VIETNAM UNCENSORED — AN EVENT IN THE SHADOWS OF ETERNITY

I have often reflected on the thoughts running through our minds as we stood before the threshold of eternity each day. The anxiety dispelled hunger, and we would gobble a candy car or piece of a sandwich. Most notably, I would confirm our position and destination, reconnoiter, and check our weapons, ammo, and ordinances. We’d suit up in silence as we genuflected our gear to ensure all was in order. Occasionally, I would do a casual inspection to double-check metal to metal.

Before moving out, I would memorize the faces of the team. One last look before the plunge and the possibility of oblivion. It was how we started in single file, trailing behind the brother before us. And while no one ever spoke of the inevitable end of all things, the anxiety appeared in all our faces.

Nothing was more fantastic than the battlefields of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. We did not have a reference to the death and destruction we faced. There was no reality to grab as a guide, yet we occupied a space in the daily occurrences of such events. Nothing was ever what we planned, expected, or found.

All our compasses pointed to coordinates in another dimension we could not see or define. If we called in artillery, we also became the objective. The only reliable target of the jet fighters was the ground. Agent Orange…