is it ever really over...

The effects of being deployed never go away. Sure they can fade into distant memories or they are relived with each retelling, but you never forget.
 There are soldiers who sleep on the ground in freezing rain. They walk for miles with 80 pounds of gear, They fight in the dark, they push on. There is little time for stupidity. For these soldiers and for the ones who fell, they are the real heroes. They average in age from 19 -27. They lead the young men who follow them through the toughest experiences of their lives. These are the soldiers' who shake their head at the non sense that goes on while deployed.
Those who fight with each other, sleep with each other, miss wake up for a mission because they are asleep from too much to drink, those who go on a mission only to go into villages to eat, they laugh at those who shoot donkeys for fun. They are angered by the women who go home pregnant.
There is honor to having served in war time, but their is also embarrassment. The stupid games that happen are needlessly wasting soldiers' time. Is it ever really over? No. When those same soldiers' return home they will create the same drama back at home.