The Serviceman's Medal

I left Omaha the day after Christmas, 1970, for California and then Vietnam. My family could not really give me any presents but I did get a notebook and my sister gave me a Servicemans Medal. It is in a somewhat clover shape with the rounded top tip of it being red stating land, rounded rounded side tips white stating sea and air and the bottom rounded tip was blue. I always wore this cross along with my dog tags in Vietnam.

One night I had to bag a body in the morgue. The morgue was basically a somewhat rectangle building with wood racks up the sides and back. Those racks held the litters with the bagged bodies. All I seem to remember of that night is being in the morgue with a litter on the floor with a bag that was open with a dead GI. I carefully cut off his fatigues. The last remaining article was his t-shirt. When it cut it off I saw the Serviceman's medal on him. I was shocked at first and then angry. How could God do this. Let a young man die who was wearing the very medal that was to protect him. I was just dumbfounded. I remember standing up looking at this young man. I had not taken the medal off yet and he was just laying there in this bag, no wounds, just looking like he was asleep with the medal around his neck. I said some prayers and then took off his medal and put it with his other belongings and then tagged his toe, zipped up the bag and then tagged it.

The next morning I noticed that my medal was gone when I was getting ready to hit the sack. (At least in my mind it was the next morning but it was very soon after I took care of this GI.). I still had on my chain but no medal. I know it sounds crazy but I always felt God had given him my medal. And even now it is hard for me to think otherwise.

I have replaced that medal but have been afraid to wear it for fear that I would lose it. I have been wearing it for sometime but this morning I immediately noticed it was off my neck but I had the chain on. As I got out of bed I saw the medal lying there. Although I often think of this young man, this brought those memories back again unexpectedly and I again saw this young man laying there with the medal, asleep and with God.

The Cockroach Takes a Bite

Twice in the last few months I have helped people move from apartments where the buildings had cockroaches. So, I'm looking at them and thinking first of all they seemed tiny compared to those I saw in Vietnam. The second thing I fought about was having some flesh eaten by one of these.

It was a rare night when I was not on duty and was in my bunk sleeping. It was a restless sleep and I remember my right hand was hurting a little where I had a wart just under my little finger on the palm of my hand. I was thinking/dreaming that gee, I'd better get it cut off. Maybe there was something going on there. My hand hurt more and more and I was becoming more awake. Then I felt it. Something moved. I literally fell out of my bunk and got a light on. It was a cockroach and it had eaten off the wart on my hand. I now had a small hole that went down a under the palm of my hand past where the wart was and it was bleeding some. Talk about "Oh Shit, how did that happen". Well, I found out later that it can and did for me. Anyway, I killed the cockroach and poured alcohol in the wound and when it grew back I had it cut off in the E.R. It had to be cut off two different times but that did the trick.

So, there you go. I don't think I have ever really told this story to my family or anyone else except the ER and my immediate fellow GI's, but I look back at it with a BIG smile. After all, how many people can say they were bit by a cockroach?

Destiny or Stupidity?

I was drafted the first year they actually pulled your number by birth date. Mine came up as a 50-50 chance of getting drafted. Well, I was called up in the March/April time frame. Before I left for Basic Training everyone told me, don't sign up for additional time. They will ask you to, but don't do it. Well, that first week of orientation, I did sign up for additional time just before we actually got into actually Basic Training. Why? I was uneducated and had worked since I was a sophomore. Pretty much 40 weeks as well as school. I don't remember that education was important in my family. Family was big, we were poor and the money was needed. I thought that by signing up for that extra year I would be able to get a school and learn a trade and get an education. Make something out of myself. So I signed up for Communications Center Specialist.

Close to graduation from Basic Training I get called in. They want to know if I want to continue to stay at Ft. Lewis for pretty much the remainder of my time. Well, apparently they were not aware that I signed up for the extra year and school. Once I told them that, poof, that offer was gone. So off to Ft. Gordon and just finishing training, most of my fellow GI's got Germany, Italy and Belgium Civilian Status. I waited for 3 weeks or so and got Vietnam.

So the question is "Was this my Destiny?" As I said in a early post, I always knew I would go to war - even at a very young age and had actually talked about that happening. Now it was coming true. I guess one could say it was stupidity for signing up for another year but I believe it was my Destiny, a plan for my life from a Higher Being. As I do more posts I'll explain this a little more and give my reasoning on why I believe it was my Destiny and my Destiny played hand and hand with the Destiny of my fellow Brothers.

Well, time to get some Zzzzzzzzzzzzs. It's late and quiet and the night brings me back to basic training. One night it seemed to be especially quiet and I was sitting outside with a fellow Brother from Maine as Taps was being played. We had a very quiet conversation regarding the night and Taps. Somehow I knew right at that time that although I had no knowledge or meaning of Taps that it would become one of the emotional and gut wrenching things I could ever imagine. But it can also bring peace and comfort as well.

So as I fall asleep tonight, my Brothers will be in my thoughts and prayers as they always are. And although no one is outside playing Taps I still hear it and hear the words as I fall to sleep.

Day is Done,

Gone the Sun,

From the Hills,

From the Lake,

From the Skies,

All is Well,

Safely Rest,

God is Nigh.