Friday, July 24, 2015

What do I do with all this "Stuff".

The stuff I'm referring to is a storage bin that has what I consider my most treasured items. There is a binder of most of my orders during my time in the service. Most of letters are in there, primarily from Vietnam along with some other items. I have tried going through them recently but struggle in doing so. One letter is about a GI losing an arm in surgery and then going back in and then dying. It talks of a three year old girl with a bullet in her head in surgery and then about a Vietnam women with her insides coming out from wounds and me trying to help the Dr. in the ER and feeling so inadequate and then her death. These letters reflect how uneducated I was, terrible spelling, etc. and just how immature I was at that time. But what they really reflect is the terrible effects of war on civilians, soldiers, etc. I'm reading them probably for the first time as I go through my things and memories flood through my brain. I can only read a few of them and then have to stop. I guess in one way it confirms what has flashed through my memory for all these years and that it was not a dream and really happened. Anyway, I struggle on what to do with the items in this bin. They are of no value to anyone and I know no one in my family would want them. Do I burn them now? Do I have the letters put in my casket when I die or burn them or put the ashes in with me? Stupid I know but I just can't seem to get past what to do with them. So, I'll go through them and put them together and then see where that leads.I suppose in the end I'll burn and bury them and say goodbye.

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