemy held area. Demonstrating the courage and alertness of a well disciplined fighting man, for the next two weeks Lieutenant Eggers successfully evaded ongoing enemy attempts in capturing him before making contact with friendly forces along the Da Krong River. Alone, with scant food and water while being pursued relentlessly by enemy ground troops, he exercised outstanding professional skill and resourcefulness, and displayed great courage as well as fearless devotion to duty. His indomitable perseverance and conspicuous gallantry were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

For the President

John H. Chafee

Secretary of the Navy

Micah handed the copied citation to Abby. With respecting fingers, he gently lifted the lip to the small dark blue case. Contained within was the unmistakable gold cross with the sailing ship displayed in the middle, suspended by a dark blue and white center striped ribbon. There were also two additional slips of paper folded inside the case. Micah picked up the first. It read:

“It would be an honor for you to consider this on loan to your family until your uncle receives the just recognition he deserves.

From a grateful nation as well as myself,

Thomas A. Eggers III

Da Krong River Valley

‘Class of 1969’”

Somberly, Micah handed this slip of paper also to his wife and opened the third one. It was a quote from the award-winning book These Good Men by Michael Norman, another Marine who had served in Vietnam.

“I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted their best, men who suffered and sacrificed, who were stripped raw, right down to their humanity. I did not pick these men.

They were delivered by fate. But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life.

They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me. It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one another. I cannot say where we are headed. Ours are not perfect friendships; those are the province of legend and myth. A few of my comrades drift far from me now, sending back only occasional word. I know that one day even these could fall to silence. Some of the men will stay close, a couple, perhaps, always at hand. As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure that when I leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and my comrades.

 ...such good men.”

As his vision began to blur from the tears forming in his eyes, Micah passed the quote over to Abby. He sat there, staring off into nothingness as she read the note to herself. Then she wrapped her arm around Micah’s waist and held on tightly, never saying a word.

They sat together in this manner for some time. Micah thought about the events that had occurred over the past two months and not that far away, and of others that occurred decades ago in another place and life entirely. To be certain, there were differences but so much more was the same. Both had called for the same fidelity, the same love for another, the same sort of sacrifice.

Those connections also extended into the past, bound tightly with the history of his family in Texas and long before. To the very birth of a nation that promised so much, but demanded those same qualities and grit to fashion fine words and philosophy into hallowed ground ready for all comers.

That was when it all came together for Micah Templar, and when he understood with a defining clarity what made the crucial difference in the lifespan of all men, all families and all nations.

“Hon, do you remember the story in my family about Blackstone Templar’s last words before he died?” he asked quietly.

“You mean those inscribed on the tombstone?”

“Yeah. They are the last four words of the last sentence he uttered. The complete quote was ‘It’s a grand country, boys, and it’s land worth dying for.’ It was something my father had me memorize as a child, I guess every Templar has done so since