in the heat of the fray, with chaos all around, we find solace in the simplest of joys. playing cards, those humble emissaries of strategy and fortune, become a metaphor for the battlefield. we cast aside our pre-induction opinions, those naive thoughts that warfare is but a distant thunder, and instead, dive deep into the camaraderie that only those who've shared in the struggle can understand. the deck is our access code, a means to restart from baseline, to momentarily forget the din of war and remember what it's like to just be human again.