What is a combat Infantryman? He is almost always anxious because an enemy he often can’t see is trying to kill him. Because of the bizarre ways he sees other infantrymen become a casualty, he adopts a fatalistic attitude. He decides to employ all that he has learned in training to the best of his ability and even then, if his number comes up, he will become a casualty.
He is always too cold or too hot. It might be raining, but his throat is parched with thirst. He is always tired and his feet are sore. He is dirty and itchy and stinks and hurts in small ways. His pack, rifle and ammunition chafe and bend his back. He has no privacy on the battleground. Getting hurt is something that happens in the company all the time. Sprained ankles, smashed thumbs, chipped teeth, falling rocks, infected scratches – none of these things qualify for medical evacuation so they are just ignored.
Causalities are unpredictable. The soldiers he has trained with and consider him to be “family” are wounded or killed. The new replacement is evacuated before he even learns his name. Medics work overtime striving to lessen suffering and evacuate the wounded, but they too, become prime candidates for a similar fate.
No time clock to punch. Days without washing, changing clothes, living in the open – sleeping with twitching nerves and overpowering fatigue. He tries to keep his comrades safe, he tries to keep the locals happy, he keeps in touch with his folks back home as best he can. He learns to live without the warm repletion of Sundays with his family. To adjust to living apart from those he loves on birthdays and holidays. He respects older Infantrymen who talk about “their war” – service to the nation has never been easy.
He tries very hard to do his assignment because these are good men around him and it is a great country he is fighting for and because he has pride. He is bound by Duty, Honor and Country.
After Col. (ret) Darrell J.Birch, Infantry
Contributed by LTC (ret) James W. Lanning, Infantry and LTC (ret) James D. Rogers, Infantry (deceased)
Local News
January 26, 2010
The Combat Infantryman
In memory of Capt. Paul W. Peña
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