No one saw the company commander as he quietly stepped into the rec tent where his Marines were unwinding from the heavy fighting that afternoon. As he looked around the room, he didn't see black, white, or brown. He only saw green and he'd gladly give his life for any one of them, and he knew they felt the same way about him.
Officers were afforded a certain level of respect on the basis of rank alone, but anything above that had to be earned. And Captain Brad Embler had earned their respect in spades. He'd cut his teeth in combat in Iraq during an eight-month deployment where he'd been awarded the Bronze Star with "V" for valor under fire. He'd risked his life to save his radioman, LCpl Hector Gonzalez, who'd been hit as his platoon was crossing a street during a firefight in Ramadi. Without hesitation, Embler ran from his covered position and under fire, grabbed Gonzalez by his LBE (load-bearing equipment) and drug him to safety with rounds kicking up all around his feet.
Just hours earlier that afternoon in Afghanistan, his company was traveling by vehicle from a small village called Parmekhan back to Firebase Thomas where they were billeted. As they passed through the tiny town of Shewan, he noticed the streets were completely empty. He gave a heads up to the rest of his Marines and the Army soldiers who were part of the Joint Task Force to which they were all assigned.
Moments later, Embler saw numerous small, brown figures armed with RPGs pop out from virtually every corner of every building. He called out via radio, "Troops in contact!" as the lead vehicle was hit with an RPG. Time seemed to slow down as an RPG round literally flew right past his window. The convoy went into its emergency reaction drill which it had rehearsed numerous times back at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
His men quickly dispatched over a dozen Taliban fighters after dismounting and going house to house. The main battle died down as quickly as it had begun. The primary remaining danger was from sniper fire. Embler watched as the Humvee that had been hit drifted off the dirt road which led through the village. He could see the man in the back was in trouble as flames were licking up all around him. Inexpicably, the driver and assistant driver abandoned the vehicle and ran for cover. He ordered his driver to close the distance then stop when going any further would expose the vehicle to sniper fire. He opened the door and ran toward the burning Humvee as AK-47 rounds began throwing up sand all around him.
When he reached the vehicle, the Army soldier in back was softly crying out, "Get me outta here!" Embler reached up and into the flames, trying to find something to grab onto and pull this very large man out. Embler himself was just over six feet tall and weighed nearly 200 pounds and he was in very good shape. Yet o matter how hard he pulled, the man wouldn't budge. He had to find out what was preventing him from moving. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes, stepped on what was left of the bumper, and looked into the burning mess. The man's legs had been nearly severed by the RPG and he was hopelessly entangled in a mess of twisted steel. Making matters worse, the man was now also on fire. His forehead blistered by the heat and his hands severely burned, Embler nevertheless tried one more time to extricate this mortally wounded man from the wreckage. He put his hands under his armpits then pushed against the back of the vehicle using both legs and pulling with all his strength. Even then, this Sergeant First Class could not even be budged. That's when the sound of M-16 rounds began cracking near his head as ammunition in the vehicle started cooking off. Embler knew there was also an AT-4 antitank round in the Humvee's back seat. If it went off, he would die along with his fellow American and brother in arms.
By then, another Marine had ran the gauntlet of sniper fire to join him. He hollered out over the noise of the burning vehicle, "Sir, you gotta let him go! There's nothing more we can do, here." It made him sick then and it still did now when he thought about that moment when he realized there really was nothing more to be done. Mercifully, the soldier had passed out or possibly even died from the loss of blood as both Marines had no choice but to again expose themselves to enemy fire to get back to the relative safety of their vehicle. Just moments later, the vehicle exploded in a massive fireball sending shrapnel flying several hundred meters in all directions.
For his actions, Captain Embler was being recommended for the Silver Star, one level above the Bronze Star he'd earned in Iraq. The recommendation meant nothing to him. The man had died. He didn't feel like a hero. He'd failed and no piece of colored ribbon would change that. His Marines assumed he just being modest when he shrugged off the Silver Star recommendation, but Brad Embler didn't give a shit about anything but not be able to get the guy out; a man who had a wife and two girls he would never see again who were waiting for him to return home. Nor did he care about the serious burns to both hands or the blistering on his forehead. Like he did with every other loss, he'd brood for a while then compartmentalize it and keep in a place he'd rarely visit. Doing so was just too painful.
The guys were all whooping and hollering about the latest DVD one his Marines had gotten from his wife back home. She was hot as hell and she often sent him videos of herself in lingerie while she masturbated or played with toys telling him what she wished he was doing to her right then. Embler didn't know why this Marine let everyone else watch his wife, but that was his call. Each new video became a much-anticipated event in the company.
He'd seen two of them himself. The first time he'd walked in inadvertently when everyone was cheering like hell. The second time, the company first sergeant told him the Marines had invited him to come watch with them. This wasn't the kind of things officers typically did with their men and the men generally didn't want officers around. But Embler was the exception to the rule. He'd initially said, "No thanks." However, when the company 1stSgt told the captain how much it meant to be asked, he'd reluctantly agreed.
As he watched that second video, he was glad he had because she definitely put on quite a show. She was a sexy blonde who was maybe 20 years old. She had a gorgeous face, perfect teeth, beautiful blue eyes, a tight, hard body, and a great set of knockers. She started out showing only her face telling her husband what she wanted from him when he got home. Then she moved back and climbed onto their bed and starting moaning and playing with her ample tits. They'd all been in-country for six months and no one had been close to a real women since they left home. He watched as she then unsnapped the crotch of her red body suit exposing her moist, pink pussy. She moaned as she fingered herself and said, "I have to settle for my fingers because I don't have your cock here to fuck me, baby." The other men went crazy and slapped their buddy on the back and told him how much they loved his wife, too. She slid them in deep and moaned loudly. "Mmmm. I want your cock inside me SO bad right now!" she said. She kept this up for quite some time, playing to the camera and to her husband. After cumming hard, she licked her lips and said, "I wish I was licking your cum off my face. Can't wait to see you...and your cock. Kisses and love you, baby. Bye!"
Embler hadn't jerked off since they arrived. At home, he never needed to. His wife, Alicia, was in the mood as often as he was. He couldn't remember the last time they'd gone more than three days without sex and more often than not, one of them would initiate their love-making every other day or so. There were more than a few 3-day spurts where they fucked every day at least once.
That night, when he finally got to bed around 1am, he'd laid on the thin little mattress that sat on top of his cot and thought about his gorgeous wife as he pleasured himself. Every one of his Marines had met her and without exception, they thought she was the best-looking wife in the company. And they were right. The wife in the videos was hot, but Alicia was a freakin' babe. She had thick, dark hair, hazel eyes, high cheek bones, soft, full lips, and a killer smile made perfect by the braces she'd worn in junior high school. Like him, she was a fitness freak and they'd met at a gym when he was a senior in college. She was an aerobics instructor and both of them had caught the other's eye the first time they'd seen one another. He asked her out, she said yes, and when he graduated, they were married at her parent's home just outside of Denver, Colorado. When she learned he'd already been to Marine Corps OCS (Officer Candidates School) and planned to accept a commission upon graduation, she'd had reservations about marrying him. But none of them had anything to do with whether or not she loved him. They were all based in fear. Fear of the knock on her door. Fear of a funeral. Fear of death. She'd never let fear fun her life before and she wasn't about to start. She put those fears behind her and married the man she loved. A smart, handsome, athletic, caring man who put her needs ahead of his at all times. She loved this Marine with all her heart.
He imagined her doing all of those things that young, pretty, blonde wife had done for her husband. Just the thought of watching Alicia pleasure herself sent him into overdrive. There was only one fantasy that pushed him ever further into the world of ecstasy, but he'd never shared it with her. Some things seemed better left unspoken, and Embler considered this one of them. Even so, he gave himself permission to imagine her telling him about her own secret fantasy only to learn that it was the same one he had. The thought of her...doing that...pushed him over the edge. He shot months worth of built-up semen into the wad of Kleenex laying on his stomach as he pictured her enjoying everything he'd ever fantasized her doing while he watched.