Seeing things differently than the rest of us

I got a chance to see something extraordinary today. I am in the middle of inprocessing here in Germany, listening to briefings in the same building that Soldiers that have just returned from Iraq are at - where they are trying to book flights home. During a break from a briefing, I was out in the hallway, where several returning Soldiers sat waiting to go into the travel office. A TV is on the wall, and a couple dozen GI's made for a noisy hallway. Suddenly though, the hallway got really quiet. That is when I noticed all of the Soldiers home from Iraq were watching and listening intently to a story on the TV about an insurgency attack in Iraq. It is a story that those of us who haven't been there have heard 100 times, and may not even register with us. But, I could only imagine what these men might be thinking as they watched the story. Where they looking for a friend, a familiar face? Where they worried that the attack came against their replacements? I could see the concearn on their faces. Made me more than just a little proud only to be in there in their hallway with them.