Echoes for Eternity – These words from the movie Gladiator have stayed with me and organized my life since my unit was mobilized in October 2005. Initially, all I saw was the disruption to my life – I was leaving Virginia Tech after two years, and I was leaving my family and my friends. But soon the Gladiator principles kicked in. Strength and honor…this world and the next. So on good days, I really do know that my life and mission make a difference for my country and my world. And on the bad days when I have been awake for 24 straight hours and the temperature in the Humvee is over 140, I still know that the guys in my truck are counting on me and counting on the way we work together and rely on each other, despite all the “dissing.”
Before I left, my Abba and I were considering getting matching tattoos (I know, not very Jewish). Mitzpah Genesis 31:49 says: “For he (Jacob) said, ‘The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.’” We didn’t need to get the tattoos on our wrists, because the words were in our hearts.
HaShem is watching over us. We are together in this world. My life is creating its own echoes for the next.
Max S. Phillips is a Specialist (E-4) deployed in Iraq. He is 21 years old.
