It was three o’clock when I returned to the comforts of the base.
I was exhausted and happy that at last another day’s duty was finally through.
I rushed into the bathroom to shave, brush my teeth and clean the dirt from my face.
Before I could get in my cot, the captain already assigned another job for me to do.

Reluctantly, I grabbed my camouflaged rucksack and gear off my bed.
Tonight on a special covert rescue mission, I am silently sent.
Shoving the folder under my arm, I placed my helmet on my head.
A sergeant pulled up in a Humvee as I walked out the door of my tent.

Sitting my gear on the seat, I am surprised by the info in my orders I find.
Inside the mission folder, I am given a detail map of the entire place.
The covert ops intelligence report gives me stuff to cover my behind.
After reading the rest of the report, I saw the picture of his face.

Almost instantly something hit me and my smile disappeared into a frown.
This person, the hostage I must rescue, was not a stranger, you see.
The Humvee stopped; thump, my backpack and feet hits the ground.
The hostage I must rescue, he is an U. S. Army Ranger, like me.

It was time for me to get moving so I sling my pack on, again.
This is a very good friend of mine; I must get this job done.
Through the jungle with determination, to my assignment, I ran.
As an U. S. Army Ranger, I will to die to save this one.

When I finally get there, in the brush outside the compound, I wait.
Carefully, I counted all the enemy guards that were walking around.
The report was wrong again, you can call it luck or call it my fate.
Anyway, the first three guards died without making a sound.

With the perimeter secure, I peeped through the glass of the backdoor.
The coast was clear in the room, so silently through it, I carefully crept.
The guard had his eyes covered with a hat and his weapon lying on the floor.
Silently, I placed my hand over his mouth before slicing his throat as he slept.

Cautiously, I raised my weapon as I eased into the next room.
The prisoner I came to rescue, he was asleep on a mat on the floor.
My job was just about to be done; the prisoner will be home soon.
With the prisoner leaning on my shoulder, I slowly open the bedroom door.

Carefully sitting him on the now empty chair, the escape route I went to check out.
The intelligence report listed one more guard and I knew he should be somewhere.
Searching the front porch, I found him just as I thought, not paying attention without a doubt,
The unsuspecting guard was on the porch looking at TV while reclining in a rocking chair.

Immediately I came back into the kitchen and easily picked my weak package up.
Running at top speed, the U.S Army Ranger quickly ran through the open backdoor.
Once I reach a safe distance in the trees, I push the button and the whole place erupts.
Before leaving, I decided to kill the other guard up with a C-4 bomb I left on the kitchen floor.