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Chapter One

Vale

I step onto American soil for the first time in four years

The lights of the airport are bright, but they’re nothing coo off aroundmicrophones into my face It wasn’t supposed to be this way The media was never supposed to find out ence leak means my face has been all over the news

I’m the Navy SEAL who killed the world’s most wanted terrorist

Civilians are cheering forSaved countless lives by taking a madman’s But the last four years is a blur of blood and explosions and near drownings The kill they are cheering for was just a split second buried under ashit And I don’t want the credit or the accolades or applause I just want to get somewhere quiet and finally take a deep breath

Is that going to be possible?

On the fight back to California, I kept waiting for the relief to kick in I’ to be active duty, thanks to a fistful of shrapnel buried in my calf, courtesy of the very saht There will be noif I said I wouldn’t ht is in uard down for one fucking second—and it’s not happening

Even in this sterile airport, the adrenaline is surging in my veins

I’un in

The smiles on people’s faces see in my ears

Soins to blare fro pictures of me with their cell phones The reporters shout questions over the din How does it feel to be a hero? What will you do now?

As if I just won the Super Bowl, instead of taking a human life

They don’t understand

They’ve never been there

I feel like a fish out of fucking water, gasping for air, just trying to get out

Get to my family