Memory Lapse

I'm in the hospital with a broken thumb that's too minor to fix and a spider bite that's infected, two souvenirs from our culminating Gauntlet, a 10-day FTX on tanks out in the woods.

And I'm waiting in the lobby with another Lieutenant, who came with me to get what he thought to be a bite checked out (when in fact it's a rash).

He asks me questions as if I've never met him before: What class I'm in, what part of the course I'm completing, where I'm from.

Aside the fact that we're in the same class and came in the same truck from the same location, he spent a few weeks in my Platoon. He seems surprised when I tell him I'm in his class, doing exactly what he's doing.

That cleared up, he begins talking about how he wants to go and be a leader of men in combat, how he wants to go from national guard duty to active duty the first chance he gets, and how he loves what he's doing.

I just hope his memory improves.