I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
It was their first as a married couple.
Tara was a young girl from Alaska.
Charlie was a young man from the East Coast.
They met on the job[horizontal ellipsis]but their job was not the 9-5 toil we are all used to.
They were active duty soldiers in the US Army, military police to be precise.
And these were not safe times to be in the military.
I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
They met about 2 years ago, on the job.
They were learning the intricacies of how to police.
They were learning how to be good soldiers.
They were learning about each other.
And the most important lesson they learned[horizontal ellipsis]
They learned they were in love.
I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
Their love blossomed into a marriage.
Their marriage blossomed into a deployment[horizontal ellipsis] Into war.
Tara was riding in the front passenger seat of her Humvee.
Charlie was back at the base, waiting her arrival and planning.
An explosion, some gunfire, a roll-over[horizontal ellipsis]Tara is hurt.
Charlie was wondering what was keeping her convoy, he had plans.
"Dustoff, we have multiple critical casualties[horizontal ellipsis]"
I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
The Blackhawk roared outside [horizontal ellipsis] we would have work to do.
"We have 5 urgent litters [horizontal ellipsis] CPR in progress on one of them"
The medics rush her in [horizontal ellipsis] a female soldier [horizontal ellipsis] her color white as chalk.
She had no pulse, no right leg and no life [horizontal ellipsis] patient 7654 was dead.
"Continue CPR, push the epinephrine and hang the blood [horizontal ellipsis]"
Still no pulse [horizontal ellipsis] on Valentine's Day
Everyone working on 7654 was simultaneously working and praying [horizontal ellipsis]
We did not want to lose 7654 [horizontal ellipsis] we could not.
Someone shouted her name [horizontal ellipsis] and she was no longer a number.
She was someone's daughter. A wife? A mother maybe?
A soldier she was most definitely.
We did not want to lose Tara [horizontal ellipsis] we could not.
I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
"I have a pulse, I have a pulse[horizontal ellipsis]I have a strong pulse"
Simultaneously I felt my own pulse [horizontal ellipsis] it was fast, like Tara's.
She had a pulse [horizontal ellipsis] on Valentine's Day.
Her heartbeat was back but her right leg was missing.
"To the operating room [horizontal ellipsis] now."
She still had a pulse [horizontal ellipsis] on Valentine's Day.
"Her husband is here [horizontal ellipsis] can you talk to him?"
What? That is a question I expect back home.
We are in the middle of war.
A husband and wife in the middle of war?
He was young, like Tara and he shook [horizontal ellipsis]
Soldiers hated our facility.
It represented injury and illness.
It represented death.
I wonder what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
Charlie expected to hear "I love you" tonight, not [horizontal ellipsis]"She is alive but [horizontal ellipsis]"
"She may not make it through the night [horizontal ellipsis]"
"She is out of the OR [horizontal ellipsis]"
"She is still critical [horizontal ellipsis]"
No, no, no [horizontal ellipsis] Charlie had plans.
He whispered in her ear.
He held her hand.
He caressed her hair.
But they were not alone [horizontal ellipsis]
They were surrounded by machines, tubes, and the faint smell of illness.
They would not be spending this Valentine's alone.
Who did I pray to I do not remember, but I did pray [horizontal ellipsis]
For Tara, for Charlie [horizontal ellipsis] for my own peace of mind.
For our own selfish reasons, our team needed her to live.
And she did [horizontal ellipsis] Tara had a pulse on Valentine's Day
But I still wondered [horizontal ellipsis]
I wondered what Tara and Charlie had planned for Valentine's Day?
The answer to that question at the end of the day was obvious.
His plans changed today but Charlie still planned [horizontal ellipsis]
To spend, with Tara, the day after Valentine's.