The man stood in front of me, eyes widened, he was frightened, I was terrified.
I knew it was him or me.
He said something in another language, while he was fumbling with reloading his rifle.
I had to make that choice, kill him or let him kill me.
I knew it was him or me.
He said something in another language, while he was fumbling with reloading his rifle.
I had to make that choice, kill him or let him kill me.
If only I had spoken his language, maybe we could have made a taboo truce and walked away.
I pulled the trigger, I will never forget the scream that bounced off the trees into my ears. The pain I inflicted brought instant guilt and sorrow for a stranger who was just defending inflated pride.
We both were inflated and brainwashed thinking our side was right. We both were just doing what we'd been told to do. But who told me to kill a young man in cold blood for what ended up in vain? I knelt down beside him and held his hand. He looked at me with confusion, said something I wished I could have deciphered, and then the glaze over happened. I cried for him and his family that loved him.
He was my first casualty from my unhappy trigger finger. I'll never forget his face, etched into my subconscious forever. Even on my deathbed, I will forever remember him and his sacrifice for his country and our country.