he longest nine months of of my life was not
my incubation in my mother's womb ,
but my stint in the Vietnam War .
It changed my life forever .
I just graduated from high school , enjoying an
innocent life in the prime of my youth .
Stupidly , I joined the Army , and unluckily was
sent to serve in the Vietnam War .
I served as grunt in the 2nd/8th Calavry ,
and being from Florida , that's how I
recieved my nick name 'Gator Grunt' .
Needless to say , it was not a fun time ,
I have seen more atrocities than anyone should have to .
It surely wasn't worth the Bronze Star ,
nor the two Purple Hearts with Oakleaf Clusters .
ell , here I set out to write
a detailed page of my tour of duty ,
but now I see that I cannot do such , it brings on
way too many painful memories of horror ,
like shooting innocent nameless victims
and seeing my young buddies die violently .
Maybe I'll continue at a later date.....
y stint was cut short by flying shrapnel
caused by a rocket mortar attack ,
severley injuring my face and chest .
I must have a guardian Angel , because I was
pronounced 'Dead on Arrival' .
Miraculously , I survived , only haunted by a few
physical scars and many , many nightmares .
When I returned homestead , bruised and bloodied ,
I was treated as if I were a public enemy by my peers .
I was merely a pawn in a game of political egos ,
a naive kid turned into a killing machine ,
only to come home to a fashionable anti-war climate ,
where my uniformed maimed body was spat upon .
o this day , I still shiver when I hear the sound
of helicopters flying overhead , and fireworks
remind me of ammunition fire in the night .
Everyone was affected by this war and others .
Please keep this in mind when you feel the urge
to mock the proverbial crazy Vietnam Veteran .
There is just cause for their insanity .
click here to see some of my vietnam photos
