Christ crucified

"That's when it hit me,"

Specialist Firth, 29, said.

 "To feel the weight of one

 of your comrades,

 to lift the dead body

 of a fellow American,

 you can never prepare yourself

 for that."

For a moment, he fell silent.

 "It wakes you up to reality,

 you know?"

he said as tears welled

in his eyes.

"There are people dying here."