I  now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not 
to tell stories or  look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. 
Comrades gather because they long to be  with the men who once 
acted their best, men who suffered and sacrificed, who were  stripped 
raw, right down to their humanity.

I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the Military.
But I  know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given 
anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious
than my life. They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me.
It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to
die for one another.

I cannot say where we are headed. Ours are not perfect friendships;
those are the province of legend and myth. A few of my comrades drift
far from me now, sending back only occasional word. I know that one 
day even these could fall to silence. Some  of the men will stay close, a 
couple, perhaps, always at hand.

As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day. I am sure 
that when I  leave this world, my last thought will be of my family and 
my comrades.....such good  men.

       from "These Good Men" by Michael Norman
    (used on the 1st Battalion 6th Infantry web site with permission of the author)