Check, Please...

of the reality persuasion, that is.

the following is from one of my many fellow submariners in iraq, and occurred within the past week:

"...one of my unit's vehicles was directly hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and we suffered three wounded (two seriously) and one killed.

The man killed was a very good friend of mine, whom I've known for over a year and been through quite a bit with. He was probably one of the nicest people I've ever met, and a great leader. The only consolation is that he died instantly, so didn't suffer any pain.

Even though we just held the memorial service and his remains have been returned home, it still hasn't sunk in that he's dead. All of us here understand that this is a war, but reality is never easy to swallow. Our date to come home is sometime in March (roughly six weeks from now), and hopefully all of us remaining will make it back in one piece."

what more remains to be said?