La tristesse durera toujours

Bring down the curtain, the farce is played out. Six days and it's over! The Fourth Infantry Division have arrived to relieve us, they have already succeeded in wrecking two of our trucks. Excellent soldiers, them. We know we did our best, so whatever happens from here out is beyond us and does not concern us. I joke when saying my goodbyes, and tell the soldiers I will probably see them in ten years from the other side of the gun. It is an odd feeling to be going home. It's almost as if Baghdad is home, and I am leaving it to go somewhere new and strange. Back to the land of unpaid bills, shopping malls, and McDonald's. Insurgent attacks are much as they have always been, Some of our guys are outside the city fighting fiercely with indirect fire. A Command Sergeant Major with our sister unit was injured recently and sent home, however it appears he will recover well. The wall we put pictures of our fallen soldiers on is full. The experience of standing there looking at all the men we have lost this year, contemplating your own mortality is indescribable. Happy New Year, have a drink for me.