At some point in the future, soldiers will pack up their rucks, equipment will be loaded into huge shipping containers, C-130s will rise wheels-up off the tarmac, and Navy transport ships will cross the high seas to return home once again. At some point \u201d\u201d the timing of which I don\u2019t have the slightest guess at \u201d\u201d the war in Iraq will end. And I\u2019ve been thinking about this a lot lately \u201d\u201d I\u2019ve been thinking about the last American soldier to die in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Tonight, at 3 a.m., a hunter\u2019s moon shines down into the misty ravines of Vermont\u2019s Green Mountains. I\u2019m standing out on the back deck of a friend\u2019s house, listening to the quiet of the woods. At the Fairbanks Museum in nearby St. Johnsbury, the lights have been turned off for hours and all is dark inside the glass display cases, filled with Civil War memorabilia. The checkerboard of Jefferson Davis. Smoothbore rifles. Canteens. Reading glasses. Letters written home.<\/p>\n
Four or five miles outside of town, past a long stretch of water where the moon is crossing over, a blue and white house sits in a small clearing not far from where I stand now. Chimney smoke rises from a fire burned down to embers. A couple spoon each other in sleep, exhausted from lovemaking. One of them is beginning to snore. I want them to wake up and make love again, even if they need the sleep and tomorrow\u2019s workday holds more work than they might imagine.<\/p>\n