Veterans

When my sweetie….a Vietnam Vet….finally accepted that he was going to die because of Agent Orange, he opened up like I never thought possible. All of a sudden it was easier for him to cry, easier to hug, easier to admit to being scared.

He was from a very poor family in Massachusetts, a family that never had the extra money to travel. He told me that when he got drafted and landed in Vietnam, he almost didn’t understand where exactly he was. Never heard of Vietnam. Never been out of the state of Massachusetts and probably had never been 20 miles away from home in any direction.

He hated firecrackers and thunder, he startled easily and would never, ever sit with his back to a door.

I remember the last time he walked out of his workshop with tears running down his cheeks. He just that instant realized that he could no longer figure out how to read a tape measure. This man of incredible talent, knew how to use every tool, built things out of wood, metal, anything….with great precision. Agent Orange brain cancer. Worse than the other cancers he was dealing with.

People like my sweetie and you, Duncanpup, who have been in wars or around folks who have, nix the chest-beating and tell it like it is. We need that. Our young people need that. Keep talking. You help me more than you know and I’ll bet you help a whole lot of others.

Thank you~