laikhe15



	A GREEN LIEUTENANT A memoir of a Vietnam veteran

		I remembered him talking about that tree at family gatherings, the perfect timing of its arrival, how they stole a battery from the motor pool to get the lights to work, how Aunt Rose had packed the box with plain popcorn to keep it from breaking on the boat trip and how they gobbled down the popcorn even though it was more than a month old. A week later he was wounded and the tree followed him to the hospital. His tree helped him through the darkest moments of his life, constantly reminding him that he was loved and missed by his wife and family back home. An achy lump came to my throat along with a sudden knowledge that I was being missed as the families gathered back in Dayton. Major Chick got wind of the tree and came over to admire it. �Do you mind if we put it in the off-duty room?� he asked. I knew Uncle Cliff would want it there, so I unplugged it and turned it over to him. While I was setting the tree up in the main tent Smith took the chair from my desk. I came back to work and our game began again. I looked around, saw Smith and picked up a folding chair and got back to my desk work. A few minutes later Smith was called into the main office and I grabbed the swivel chair. By now most of the others had knocked off for the day and were knocking down beers at the enlisted men�s club. Smith came back from his meeting, spied the missing chair and decided to bring this thing to an end. �Sir, that�s my chair. I was here in the office long before you got here, it�s my chair!� �Sergeant, I don�t care how long you�ve been here. There are only four swivel chairs in the office and they belong to the officers.� We went on like that for several minutes before I played my trump card. �Sergeant, I don�t give a shit what you think or how long you�ve been here. It�s my chair and if you want to take this up with Major Chick then let�s go see him now and get it over with.� Smith turned on his heel, blasted out the door, giving it an extra slam as he exited, heading for his hooch. I returned to writing script and letters home. Next

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