UNDERSTANDING
THE MISUNDERSTOOD:
Another hole, another stand in
Vietnam. The liquid humidity wrapped itself around us as though
it wanted to smother us. The smell of the red dirt was thick and heavy
in the air and fear
filled each and every one of us this night, because Charley was on the
move. It is a helpless
feeling when all one has to do is wait, the darkness seems to magnify
the loneliness and
intensity of any given situation. The sounds echo in your head like the
beat of a steel drum
while your eyes frantically search
and your heart does flip flops to the beat. If were possible
the flesh would crawl off your bones and seep into the cracks and
crevices of the earth. We had
no where to go, so we waited and the sweat poured while we anticipated
the attack.
The reports were coming in
staggered, Viet Cong were seen advancing towards our position.
The silence and the concentration of each and every Marine in the
perimeter was an awesome
sight to experience. From time to time you could hear the sounds of M-14
bolts sliding home,
piercing the silence. A muffled cough or the mumbling of a prayer could
be heard also as we
prepared for the siege. We were sitting on a potential powder keg that
was getting ready to
explode. Each one of us had our hand
on the plunger ready to detonate in an instant, without
remorse or without conscience.
Hope came in the form of a dragon.
We called it Puff. It had been summoned to help us out. It
had been here for us in the past and it was not an unfamiliar sight to
see it breathing fire in
the sky. I hoped that tonight it would manifest it's presence, a needed
show of force to deter
our enemy from it's objective and purpose.
War deals with death, it's sole
purpose is to destroy life, maim, cripple and intimidate the
opposing force. It is a machine that uses human beings as fuel, it draws
us in and burns us up
then spits us out. Refueling itself with an endless supply of living
breathing entities who are
willing to be spent for the cause of freedom. In the aftermath we find
that the waste was
nothing more than a toxic means to an end A necessary evil, for the
advancement of peace.
Devastation has never been displayed
in any other form that equals Puff the Magic Dragon.
It is here. We watch as the magnificent beast groans out its power. The
Dragon breathes
fire in the distance and nothing can stop it's utter and complete
domination of the air
and ground. Tracer rounds light up the sky as a red sheet of rounds
twist to the ground as a
tornado, covering in it's wake, the area the size of a football field.
It drops one round in
every square foot of jungle. It deals out death swiftly and conquers all
under its wings. Then
it devours the souls and moves silently through the night, as the grim
reaper rides his
nightmare returning to hell.
We breath again...
The advance has stopped.
The jungle is silent, no movement is
seen.
It is ironic how relief is found in terror, and in death life is
gained.
War!
It is understandable how it is
so misunderstood.
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