We called for a Medevac to bring a body bag. Several of the men who'd come to help were sick. I guess I just thought that the Conrad I'd known was already gone. I hoped he had gone to a better place than the one he'd just left, with its killing and booby traps and antitank mines - devices with no other purpose than to tear men into small pieces. Within thirty minutes we were moving again.
War takes no notice of tragedy.
The chopper had taken Conrad's remains away, and I think the captain wanted to get everyone's mind off the accident. I wish he had chosen to head back. But of course, it wasn't his to choose. We had orders to patrol, so that's what we did. But Conrad was only the beginning of a long, bad day.