Walk in My Boots

Book excerpt: A Calculus two exam at 7:30 a.m. is insane was my thought as I sat down to breakfast in the LSU Union hall. I looked up at one of the TVs just in time to see the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. My heart sank to my toes. I thought, as a truck driver in the Louisiana National Guard, active duty consisted of dealing with hurricanes and floods, not war. That is what the Army is for. I'm still in school. Perhaps my contract will be up in time. National Guard truck drivers are not war heroes. Little did I know that a phone call in the middle of a blind date would prove me so wrong. Now that an active-duty deployment to Iraq is in my future, my concern is, Will I be the same person when I come back? From the Journals I kept daily, this is a "Walk in My Boots".