Dude i teared up reading this. Very well written. Many parts of the story either hit home or are things that happened to a friend of mine.

One friend was in a Bradly in Iraq. He gad just switched seats with another team member because he was taller and the seat was more comfortable. A minute later he heard a bang and remembered nothing. He woke up in Germany the next thing he knew. He had been in a coma for a month. He was the only one who survived the IED because of where he sat once he gad switched seats. To this day he wonders why he survived and why they were taken. It haunts him.

The father to the son. I have that same sense of commitment and love the father has for his son. I made a promise to myself that i would always be there for a certain little boy. And now through no fault of my own i cant keep that promise now that my relationship with his mother is over. So i know the pain in that aspect of the story. I like how you left it on an up note. Never give up. A pact between father and son. I liked that.