A Blued Steel Wolfe by Michael Erickston Page A

when the enemy fire stopped. He stood up, as did the men with him, and they cautiously approached the former enemy positions. When he verified that all tangos were down, he got on his radio. “All Squad Leaders, casualty reports!”
    “First Squad, one wounded,” Smithson reported.
    “Third Squad, no casualties,” said Grimes.
    “Fourth Squad, two walking wounded,” Jackson said tiredly.
    “Second Squad, three wounded, three dead,” said Sergeant Rudolph, the alpha fire team leader. “Juan is down and doesn’t look good, sir.”
    “Medic! See to Sergeant Delgado now !” Justin shouted, his blood going cold. He hated losing men, and Delgado was one of his best. Stupid . Stupid ! STUPID ! He berated himself silently. He should’ve ordered Second Squad to post a lookout behind them in order to spot any enemy personnel sneaking up on them. I made a rookie mistake and my men died because of it !
    “Security! Watch the perimeter!” Justin ordered. “Gonzo, assign men to a three-sixty degree watch, every forty-five degrees around the triage area! Do it now !”
    “Yes, sir!” Gonzo replied, giving orders to each squad leader or acting squad leader.
    “Big Bird, this is Hunter zero-two Actual, over,” Justin said into his radio on the general channel.
    “Hunter zero-two, Big Bird. Go ahead, over.”
    “We need evac, Big Bird,” replied Justin, exhaustion showing in his voice. “We have multiple wounded and dead. Send three helos to the following map coordinates,” he said, reading off their current position for pickup.
    “Roger that, Hunter. Three helos inbound to your position.”
    “Good copy, Big Bird. Hunter zero-two, out,” Justin acknowledged.
    The Rangers heard the Blackhawks approaching and popped green smoke to show that the LZ was clear.
    With that, he headed over to where Specialist Shore was seeing to Juan. When he got there, he knew immediately that it was bad. Juan was doped up with morphine and barely conscious. Shore had removed the sergeant’s body armor and was trying to staunch the blood.
    “Hey, Ell Tee,” Juan said with a weak smile.
    “You’re going to be ok, brother,” Justin said as he knelt and clasped his friend’s hand.
    “You don’t have to bullshit me, sir,” Juan said and coughed up blood. When the fit passed, he continued. “I know my number’s up. Just… please… take… care of… Cam…”
    The light went out of his eyes as Juan Delgado died. Shore cursed and shook his head solemnly as he closed Juan’s sightless eyes.
    “Sir,” Gonzo said quietly to his platoon leader. “He’s gone.”
    “Roger that Gonzo,” Justin said, stoically as he stood from his kneeling position. “How many total casualties?”
    “Four dead, twelve wounded, sir,” Gonzales replied.
    “Damn,” Justin said with a sigh. He hated losing soldiers. He hated it even more, because these soldiers were also his friends. Captain Treadwell had warned him about this. He’d said that a platoon leader wasn’t supposed to befriend his soldiers. He would have to make hard decisions in battle sometimes, and friendship would only get in the way of that.
    Despite the captain’s warnings, Justin continued to lead through respect as well as friendship. Every man in his platoon would gladly die for him. He, by the same token would gladly give his life to save any of them, as well.
    He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, though. The current situation demanded a cool head, and he had to keep calm.
    He ordered his men to gather up the dead and help the wounded onto the choppers. Once everyone was aboard, they lifted and turned south towards Kandahar.
     
    ***** ***** *****
     
    Los Angeles, three and a half years after…
    Justin awoke in a cold sweat as his dreams brought that memory back to him in sharp focus. He looked down at Cammie, still asleep with a serene smile on her lovely face.
    My stupidity got a good friend killed, and here I am sleeping with his widow . Justin thought