I will never forget the first time I realized what going to war meant.

December 2007, I was a 19 year old Army PFC. Jet-lagged, exhausted, more than a little overwhelmed. I was sitting on my cot in a giant tent in Camp Buehring, Kuwait. My NCO, SGT Brown (still the best NCO I ever had) walked in and handed me 210 rounds of 5.56.

"Tracers every 3 rounds and 5 in a row at the bottom," he said. "That way you know when you're almost out."

And then it hit me. Like a brick. This was real.

I think I experienced every emotion known to man in a matter of seconds. I don't have the words to accurately describe what that was like.

I think it's one of those things that if you've been there, you understand. If you haven't, you'll never understand.

I will never forget the first time I realized what going to war meant.

December 2007, I was a 19 year old Army PFC. Jet-lagged, exhausted, more than a little overwhelmed. I was sitting on my cot in a giant tent in Camp Buehring, Kuwait. My NCO, SGT Brown (still the best NCO I ever had) walked in and handed me 210 rounds of 5.56.

"Tracers every 3 rounds and 5 in a row at the bottom," he said. "That way you know when you're almost out."

And then it hit me. Like a brick. This was real.

I think I experienced every emotion known to man in a matter of seconds. I don't have the words to accurately describe what that was like.

I think it's one of those things that if you've been there, you understand. If you haven't, you'll never understand.