Today I thank CPL Zachary Endsley, my Eternal Brother in Arms, for his fearless service and noble sacrifice to our fellow Brothers and our Country.

I won’t even pretend to have the right words to say to you, Zach. You always knew what to say better than I did. Your jokes were always better than mine. You could always endure better than I could. And in the way that true Brothers respect one another, I always loved you for it.

I remember when you first came to Bravo 1-4 as a new private in the Infantry. I remember being your fire team leader and bringing you in to the profession of arms. I also remember that, no matter how harsh my stoic team leadership was, you always managed to be an exemplary soldier who would could make jokes and laugh through the toughest situations. I remember being jealous in the way that only the elder Brother of a prodigy could be. And I remember liking you even more every time you showed just how tough and committed you really were.

You were never afraid, Zach. You never complained. No matter how many firefights we got into, no matter how tired or hungry or grueling it all was. You never complained. You always made jokes to lift our spirits. You were always stronger than whatever we faced.

I remember when your truck hit that IED on Easter. After immediately taking charge of your exploded truck and crew to begin triage YOU came to check on ME and my team as we pulled security after the explosion. I couldn’t even tell that you had been blown up. It’s not that you took it in stride, it’s that you were too tough to even let it register while you took care of your Brothers in arms. And still, you had that same infectious, optimistic energy in every one of your actions.

It wasn’t simply that I was impressed, it was that I was completely taken aback by your incredible will, fearlessness and commitment to us all.

Still am.

I also remember the last firefight we were in on that deployment. I remember we had won or fought to stalemate on so many fights before. So many that we had lost count. I remember that being the closest ambush I have ever been in my life. I remember them volley firing RPGs.

I remember the enemy bounding towards us, I remember viewing one enemy through my ACOG before I shot him. He was so close his chest took up my entire sight picture.

I didn’t let him live. Or his friend either.

I remember the unbelievable courage of Leroy Walker sending the enemy straight to Hell with the .50 cal as the RPGs exploded around us. I remember Christopher Joseph fearlessly striking them down with the SAW. I remember seeing another hardened combat Veteran go completely catatonic.

That fight was different.

I also remember when we melted the engine block on your truck to make sure the enemy couldn’t try and use it once we left. You drove that truck with courage and blocked that RPG so that the others lived.