War

I think that we all left a part of ourselves out there. Our mark. We were all fresh-faced and young, but fortunate enough not to experience the full brunt of the conflict. We changed, though. We exchanged our college years for military contracts; the cap and gown for kevlar and gun. Our bodies left whole, but we left our naiveity and youth bleeding in some shitpot south of baghdad.
Each person experiences their own comming of age; a right of passage. I think our generation missed out on ours somehow, barring cultural differences. We were looking to grow up, fast, and in a big way.
We aged together for fourteen months. And we left together.
Older. Perhaps wiser? If life experience counts in the game of wisdom, then most definitely. All i can say for certain is that the 19, 20 and 21 year old hearts that we went to war with, will forever remain on those battlefields.