Things to ponder on Memorial Day:
They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags,
insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress
bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine
tablets, Sterno, LRRP- rations, and C-rations stuffed in socks. The
carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and
steel pots. They carried the M-16 assault rifle. They carried trip
flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-70 grenade launcher,
M-14's, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's, 66mm Laws, shotguns, .45 caliber
pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers, and
sometimes the sound of silence. They carried C-4 plastic explosives,
an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes.
Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs; some risked their lives
to rescue
others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage.
Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive. They
carried
malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leaches. They carried the land itself
as it
hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures
of
their loved ones - real and imagined. They carried love for people
in the real
world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that
love: "Don't
mean nothin'!"
They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with
poise
and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set
in, and
people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and
made
moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God"
and hugged the
earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the
noise to
stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God
and their
parents, hoping not to die.
They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories
and
images of those who served before them. They carried grief, terror,
longing
and their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear: the
embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point,
and
advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were
afraid of
dying, but too afraid to show it. They carried the emotional baggage
of men
and women who might die at any moment. They carried the weight of
the world.
THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER
Remember them this Memorial Day
