The Young Terrorist

English III
For many times we were bothered by the numerous attacks and encounters in Mindanao by the terrorists. Have you ever wonder about the stories behind all these attacks? The following short story was shared by an anonymous writer. It gives us another side of these usual stories we heard over the news. Read on...

THE YOUNG TERRORISTS

The Young Terrorist Anonymous 

There was a violent encounter between a group of terrorist and an army detachment in Mindanao.The terrorists succeeded in wiping out the group of soldiers whom they had ambushed. After the last shot was sounded, the terrorists went around among the dead with the hope of salvaging whatever was useful to them. As the youngest of them was doing the search, he found an unmailed letter in the pocket of a young soldier. Curious to know the contents of the letter, he opened it and hurriedly read it.

Dear Mother, 

Please forgive me for leaving you and my brothers and sisters. Dont ever think that I am a 
bad son. I had to leave our family even if it was against my will because I wanted to 
improve our family's life situations. I just want to earn and  help my brothers and 
sisters get an education. I know that what you earn as a vendor is too meager to support 
our family. That's why I joined the army. As a soldier I have 

encountered many hardships. Death walks with me everyday. But I'm not afraid, for I know 
that God will protect me. I do my job faithfully and well. That was what you taught me. 

Yesterday I received my first salary and I'm sending you a postal money order for one 
thousand five hundred pesos. With this amount you can buy a sack of rice, a few cans of 
sardines, and pay the tuition fees of Lita and Caloy. I should have sent you twice this amount
but I'm not so sure if it wont be lost in the mail. I'll send you the rest after you have answered 
this letter. How's everybody? Is Terry still no.1 in her class? Does Dan give you anymore 
problems? Tell baby she'll have her dream doll when I 

come home. Tell the others that we'll go shopping and eat out when I return.Just be patient. 

Give my love and regards to them all. And of course to my dearest Cherry. Tell her I miss her.
I'll write her soon. Please take care of yourself, Ma. Don't work too hard. And please don't 
worry about me. 

I shall be home this Christmas, perhaps.

Love, Arnold

The young terrorist was beside himself with grief for the first time in his life. 

Deeply touched by the soldier's letter, he felt and upheaval, an internal turmoil. 

As he took one last look at the young lifeless soldier, he saw himself in him. 

He began to reexamine his own choice, his ideology, his own life-style.

This event, this tragic encounter arose deep stirrings within him. 

For the first time he was confronted with the enemy--the war. 

But now it has put on a new face. The impersonal enemy became an enemy with a name, 

a person with the same aspirations as he. He remembered his own family, 

his mother, trying to make both ends meet to feed his little brothers and sisters. 

This encounter revealed to him a universal and a personal aspiration and cry for help.

The cry kept ringing in his ears. At the break of dawn the next day, he headed for town 

with the letter in his pocket. As he dropped it into the mail box, there was only one 

thought in his mind. Then slowly he walked toward the camp of the 23rd Army detachment.

War is worthless...