I wasn\u2019t planning to join the army but don\u2019t sweat it when they draft me since I\u2019m an unemployed nineteen year old guy looking for something in life. During basic training the drill instructors scream all the time and make us do a lot of extra marches and exercises but when that ends they tell me I\u2019m one of the lucky soldiers heading to Ukraine for an easy operation to protect our people from neo-Nazis in the Donbas. That\u2019ll be exciting, and I bet I find a pretty Ukrainian girlfriend.<\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m surprised the army doesn\u2019t send me to the Donbas but to Belarus and then south toward Kyiv. Right away the Ukrainians show they\u2019re tough, firing artillery and missiles and guns at us, and they\u2019ve got some pretty good planes too. All the explosions and gunfire are scary especially when guys next to me get their limbs or heads blown off. After a week of this I\u2019m a mess. I can\u2019t sleep and my hands are shaky and I just want to get out of here. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cSir, I need medical care,\u201d I tell an officer.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhere were you wounded?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tI point at my head. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou cowardly bastard,\u201d he says. \u201cDon\u2019t think you\u2019re going home. You\u2019ll stay here and fight for your country.\u201d <\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m still fighting a few days later won\u2019t any more after something explodes behind me. In a sense I\u2019m happy I\u2019ll be going back to my parents and two sisters. I expect to be treated respectfully but some soldiers open a massive round steel door sealing a huge pipe in back of a truck and put me in there and turn on the fire, and I figure they\u2019re getting rid of those who\u2019d attract attention if they came home in body bags and had to be buried. <\/p>\n