When it comes down to it, we are all pretty much the same although combat sometimes sorts out who and what we are better than a normal life. It doesn’t really matter in the long run though. The odd thing about life that combat makes clear is that we are all on a timer. When that time runs out is not for us to know and one would think that would be for us to know so that we could get it all done. Never, never say there’s enough time! Doing it later is a mistake if it needs being done.
All of this is to say that I have a different take on life after Vietnam. I served two tours over there and came back to become a drunken slob for about thirty years. Doing this almost killed me and left me with two and one half months in the hospital and a two year recovery with six months just getting my balance back. It was amazing, learning to walk again!
From that point on I take nothing for granted because time is a fickle master and life is shorter than any of us understand. Some die in a spray of blood and others waste away due to illness. Never say, “So what?” Being callous sometimes moves you up your designated timeline. Be kind as you can muster and never cynical. There is no room for cynicism as we are all facing the same result.
That’s probably more cheap advice than you were bargaining for but consider it free advice and do with it what you will. I will cover a ton of topics here and, I hope, do so intelligently and with verve. After all, I am quite old now. Much older than I deserve to be. That’s life.
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