Throughout his life Nathan had never considered himself to be an elitist or thought that his childhood had been any different than that other American children experienced. While it was true that the high schools he attended were dominated by military dependents, Nathan saw himself as just another kid. Some of his friends and classmates had fathers or mothers who were senior NCOs while others, like himself, came from families whose military member was a commissioned officer. And while it was true that some of the children from both groups went out of their way to exclude those from the other group, Nathan didn’t have the time for such pettiness.

The soldiers who made up his platoon, however, came from a world Nathan knew little of. Their experiences, their views, and their manner of dealing with things were as different and as unique as their personalities were. Robert Ortiz, a SAW gunner, had been born and raised in the border region south of San Diego, California. Until he was assigned to Company A, 3rd of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Ortiz had nothing in common with Kenneth Hyde, who hailed from Leominster, Massachusetts. Yet there they were, sitting side by side on the tarmac of an Air Force base in North Carolina, arguing about the merits of Ort’s Ford as opposed to Hyde’s Chevy. Though he had no interest in the subject, Nathan decided to stop and listen in for a moment. He did not mean to interrupt their lively debate. There wasn’t anything he could add to it one way or the other. To Nathan cars were little more than a tool designed to carry people from one place to another. His sole purpose in stopping was to burn up some of the excess time he had on his hands in the only manner he had available.

It was Ortiz who took note of his new platoon leader first. With the same instincts that had been bred into him whenever an authority figure took notice of him, Robert Ortiz stopped what he was doing and allowed his face to reconfigure itself into an expression of guarded defiance. Following suit, Hyde’s easy smile was replaced by a frown that served notice to anyone who saw it that he was a man not to be trifled with.

This sudden transformation startled Nathan. Though he saw all the signs and read them correctly, the young officer was at a loss to explain what he had done to call forth such a reaction or how best to respond. His leadership training at VMI and Benning had prepared him to lead soldiers, not relate to them. For several long seconds Nathan looked down at the two soldiers trying to think of something witty, something lighthearted to say.