The Love Within The War

What Had To Be Done - Sulleven Version

I am Sgt Sulleven with the 3rd Marine Division. I'm just a simple infantry guy, mainly a 0311 rifleman, your basic type of marine, and well, the toughest. I've been in the Marines for about 3 years now, and I've only been in battle for 5 months, but the war has been going on for months and well, let's just say a lot has happened in 6 months...

Well, let's start at the beginning 6 months ago. My best friend/childhood crush's dad is MIA after the battle for the border station in Khazastan... Alice was destroyed after she found out her Dad wasn't going to be back... I consoled her as much as I could, but I knew what this meant... International powerhouses had a conflict at this scale... I was going to be shipped out soon. I don't know where or how, but I knew it was coming soon when Uncle Sam needed me back to where the fighting could be done.

5 months passed, and I got the call. My buddy in my unit called and told us we were getting shipped out to France to link up with the British forces since they were prepping for a potential attack by the Russians.

I remember that day like it was just yesterday. I had just woken up from the couch in Alice's penthouse. She was in her room still sleeping. I was hoping I would be able to stay till she woke up, but once I heard the news, I knew I had to go.

God... it's like WWIII, I told myself in my head when I first thought of it. When I got to my apartment, I quickly packed my bags before I went to my dad's. As I walked into the living room, I saw the picture of Alice and I at our senior prom both of us with the most ridiculous faves. When we took this photo, we wanted something that would be lighthearted and not a serious photo. I am sticking out my tongue playfully while making a peace sign with my fingers, and Alice is pretending to sneeze, with her eyes closed and mouth wide open. Despite our silly antics, there's genuine warmth and affection with a shared sense of humor.

I know leaving before her waking up was a shitty move, but I don't think I'd have the heart to leave, seeing her big hazel eyes pleading for me to stay betraying her words telling me, she's okay and to go. It took her a while after hearing about her dad's disappearance, to just get out of bed, let along go to work, and find another story to cover.

Luckily, her job gave her small things, like covering the senators' campaign for California or getting veterans' insight on the war and the tactics we are using to help our allies defeat the enemy. Except the hardest one was this last piece, which involved her having to go to base and see the conference that was being held by Admiral Johnson.

She came home the night in distraught and was having a hard time figuring out how to tell the people without letting her personal feelings come out. I listened to her vent and rant about all that she was feeling and her doubts of if this was the right job for her. Which I had to not only reasure how amazing she was at her job and how much her writing and story telling help people who otherwise wouldn't know the truth, but to also let her know that it was okay if she needed a little more time away from covering the war and staying within the military aspect of writing. After that, she had fallen asleep, and I had carried her to her room, making sure she was covered and comfortable.

After closing the door to my apartment, i headed to my dad's already had talked with my mom, letting her know the 6 with both myslef and Alice
She promised she'd keep an eye on her and keep her busy if she needed help with my twin siblings, who are just about to turn 18.

Once I got to my dad's, we talked for a bit, and I remember him telling me what he thought about this all. He never showed it, but I knew as soon as I signed those papers, which, in his eyes, he was giving his son to the government. He knew once they everything was done and said his son was no longer his own, but property of the United States Marine Corp's and I could tell that scared him.

My dad wasn't a war hero or anything he was just a regular guy who wanted to tell his son that he knew this whole thing was scary and that he knew that I'd do fine. We just talked about how I always wanted to be a Marine and how great it was for him to see me graduate boot Camp and all these nice awesome things he believes that I did.

He's always been supportive and happy that I joined. But now that war is upon us and I have to go and serve my country... his fears came true. His little boy now has to go and serve his country and fight an enemy as strong as ours.

So before leaving, he told me this "Son ... you know I'm proud of you. No matter what, I love you, my boy." He told me before he handed me a revolver he was given by his father when he was a young stud like me. I grabbed it and put it in my backpack before giving him a hug. I told him that I loved him and I'd be sure to be back, and from there I left.

The last thing I remember seeing while I was driving away was Alice as she greeted my dad, who was sitting on the stairs waving me goodbye. I saw her... she looked so sad and disappointed. I wanted to run up to her and hug her tightly as I told her all I felt for her, but simply, it was too late. I love Alice, but my duty came first this time. I knew that I would have to tell her how I felt about her once I got back. Once I got to the airport, I saw my buddies, we all greeted each other, and from there, we learned the plan.