Free Tom Sileo by Brothers Forever

Travis’ cell phone rang. He stepped out of the room and into the hallway. As the door closed behind him, I heard the tone of his voice go flat but couldn’t catch his words. When he returned a few minutes later, his pre-fight energy had evaporated. I looked up to see him staring morosely out the window, his face betraying a mix of shock and rage.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “What’s up, Trav?”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “Nothing.”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  I stood up and walked over to him. “What was that phone call, Travis?”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  He looked at me with pain-filled eyes. A flutter of dread coursed through me.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “Nothing,” he repeated, his voice devoid of strength.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “Don’t bullshit me, Trav. What the fuck is going on?” I said, trying to control the panic I felt.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “I’ll tell you later,” he evaded.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “You’ll tell me now,” I demanded.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  He looked away. “After the fight.”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “No, give it to me straight,” I demanded. “What is going on?”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “J. P. Blecksmith was killed in Fallujah last night.”
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  The mention of his name brought back memories of the tall, blue-eyed athlete whose competitive fires evoked so much admiration in me.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Then it dawned on me what Travis had just said.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “What?” I asked weakly.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Three of us in one fall?
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  “He was shot on a rooftop. That’s all I know,” Travis said. (Travis) looked absolutely miserable.
    It was another dreadful moment for Stann, Travis, Brendan, and everyone associated with the Naval Academy. On November11, 2004, twenty-four-year-old Blecksmith, of San Marino, California, was killed by enemy small arms fire alongside twenty-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Kyle Burns, of Laramie, Wyoming. Blecksmith was the first US military officer killed during the Second Battle of Fallujah.
    After Stann subsequently lost his fight in the aftermath of the shocking news, Travis called Brendan, who was coaching NAPS lacrosse in Rhode Island before moving to Virginia Beach, where he would be stationed as a Navy intelligence officer. Brendan, who had stood beside Blecksmith on the sidelines during the unforgettable 2001 Army-Navy game, was also devastated.
    â€œI don’t even know what to say,” Brendan said.
    â€œI know,” Travis said. “I don’t think I should have told Brian before the fight, but he kind of forced it out of me.”
    â€œWhat were you supposed to do?” Brendan interrupted. “He would have been upset either way.”
    â€œYeah, I guess,” Travis replied. “These past few months have just been brutal, man.”
    â€œI know, but we have to keep pushing forward,” Brendan said. “I think that’s what all these guys would have wanted.”

    In August 2005, less than a year after graduating from TBS, all of Travis’s hard work culminated in one key moment. Finally, after more than four years at the Naval Academy and six months at TBS, Second Lieutenant Travis Manion was dodging improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in searing desert heat.
    Surrounded by tall mountains and hot sand, Travis was coordinating the movement of a helicopter