Monday, February 16th, 2004

Time	Event
6:44p	The conversation started, as most do these days, with him asking me what happened to my foot. He was an old man and a veteran, as were all the old men here at the hospital but unlike most people, he wasn’t surprised when I told him how I’d been injured. “I took one piece of shrapnel here,” he said, pointing to the side of his mouth. “Blew part of my face off from here to here,” he gestured from the corner of his mouth to his jawbone. “Wow,” I said, as any more significant words escaped me. I looked closely at his face and noticed for the first time the large dimple that extended from the left side of his mouth, I hadn’t even noticed the scar until he mentioned it and I told him as much. “Yeah, most people don’t,” he replied. “When did it happen?” I asked. I didn’t know the man’s age but I was guessing Korean War, or possibly Vietnam at an older age. “1945” he said. He didn’t look like a man near 80. I was surprised. I’d never met a WWII combat vet before. “Where were you at? “ I asked. “A little Island in the pacific called Iwo Jima,” He said. I listened intently as he described the type of land mine that had wounded him; how you could tell by the thickness of the lead casing whether they were anti-personnel, vehicle or armor and what he’d seen one of the big ones do to an M-4 tank, and what the one that he met did to him. “What most people don’t realize,” he said finally, “Is that it’s not the getting wounded that hurts the worst, it’s the recovery.” (18 Comments | Comment on this)
6:48p	The Red Badge Of Poor Timing Over the last few months, I’ve thought a lot about the wars we’ve fought. Although I’m aware of the significance of the conflict I was involved in I never fired a shot. I didn't do anymore than any of the other guys in my unit and even though I was wounded, my purple heart merely reflects unfortunate timing. People wonder how the traumatic attack and the loss of a close friend will affect me but although it’s been difficult, I can’t help but think about the men who saw a dozen friends fall around them as they stormed a muddy trench in France, or lost both legs to a landmine in the jungles of Vietnam. I’ve been through a lot in the last year but I’ve become acutely aware of the fact that there are tens of thousands of men out there who’ve been through far worse campaigns and lived through incidents as bad, or worse than mine half a dozen times or more. The next time you think about the war going on today, whatever you may think of it, remember that there’s thousands of soldiers out there who’ve fought, and suffered, and lost more than we know, many of whom came home only to be cursed at and then quietly forgotten. Remember them now and as today’s soldiers return, regardless of how you feel about politicians and foreign policy, just be glad that there are men and women out there willing to serve their country as soldiers. Be grateful because there may come a day when your very way of life is threatened and it will be those people who will answer the call, it will be those soldiers that defend us. Current Mood: Reflective (31 Comments | Comment on this)

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