Living In Hell.

November 1st 1918
my leg still burned from the bullet was in my thigh. I was restless and still in pain from the bullet wound I consumed earlier. I never thought I be writing in this journal ma bought for me the day I left to join basic training. I guess I better explain things a little better, but anyhow I guess ill start with when I joined this hell pit.
June 28th 1913
that was my 18th birthday, I was so damn happy that I turned that age with my dad being an alcoholic and never putting down the bottle. The only thing I felt bad about was leaving mom with my dad; but the only thing I knew is I would either kill myself or my father if had to stay there any longer. I’d just graduate from high school and my grades weren’t good enough to go to college. Not to mention I was planning on going anyhow. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at that time.
Me and a couple of my buddies where going to go on a road trip to Massachusetts, why we where heading there who knows. Honestly I think we where just ready to get out of this small town and see something new for once. On the way there my buddy Andrew thought it would be cool to break some laws and get drunk; while we where driving.
“Hey drew let me have some of them boos!” Jack said. Andrew didn’t hand him a simple beer he handed him a thirty-five once bottle of Jack Daniels and he got lit in a couple of minutes. “What about you john,” Andrew asked me while he held a bottle in his hand; I didn’t say anything but I reached my hand out and grabbed the bottle and popped the top.
Yeah we where living it good, we where going to stop outside of Montgomery AL for the nigh; but sense we had all these open bottles in our car we couldn’t risk pulling up into a motel and getting ourselves caught. When we where just outside of the town limits we pulled up on the side of the road and slept there for the night.
The sun just started to rise slowly and we began to wake up. I saw bottles and cans of beer falling and clanking as Jack and Andrew woke up kicking their feet in the air. I couldn’t really see anything I caught small glimpses of what Jack and Andrew where talking about. I couldn’t remember anything from the night before my head was spinning to hard and hurt too much.
“Ugh!” I moaned, I slammed my head on the back of the car door. I heard someone laughing but I couldn’t see who it was because of my eyesight.
“You must have almost done an overdose John!” I wasn’t sure who said it but my ears told me that it was Jack. “Alright guys lets find a way to hide all this beer before we pull up into town.”
“OH SHIT!” I heard Andrew yell my eyesight was starting to clear up a little bit but it was still pretty fuzzy. I leaned up and saw that there was a two cop cars behind us with their lights flashing.
Shit! Shit! Shit! I heard Jack yell as the cops began to walk toward our car, and I heard Andrew mumbling something under his tongue but it was in a whisper so neither one of us could understand what he was saying. One of the cops walked up to my door and opened it and I fell out; along with about fifth teen beer bottles. The cops looked at each other, and nodded. Oh course Jack and Andrew panicked and peeled out onto the highway trying to flip a you turn and when the where about half way across a semi came by and smashed their tiny little car and killed both of them.


The cops in Montgomery had to take me back to Dothan because that’s where I was from, I was sitting in a small cell it seemed to grow smaller everyday I spent there after a week in that cell it seemed like it was no more than a few inches long. My roommate just sat there must of his time reading or writing on the walls while I just sat there and slept.
“Hey scum bags!” the guard said from our lonely prison cell door. “I’m looking for the one called Jonathon?”
I stepped up forward but I still didn’t say anything I don’t usely talk much these days. The guard took me up a flight of stairs; and through about eight to ten doors and then I was in this hallway with a bunch of phone booths. He lead me to one and I sat down there was a phone to my left; and my mom was on the other side with the phone at her ear and her eyes where very red.
I picked up the phone and my mom began to speak.
“Look I want you to listen to every word I say!” she sounded infuriated over the phone “I have made enough money to bail you out, and when I do this won’t be on your record... only for one reason, because you will join the military for at least ten years!” Jonathon didn’t argue or anything he didn’t seem to really care. The only thing he ask was
“How are things at home?” His mothers face went blank for a quick moment, and she looked down and shook her head back and fourth.
“They aren’t any better than when you left ill tell you that!” Jonathans face went into a depressed look, and she heard him breathe heavily. ‘”okay when do I leave; to go to basic training?”
“tomorrow.” She replied “so I suggest you pack you things, and ill be there tomorrow for you I have something I want to give you.” She hung up the phone and stormed out of the room I walked back toward the guard and he took me back to my cell. My roommate still sat there still as usual. I had nothing else to do today so I decided to go to bed early.
The guard was at my door a couple of minutes before it was 6:00am he took me out of my cell and gave me back my things and I was a free man once again. My mom was waiting in the parking lot for me.
“Now son” she said in more of a worried voice than an angry one. “I don’t know how much you are aware of the fact that there is going to be a war and after your basic training that’s where you’re going. I also have this for you. It’s a journal I know you have no one to talk to these days and this will probably help you a lot with what your going through.”

That was the last time I ever saw my mom to. The weeks went bye and my depression began to sink away slowly, ma was right this journal had helped me a lot with my depression. Basic training was about three months long I honestly didn’t think it was to difficult. We where three days away from graduation and that when my sergeant wanted to talk to me, he asked me to come to his quarters after I was done eating dinner. I decided to skip dinner and I went straight to his quarters. When I walked in there he asked me to have and seat.
“Now son, when I received a report this morning that your mother and father have both been murdered.” I really wished that I had taken the seat and not have stood; it would have saved me from getting a concussion.
After I graduated I went straight home to my parents funeral; I had asked for a closed casket funeral because an open one would have been far to depressing. The funeral was bigger than I wanted the entire town was there for it. I’ve decided not to tell you about the funeral or what happened that day.

I went to war after that; I had become know as the ‘Soul keeper’ because I’m always just sitting there starring at people with a horrible gaze. The years pasted bye and I have fought many battles, and my body is becoming weak and weary I don’t know how much longer I can continue this.
Our commanding officer woke us up at 0:200(2 am) to go and get ready for the battle we where going to. I had a feeling in my gut that this was going to end badly. When everyone was on the helicopter we took off and before we where even at our destination our helicopter was shot down… only ten of us survived the helicopter crash out of eighteen men. It turned out that we had run into an ambush... I heard gunshots and mean screaming has they fell to their death. We had to run for better cover. So we just followed our officer.
When we found some descent cover before I had time to get in the bunker and turn around I got shot three times. Twice in the thigh and once in the arm; I fell into the bunker screaming in pain! I luckily had two of my comrades save my life bye putting a tericket on my leg. I took my backpack and covered it around me; while I hid behind it in fear my friends died off protecting me. When there where five men left my commandeering officer tried to pick me up and tell me lets get out of here! But I told him know that it was my time to die. And he left.

I sat there in fear while I waited for my death to creep up on me. I felt no pain in my leg or anywhere else at that moment. And I laid my head back against the wall and waiting for them to come and kill me….


Jonathan McBraidley born 1900 August 29th

Jonathan McBraidley died 1918 November first, at 2:49am.