Charging forth
On frozen plain
Ignoring numb
Ignoring pain
Wind like blades
Of sharpest steel
Cutting deep
My bones can feel
Heart is pumping
Blood of war
We spill it here
On frozen floor
My brethren wolf
Swift by my side
Battle season
To Hell we ride!
As I was outdoors breaking ice following our recent storms, the wind was harsh. Even gloved, the cold was biting, to say the least.
I found myself thinking back to a time in the service when I was first attached to my assigned unit.
It was a winter training operation, and it was weather very much like we have been having of late. Snow, sleet, freezing rain, high winds.
As the “new guy”, or “the boot”, as we were sometimes called, radio duty fell to me. A rite of passage, as it were.
There was a lot of marching through rough, slippery terrain, and it was not an easy hump at all. I recall several times kicking myself in the backside asking myself what the hell I had gotten myself into.
During the march to set up our base of operations, one of the men in our unit became overheated and went down. He had every layer of clothing known to man on, which, anyone who works, skis, etc., outdoors will likely know, is not always the wisest course of action. Even in bitter cold, one can easily be overheated. We were always being reminded about overdressing during certain circumstances.
As the Corpsman attended to him and got him loaded up to be treated, the task of carrying his weapon to our designated location fell to me.
I was now carrying my weapon, his weapon, my gear, and the radio. As miserable as I was, as the “boot”, and not wanting to look bad in front of my new comrades, I kept quiet and just did my job.
I had to be available to our platoon commander at all times, as I was the line of communication. Wherever he went, I was expected to keep up. And I did.
At one point, both my feet became extremely wet. Not wanting to be seen as a goldbrick, I just kept my mouth shut and kept moving. Being young and hardheaded, I was ignorant to the concept of foot care.
By the time the training exercise was over, about four days later, my feet were utterly destroyed. I could barely walk, but somehow, I kept on.
When the platoon commander discovered how bad my feet were, after he chewed me out for not saying something, and lectured me on the importance of foot care, he then recognized me in front of the whole platoon for not only stepping up to carry extra gear, but for demonstrating a high level of dedication and grit for keeping with it and not complaining.
At that moment, despite the pain I was in, I was also extremely proud and I realized I was capable of much more than I ever thought I was.
The takeaway is not that I am some uber tough John Rambo kind of guy.
The takeaway is that we all have the power within us to push on, even when we tell ourselves otherwise.
Trust in yourself, trust in your fortitude.
You are made of much sterner stuff than anything this life can throw at you.
The Beginning At Last 
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