Dear Brothers,

We all volunteered for the team...boys wanting to be men.
We learned fast...and became brothers.
And got so close it seemed that...
If one of us was cut...
We all bled.

Then,  missions where we knew we had no support...
We couldn't count on anyone but the team...but that had always been enough.

Six of us going in with bad intel...being hit so hard 4 brothers died.
And the 2 left barely made it back...
Sometimes not sure who was carrying who.

So the promise was broken: men were left behind.

Tommy and I wished we had died that day.
We never got over it...never got past it.

And in our pain and shame we left you...and each other.

I put it all away...buried so deep it couldn't hurt me anymore.
Yeah, right.
But I made it.

Tommy hid in a bottle, then it was drugs and the streets.
But he made it, too.

Yet we still have days...
And horrible nights...
When we wish we had died with you that day.

We've again sworn the promise...retaken the oath...
"Nobody Gets Left Behind".

I work for Operation Just Cause.
May God Bless each man, woman, and child who gets involved.
It is what gives me hope and strength...
And some small chance for redemption.

We will bring you home.

Tommy is in pretty bad shape but his good days are a little better...
And maybe his bad days not quite so bad.

He really likes to hear about what is being done.
He wants to help but isn't ready for that yet.
I thank God for Tommy...

And the honor of knowing each of you.

You will never be forgotten.

There are still 6 of us on the team.

We pray for you and each other.

Please... forgive us.
 

Our promise to you, our brothers:

"I swear by my life and my blood...

Nobody gets left behind".

(c) Dennis Johnson 1998 __________________________________________________________________________

Click on POW/MIA graphic to return to the January 1999 issue