At Ease

There is a letter for Arthur, my husband

In the spring of 2010, Sergeant Kurt Michael Garret was injured in an explosion in Afghanistan. He was driving the lead Humvee of a Marine Regiment on a routine surveillance mission. His vehicle rolled over an IED, which detonated, shattering his leg and killing the Marine seated next to him, Corporal Benjamin Lee Swanson.

Serving together in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ben and Kurt had trusted each other with their lives. As Ben lay dying by the side of the road, he asked Kurt for one last favor and revealed a secret he had kept from his friend. “There is a letter for Arthur, my husband.”

Now, a year later, Kurt is at home. Injured and showing signs of PTSD, Kurt has had a hard time adjusting and reconnecting with his wife Claire. Emotionally, he’s trapped in that fateful day in Afghanistan.

And he still has the letter. Unable to accept his friend’s double-life, Kurt has yet to visit Arthur. Racked with guilt, Kurt knows he is the only one who can deliver the terrible news to Arthur that his partner is gone. There is something else holding Kurt back and forcing him to relive the past, at night in his kitchen.

Ben has followed him home.