Horrors of War

The year is 1974... I'm older now and I feel as if I must tell my story of the REAL horrors of war and what really happened.
Explosions. I remember explosions going off in the background. The base's alarm went off in the barracks and all the Free-State soldiers grabbed their rifles and ran out, ready for another rebel attack. The year is 1921, my name is Teddy O'Sullivan, and I am a private in the Irish Free Stater Army. When the civil war broke out in Ireland, my family was torn in half. My father supports the rebels and my mother supports the Free-Staters. My older brother supports the rebels, also. I haven't seen him in a while but I know he joined up with the IRA a few months back. 
There's a rumor going around that there is a man in all black that kills anyone loyal to the crown, or Collins. We went out to a building that we thought rebels were hiding in just to find the bodies of our comrades hanging by their feet with their blood spilled out. It was a nasty sight, but that's war. I was given the mission to hunt the murderer down with a few other guys from my squadron. 
We have been looking for the "Dublin Murderer" for the past few weeks. He's killed 30 soldiers so far and numerous civilians. The pressure is on to find him and there's not many places for him to go. The rebels have captured the Four Courts government building and the Free-Staters have all but closed off the city. No one can get in or out, so he was trapped. We went door to door searching for him until we came across the Old Wheat Company factory building. We entered from the back and slowly made our way through, not knowing what would be inside.
Me, Connolly and McGoughtic were the "brave three": the three men who would enter the factory. Connolly was our point man. He's the one who busted in the doors, and he was efficient at it. We got to a large double wooden door, which was very fancy, actually. When he kicked it in, he was blown back by a bomb blast. "He is here, he must be", I thought. Why else would the door be rigged? With Connolly injured and screaming, McGoughtic told me to go on. I pushed into the room with my revolver out, aiming forward. Then I saw the man standing with his back to me. 
He spoke very low and softly, "You're all traitors to our land, our country that we fought for together." He sounded very familiar. I remember saying back, "This treaty IS freedom. Now show yourself!" He slowly turned and threw a hatchet at me, hitting my left arm. I shot 3 times right at his chest, not missing once. I slowly moved towards him, grabbing my arm to try and stop the bleeding. He had a black mask on, like the Phantom of the Opera. I pulled it off and stood there staring. I knew who he was all along, the whole time. My brother. I pulled a letter out of his jacket which said:
Dear Teddy,
If you're reading this, then I am dead. The Free-Stater army has surrounded us in the city. From the Easter Rising of 1916 when I first fought against the British, I knew that I had to do something bigger. I tried to tell my family... that we had to do something BIGGER. My brother BETRAYED me and joined the pansy Free-Staters. My mother supported him. She always said, "Oh, be more like your brother." She's dead now. So will all the false Irish-Men. If you need to get a point across, you must do something to get EVERYONE'S attention. Yes Teddy, I knew you would be my downfall and I am somewhat happy that it was you... but I've done much, much worse. I met a man in jail by the name of Adolf... he agrees with my views and will help me with my goals even in my death.
- Willy
Category:History
Category:Military