It really is mad, but as you say you have referred to this moment before in your stories that one almost imagined you actually had written and published it before. It reads almost exactly how I imagined it, but of course always with your excellent writing style Gibraltar. Like CeJay, it really almost feels like the readers are shouting at the computer screen saying, "NO, don't do it!"

However, it really illustrates how far Sandhurst has come. I think this is key to why your stories and series proves so popular. Your main character has such character growth from the very beginning but that growth has come at such great cost and through some very horrid lessons.

And as TLR said, despite the costs and the hard calls he has had to make, something about Donald's character, about his unfailing stick at it attitude and mettle to never give up, despite all the detractors, all the hard luck situations and all the tragedy and bad results, he stays the course, finishes the mission and sticks to what he believes is right. Yeah, this piece works to make a person very nostalgic about your stories. Good job.