I got on the plane to Omaha and as I walked down the aisle I saw the older lady I would be sitting next to. I thought, shit, she'll bitch if I smoke. The plane took off and she lit one as soon as the light "no smoking" light went off. I really didn't talk to anyone on the plane. She did ask me where I was coming from and I said "Vietnam". She welcomed me back and immediately scooped 1/2 her turkey lunch into my plate and said I needed it. One of the few, if any, acts of kindness I would ever receive when it came to Vietnam. Other than that the flight was uneventful.
Three hours or so later we landed in Omaha. I was met by some of my family and my mom took me to the hospital to see my brother who was in his early-mid teens. He said to me "I bet your glad I got shot so you could get home early." I was shocked at what he said. Never in my life would I have ever wanted something like that to happen. Fuck man, I just spent a year working at a hospital in Vietnam taking wounded and dead off the choppers and getting them into the ER. And I bagged my share of bodies. Now this? What the fuck was happening.
I don't think I said much of anything and as time went on got really tired. We headed to the family home. I got to say hi to the rest of my family. No too long after that I went to get some needed Zzzzzzzzzzzs.
As I lay there falling asleep I wondered what I was doing back in Omaha and the World and greatly missing my family at the 24th Evac.
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