My Veteran Story
This quick story is about my veteran and wife, Sergeant Candace K. Clackner. She returned from Iraq literally on Veteran’s Day sixteen years ago. She was part of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division and served six years.
Her unit was first-in when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.
Picture heading out into a vast desert and setting up a precarious tent camp.
Sleeping on a sandy cot in over 100 degree temperatures night after night and waking up every morning literally covered in sand. Your shower? Wet wipes.
Your uniform so thick from your salty sweat that when it does dry it's stiff as a board.
Hurrying to put on all your gear and running for your life to take cover from nearby bomb explosions during your first days and becoming so desensitized to the imminent danger that after a couple of weeks running turns to walking then not even bothering to leave your tent.
Driving in your Humvee truck and somehow lucking out that the IED bomb exploded a few seconds before you reached it.
Candace was told the invasion would be quick and they’d be home ‘very soon’. Yet month after month passed with the same vague directive. Eight months of ‘very soon’ feels like the longest time of your life.
Can you imagine? And you know what? She'd do it again.
Let's all thank our Veterans today. Listen to their stories. And be grateful for all their brave and selfless sacrifices.
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