World War III By: Nicky Greto

 The year is 2067 and the world has broken out into an all out war. Bitter relations between continents have divided the world. No civilian communications are available. The United States has begun drafting troops due to the need to control Indonesia. General Frank Mason has begun to draft troops for the 456th tank battalion.

 One of the first among his troops is me George Nixon who would be appointed as a Private who will be deployed in May along with around 40 others. We will invade an island on the northern chain in the pacific.

 When I told my wife she broke into tears because she has family on those islands. I thought about how to avoid the invasion but couldn’t convince his sergeant to call it off

 After about two months of training in a camp in the Middle East I was put on a military aircraft with the rest of my battalion. None of the men on the plane looked familiar, but I saw one man who couldn’t be more than 16 who was scared for his life. I went to comfort him and told him that I would help him through it. He was still terrified and gained little confidence

 Later the plane touched down on a remote tarmac in a dense jungle. Machine gun fire erupted from the forest before we could enter the tank the kid I met on the plane fainted. Enemy troops stormed the landing strip and raided the plane. The enemy soldiers took all the wounded as P.O.W’s.

 The attack left us with little supplies and we were desperate for water in the hot humid tropical environment. My sergeant assigned me a position on the turret of an M1 Abrams that was used in Iraq and still had sand in the floor. After an hour of preparing we embarked on the long journey to the base in a particularly dense jungle.

 Mid-way through the journey I saw a flutter in a fern. I alerted my sergeant and he ordered me to fire. I lit up the bush with rounds and crossfire erupted and bullets fired from all angels. There was one gunner that had incredible skill that was taking troops left and right. I aimed and fired taking him out. The enemy started to flee the battle.

 After the battle I started to mull about the people that I had killed. I wondered if they were in the same situation that I was and if they had families that were worried for them like me. The battle killed 21 soldiers and wounded the young boy. He was hit in the lower leg and wasn’t life threatening but he felt like he was going to die. He demanded that he be evacuated and refused to fight. The boy was given a dishonorable discharge.

 Later that day we were sent to patrol the beach on the southern coast. The night was calm but mosquitoes and other flying insects. In the morning my arms and neck were covered in red from all the insects. “SNAKE!!!” the man next to me yelled. He had a long diamond covered snake under his cot. He and I both ran as fast as anyone who had just woken up could. My sergeant who clearly didn’t care for animals went in and shot the snake. We returned and prepared to patrol the same beach we did the previous night.

 The troops were already getting anxious because we would be going home next month. Me and some other guys were playing cards when small civilian boat started to approach the shore. The sergeant picked up a megaphone and asked for identification but there was no response. As it got closer a turret became visible and we were ordered to fire. The boat unleashed a 50cal machine gun on us and I was immediately hit in the elbow and it broke my arm. It was the most pain I had ever felt blood was flowing out of my arm. I took my shirt and wrapped my arm.

 was to be sent home the same day to a hospital in my hometown of Winchester. On the plane I tried to figure out how to explain the invasion to my wife but couldn’t.

 When I returned she had hired a divorce attorney. She approached me in tears and cried into my chest. She told me that she couldn’t live with someone who had help kill her mother. I was left the house but I will have to sell it and settle in an apartment until I find a job. The only thing that I was worried about more was my “X”- wife who was left with nothing accept her personal belongings and the poor bank account. My life was ruined by war.