Post by justinreilly on Jun 29, 2012 1:55:04 GMT -6
A feeling lingers in Justin Reilly that feels familiar, but not quite identifiable immediately. It’s a warm feeling that’s sweeping from his head to his feet. There’s a feeling of reassurance his mind, and comfort in his heart. As the Humvee he’s riding in enters the front gate of Fort Benning, it finally comes to him. He’s now back home. It’s not the place he was born, nor raised in, but rather the place where the boy became a man. He’s always considered this place as much home as the house that his parents raised him further southeast in Jacksonville, FL.
The clouds are rather dense and foreboding overhead, but not a single drop of rain seems to falling just yet. Reports have come in that the local meteorologists predict at least two to three inches over the next hour, but right only the only water in the air is the elevated humidity.
The Humvee continues along several roads before pulling up to the huge hangar that houses the aircraft. The Air Force is providing the Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk to search for stranded civilians, and the Army is providing bodies to lower down to retrieve them. The pilot starts prepping the aircraft for take-off as another soldier prepares Justin with a body harness. Once he’s completely set up, the other soldier sits back in his seat as the aircraft gets ready to ascend into the cloudy sky.
“Any word on how many are still stuck down there?”
The other soldier doesn’t respond as he gazes out of the open side door. Slight signs of rain start to spray in a fine mist as they continue to climb.
“ANY WORD ON HOW MANY ARE DOWN THERE?!”
The sound of the propellers forces Justin to yell his question again. The other soldier looks over to Justin, and before Justin can yell anything else the soldier points to something near Justin’s head. Justin turns to see a headset hanging there inches from his head, and place it over his head as the other soldier does the same.
“Sorry about that man. It’s a little loud in here. Were you saying something?”
“Yeah, I was just wondering if we knew how many were stuck out there.”
“As far as I know most of the people that decided to stay have been evacuated, but we need to make sure everyone is out of there. The water level is already at about five feet, and it looks to only get higher. Now I was told that you were sent to help in this effort, but I need to know if you’re up to it. Think you can manage?”
“Hooah. I’m ready, willing, and able.”
“Sounds good. Now as you can see this won’t be a single trip deal. We don’t exactly have a lot of space in here so if we find multiple stranded we’ll need to take them in trips. We’re going to be taking them to Fort Stewart, and the temporary housing they’ve set up.”
“Sounds good.”
The fine mist continues as they head towards the flooded region. As they get closer the rain starts to fall more steadily, and in thicker patches. Though the rain is picking up, it still hasn’t reached a severity level that rescue missions have to be halted yet. Minutes into flying over the flooded region brings them across a couple standing on the roof of their single story house that’s been completely flooded out. The couple is extremely relieved as Justin Reilly is lowered down from the chopper, and hooks the two to the cord that he’s attached to. Slowly the cord it raised with all three hooked riders being brought up. The other soldier helps to hook in both rescued passengers into the chopper. The two embrace each other against the chill weather as they both shower Justin and the other soldier with words of sincere appreciation.
It doesn’t take too long before the chopper starts to approach Fort Stewart. As the pilot starts to descend from the sky, Justin can see another chopper starting to take flight within a visible distance. As the chopper touches ground a small crew of soldiers rushes to assist the rescued couple, and take them into shelter as the rain is now coming down in steady sheets. As Justin prepares himself for another flight out, another soldier on the ground approaches the chopper. Justin can clearly see the double gold bars on his lapel.
“You must be Justin Reilly I take it?”
The captain has to speak louder than usual to outmatch the resounding rain that’s coming down in buckets now.
“Yes sir that would be me.”
“Alright Sergeant Thomas here is going to go on the last flight before we have to shut it down. I need you to help in the main tent set up for all the rescued civilians.”
Another soldier steps out from behind the captain, and starts to board the chopper as the onboard soldier disconnects the harness from Justin’s body. Justin gets off the chopper, and starts to follow the captain towards another Humvee. As they pull off, the sound of the propeller speed increasing for lift is barely audible. It doesn’t take long before the Humvee reaches a massive tent surrounded by numerous smaller tents that are quite spacious themselves. The captain barely waits for the vehicle to come to a halt before getting out, and Justin quickly follows in step.
The two approach the entrance where two soldiers are standing guard just outside decked down in their complete rain gear.
“ATTENTION!”
Both soldiers stand a little stiffer as they display a salute to the officer after one of the verbally recognizes him. The officer returns the salute, and one of them opens the door to the tent. After the captain and Justin enter the building the soldier closes the door, and they both return to their previous stances.
Inside Justin sees some rows of tables scattered with people sitting at them. To the far left of the room is a meal line with numerous canteens containing various food items. The Army cooks are currently serving a hot dinner for all the temporary residents. The people are mostly huddled into small groups as they eat. To the far right of the tent appears to be a makeshift stage area with a single speaker, a microphone, and a stool. Some of the kids barely recognize him, and others aren’t paying attention.
“Now here’s what I want you to do, Mr. Reilly.”
“If you could, sir, could you please call me Sergeant Riley? I may not be active military, but I still very much honor my ranking that I had attained as a Staff Sergeant before I was medically discharged.”
“Oh, no one told me you are a veteran. Where did you last serve?”
“I was in Afghanistan when I sustained the injury that forced me out.”
“What happened?”
“I really wish not to speak of it, sir.”
“I can respect that Sergeant. Now Sergeant Reilly, I just need you to help entertain the people a little bit. Right now these people have had their whole worlds flooded out around them. I’m sure you’ve encountered your share of low moral having served overseas. The parents are aggravated, the children are confused, and hope is at a low level. Could you help at least get their minds off what’s going on.”
“That’s going to be pretty hard, sir, with the rain still coming down outside.”
“I’m not looking for any miracle, Sergeant, but anything you can do to help would be most appreciated.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
The captain claps Justin with an open palm to his shoulder.
“That’s all we can ask for.”
The captain now turns his attention to the rest of the people in the tent.
“If I could get everyone’s attention for just a moment. Please I only ask for a moment of your time. I have an announcement for everyone.”
Slowly the small group conversations end as everyone starts to stare in the direction of the Army officer. Within moments all is silent, and the attention is squarely before them.
“Now we have a special guest here for anyone that is familiar with him. Does anyone know who this man is?”
The Captain looks around, and sees the hands of a few of the younger people raising their hands into the air. The Captain nods, and continues.
“Who is this?”
One of the young people calls out, “Justin Reilly”.
“That’s right. He’s here to talk to anyone that’s interested, answer any questions, and parents to help give your kids a little entertainment while we’re holed up in here. So if anyone wants to take part, just gather around the small stage we’ve set up over this way.”
The Captain gestures over to the stage and Justin follow him over to it. It takes a few moments to get Justin situated, and the children to get seated. Some of the parents watch on from a distance, and others resume their conversations.
“Hey there, as you all know by now my name is Justin Reilly, and I am a wrestler with the Superior Championship Wrestling.”
Just hearing those words coming out of his mouth still sounds rather odd, but not as much as the first time he called himself a wrestler. More than anything the uneasiness of dealing with children is slightly overwhelming him.
“I’m still rather new to the…”
“What’s it like being a wrestler?”
One of the children cuts him off with his question, which catches Justin off guard a little. Justin then composes himself more, and responds.
“Well it’s different than anything I’ve done in the past. It truly is a world unto itself. There’s nothing like it anywhere else.”
“What’s your favorite match?”
“Well I haven’t exactly wrestled in many matches, but I’d have to say my debut match. My second match was also a thrill even though I lost, but nothing tops your first go in the ring.”
“When are you wrestling again? We’ve been without power for a few days, and haven’t been able to watch.”
“Well I am fighting a man named Mark Carlton this weekend.”
“You mean that seaman?”
Justin cannot help, but chuckle a little under his mask at the child referring to his opponent by the Army nickname for Navy personnel.
“Your dad must be Army, isn’t he?”
Somewhere in the close distance Justin can hear a man’s voice yelling “Hooah”. Justin chuckles slightly again.
“Yes, that would be him. He liked to call himself the Fearless Atlantic Gentleman. Want to know what’s funny, though? I’ve never met a true gentleman that acts the way he acted last weekend. A true gentleman takes his losses with the same dignity as his wins. What he did was act like a little brat. Now I don’t mean Army brat. You are actually raised right by your military parents, aren’t you?”
The kid with the last question simply nods in agreement.
“I think when he was convinced into coming to the greatest nation on Earth that he thought he was going to have an easy time competing. Well unfortunately for him the SCW is not simply filled with brazen drunks looking to make a name for themselves. There are fighters in the SCW, there are warriors in the SCW, and there are soldiers in the SCW.”
A few more hooah’s can be heard from scattered places throughout the tent.
“Now this weekend this soldier takes on a dishonorably discharged seaman. I wonder what he did to get that. Maybe he went AWOL on his unit, and showed the same cowardice that he showed last weekend. Maybe his lack of respect for his opponent was also seen in a lack of respect for his superiors. I’m not sure what got him that distinctive dishonor, but the reasons mean nothing to me. They had to FORCE me out of the service, and simply because I was medically unfit to continue my service.”
Suddenly it seems like it’s no longer just the kids listening to Justin, but everyone in the tent.
“There’s times when you might think about giving in, hanging it up, and calling it quits. What do thoughts like that ever achieve? They never achieve anything. We are both coming into this weekend off the heels of a loss, but only one of us knew how to handle themselves in that fact. It’s just like all of you. Right now you don’t know if you have a home to return you. You have all lost so much. The one thing that no amount of rain can take, that no weather system can strip you of; that is hope. The clouds will pass, the rain will dry, and you will all survive this with the will of iron.”
The more Justin speaks the more comfortable he becomes.
“Just never give up hope, and trust in your Armed Forces. Just as they have been able to provide a roof over your head in your time of need so will they help you recover your lives when the rain water dries up.”
Justin pauses for a moment as a swell of pride rises up in him. He then glances at the children around him waiting for him to say something else.
“I’m sorry for getting all sentimental on you. Now where were we?”
Just then the Captain walks over to the stage.
“I’m sorry children, but your parents have agreed that it’s time to tuck in for the night. Now I want you all to thank Sergeant Justin Reilly here for taking the time to speak with you.”
With that came a collective “Thank you” from all of the children. At that moment the children start getting up, and their parents meet up with them as they disperse to head to their assigned tents.
“I also want to thank you Sergeant Reilly for those inspirational words. We’ll definitely get through this as one no matter how long it takes.”
“Hooah.”
“Now I’ve got a tent set up for you. It’s one of the few tents we’ve reserved for those that need separate accommodations from the others. I’ll take you there myself.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The two exit the larger tent, and walk out to a steady downfall though lighter in density than before. Just as the water is rising in parts of Georgia so too is the anxiety of Justin to get back into the ring. He feels the urge within him as he did before coming down here to correct the missteps he made in his last match. There is nothing, and no one, that’s going to keep him from taking the next step up another rung on the ladder as opposed to sinking down one more. Every college football season ends with a showdown between the forces of the Army and the forces of the Navy. The two differences here are this isn’t the end of anything, but rather the beginning. The other difference is it isn’t going to take nearly a dozen attempts for the Army to surpass the Navy. It’s only going to take one try, and a simple three count. No, that’s not right. All it’s going to take is one No Surrender.
The clouds are rather dense and foreboding overhead, but not a single drop of rain seems to falling just yet. Reports have come in that the local meteorologists predict at least two to three inches over the next hour, but right only the only water in the air is the elevated humidity.
The Humvee continues along several roads before pulling up to the huge hangar that houses the aircraft. The Air Force is providing the Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk to search for stranded civilians, and the Army is providing bodies to lower down to retrieve them. The pilot starts prepping the aircraft for take-off as another soldier prepares Justin with a body harness. Once he’s completely set up, the other soldier sits back in his seat as the aircraft gets ready to ascend into the cloudy sky.
“Any word on how many are still stuck down there?”
The other soldier doesn’t respond as he gazes out of the open side door. Slight signs of rain start to spray in a fine mist as they continue to climb.
“ANY WORD ON HOW MANY ARE DOWN THERE?!”
The sound of the propellers forces Justin to yell his question again. The other soldier looks over to Justin, and before Justin can yell anything else the soldier points to something near Justin’s head. Justin turns to see a headset hanging there inches from his head, and place it over his head as the other soldier does the same.
“Sorry about that man. It’s a little loud in here. Were you saying something?”
“Yeah, I was just wondering if we knew how many were stuck out there.”
“As far as I know most of the people that decided to stay have been evacuated, but we need to make sure everyone is out of there. The water level is already at about five feet, and it looks to only get higher. Now I was told that you were sent to help in this effort, but I need to know if you’re up to it. Think you can manage?”
“Hooah. I’m ready, willing, and able.”
“Sounds good. Now as you can see this won’t be a single trip deal. We don’t exactly have a lot of space in here so if we find multiple stranded we’ll need to take them in trips. We’re going to be taking them to Fort Stewart, and the temporary housing they’ve set up.”
“Sounds good.”
The fine mist continues as they head towards the flooded region. As they get closer the rain starts to fall more steadily, and in thicker patches. Though the rain is picking up, it still hasn’t reached a severity level that rescue missions have to be halted yet. Minutes into flying over the flooded region brings them across a couple standing on the roof of their single story house that’s been completely flooded out. The couple is extremely relieved as Justin Reilly is lowered down from the chopper, and hooks the two to the cord that he’s attached to. Slowly the cord it raised with all three hooked riders being brought up. The other soldier helps to hook in both rescued passengers into the chopper. The two embrace each other against the chill weather as they both shower Justin and the other soldier with words of sincere appreciation.
It doesn’t take too long before the chopper starts to approach Fort Stewart. As the pilot starts to descend from the sky, Justin can see another chopper starting to take flight within a visible distance. As the chopper touches ground a small crew of soldiers rushes to assist the rescued couple, and take them into shelter as the rain is now coming down in steady sheets. As Justin prepares himself for another flight out, another soldier on the ground approaches the chopper. Justin can clearly see the double gold bars on his lapel.
“You must be Justin Reilly I take it?”
The captain has to speak louder than usual to outmatch the resounding rain that’s coming down in buckets now.
“Yes sir that would be me.”
“Alright Sergeant Thomas here is going to go on the last flight before we have to shut it down. I need you to help in the main tent set up for all the rescued civilians.”
Another soldier steps out from behind the captain, and starts to board the chopper as the onboard soldier disconnects the harness from Justin’s body. Justin gets off the chopper, and starts to follow the captain towards another Humvee. As they pull off, the sound of the propeller speed increasing for lift is barely audible. It doesn’t take long before the Humvee reaches a massive tent surrounded by numerous smaller tents that are quite spacious themselves. The captain barely waits for the vehicle to come to a halt before getting out, and Justin quickly follows in step.
The two approach the entrance where two soldiers are standing guard just outside decked down in their complete rain gear.
“ATTENTION!”
Both soldiers stand a little stiffer as they display a salute to the officer after one of the verbally recognizes him. The officer returns the salute, and one of them opens the door to the tent. After the captain and Justin enter the building the soldier closes the door, and they both return to their previous stances.
Inside Justin sees some rows of tables scattered with people sitting at them. To the far left of the room is a meal line with numerous canteens containing various food items. The Army cooks are currently serving a hot dinner for all the temporary residents. The people are mostly huddled into small groups as they eat. To the far right of the tent appears to be a makeshift stage area with a single speaker, a microphone, and a stool. Some of the kids barely recognize him, and others aren’t paying attention.
“Now here’s what I want you to do, Mr. Reilly.”
“If you could, sir, could you please call me Sergeant Riley? I may not be active military, but I still very much honor my ranking that I had attained as a Staff Sergeant before I was medically discharged.”
“Oh, no one told me you are a veteran. Where did you last serve?”
“I was in Afghanistan when I sustained the injury that forced me out.”
“What happened?”
“I really wish not to speak of it, sir.”
“I can respect that Sergeant. Now Sergeant Reilly, I just need you to help entertain the people a little bit. Right now these people have had their whole worlds flooded out around them. I’m sure you’ve encountered your share of low moral having served overseas. The parents are aggravated, the children are confused, and hope is at a low level. Could you help at least get their minds off what’s going on.”
“That’s going to be pretty hard, sir, with the rain still coming down outside.”
“I’m not looking for any miracle, Sergeant, but anything you can do to help would be most appreciated.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
The captain claps Justin with an open palm to his shoulder.
“That’s all we can ask for.”
The captain now turns his attention to the rest of the people in the tent.
“If I could get everyone’s attention for just a moment. Please I only ask for a moment of your time. I have an announcement for everyone.”
Slowly the small group conversations end as everyone starts to stare in the direction of the Army officer. Within moments all is silent, and the attention is squarely before them.
“Now we have a special guest here for anyone that is familiar with him. Does anyone know who this man is?”
The Captain looks around, and sees the hands of a few of the younger people raising their hands into the air. The Captain nods, and continues.
“Who is this?”
One of the young people calls out, “Justin Reilly”.
“That’s right. He’s here to talk to anyone that’s interested, answer any questions, and parents to help give your kids a little entertainment while we’re holed up in here. So if anyone wants to take part, just gather around the small stage we’ve set up over this way.”
The Captain gestures over to the stage and Justin follow him over to it. It takes a few moments to get Justin situated, and the children to get seated. Some of the parents watch on from a distance, and others resume their conversations.
“Hey there, as you all know by now my name is Justin Reilly, and I am a wrestler with the Superior Championship Wrestling.”
Just hearing those words coming out of his mouth still sounds rather odd, but not as much as the first time he called himself a wrestler. More than anything the uneasiness of dealing with children is slightly overwhelming him.
“I’m still rather new to the…”
“What’s it like being a wrestler?”
One of the children cuts him off with his question, which catches Justin off guard a little. Justin then composes himself more, and responds.
“Well it’s different than anything I’ve done in the past. It truly is a world unto itself. There’s nothing like it anywhere else.”
“What’s your favorite match?”
“Well I haven’t exactly wrestled in many matches, but I’d have to say my debut match. My second match was also a thrill even though I lost, but nothing tops your first go in the ring.”
“When are you wrestling again? We’ve been without power for a few days, and haven’t been able to watch.”
“Well I am fighting a man named Mark Carlton this weekend.”
“You mean that seaman?”
Justin cannot help, but chuckle a little under his mask at the child referring to his opponent by the Army nickname for Navy personnel.
“Your dad must be Army, isn’t he?”
Somewhere in the close distance Justin can hear a man’s voice yelling “Hooah”. Justin chuckles slightly again.
“Yes, that would be him. He liked to call himself the Fearless Atlantic Gentleman. Want to know what’s funny, though? I’ve never met a true gentleman that acts the way he acted last weekend. A true gentleman takes his losses with the same dignity as his wins. What he did was act like a little brat. Now I don’t mean Army brat. You are actually raised right by your military parents, aren’t you?”
The kid with the last question simply nods in agreement.
“I think when he was convinced into coming to the greatest nation on Earth that he thought he was going to have an easy time competing. Well unfortunately for him the SCW is not simply filled with brazen drunks looking to make a name for themselves. There are fighters in the SCW, there are warriors in the SCW, and there are soldiers in the SCW.”
A few more hooah’s can be heard from scattered places throughout the tent.
“Now this weekend this soldier takes on a dishonorably discharged seaman. I wonder what he did to get that. Maybe he went AWOL on his unit, and showed the same cowardice that he showed last weekend. Maybe his lack of respect for his opponent was also seen in a lack of respect for his superiors. I’m not sure what got him that distinctive dishonor, but the reasons mean nothing to me. They had to FORCE me out of the service, and simply because I was medically unfit to continue my service.”
Suddenly it seems like it’s no longer just the kids listening to Justin, but everyone in the tent.
“There’s times when you might think about giving in, hanging it up, and calling it quits. What do thoughts like that ever achieve? They never achieve anything. We are both coming into this weekend off the heels of a loss, but only one of us knew how to handle themselves in that fact. It’s just like all of you. Right now you don’t know if you have a home to return you. You have all lost so much. The one thing that no amount of rain can take, that no weather system can strip you of; that is hope. The clouds will pass, the rain will dry, and you will all survive this with the will of iron.”
The more Justin speaks the more comfortable he becomes.
“Just never give up hope, and trust in your Armed Forces. Just as they have been able to provide a roof over your head in your time of need so will they help you recover your lives when the rain water dries up.”
Justin pauses for a moment as a swell of pride rises up in him. He then glances at the children around him waiting for him to say something else.
“I’m sorry for getting all sentimental on you. Now where were we?”
Just then the Captain walks over to the stage.
“I’m sorry children, but your parents have agreed that it’s time to tuck in for the night. Now I want you all to thank Sergeant Justin Reilly here for taking the time to speak with you.”
With that came a collective “Thank you” from all of the children. At that moment the children start getting up, and their parents meet up with them as they disperse to head to their assigned tents.
“I also want to thank you Sergeant Reilly for those inspirational words. We’ll definitely get through this as one no matter how long it takes.”
“Hooah.”
“Now I’ve got a tent set up for you. It’s one of the few tents we’ve reserved for those that need separate accommodations from the others. I’ll take you there myself.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The two exit the larger tent, and walk out to a steady downfall though lighter in density than before. Just as the water is rising in parts of Georgia so too is the anxiety of Justin to get back into the ring. He feels the urge within him as he did before coming down here to correct the missteps he made in his last match. There is nothing, and no one, that’s going to keep him from taking the next step up another rung on the ladder as opposed to sinking down one more. Every college football season ends with a showdown between the forces of the Army and the forces of the Navy. The two differences here are this isn’t the end of anything, but rather the beginning. The other difference is it isn’t going to take nearly a dozen attempts for the Army to surpass the Navy. It’s only going to take one try, and a simple three count. No, that’s not right. All it’s going to take is one No Surrender.