A Warrior’s Soul
“A warrior’s soul is set ablaze once he stands face-to-face with Death and does not waiver.
Once he realizes he has the ability to take another’s life and his own can end before his next breath, his innocence is forever lost and life takes on a new meaning.
He will no longer accept his fate; he will determine it or die trying. He will not walk the path before him, he will cut his own. In essence his existence as an average man has concluded and a warrior is born. The brotherhood has been strengthened.
He knows he has committed everything by giving his life to the brotherhood and now it is only a matter of how much time Death will allow him. One thing is dead certain, every breath he takes until his very last on God’s earth will be as a free man without fear and his limits and boundaries will be his own. Nothing less is acceptable or proper. He may or may not live to see tomorrow but if he does he will do with it as he pleases.
He will respect Death but he will not fear it. He will die for his brother if need be and he will pray for guidance from the Almighty. There is no ritual or celebration to recognize a warrior’s passage. Each new warrior feels it in his bones and his brothers recognize it as surely as they recognize their own image mirrored on still water. “
SSG Loyd Cates
199th Light Infantry Brigade D 5/12
1969-1970