From Darkness to Light: The Duncan's Adventure in New Orleans

The first time I was shot, was back in 'Nam. It was at dusk, a little ways north of the DMZ. We were moving up a slope and had gone to ground around some rocks when we took fire from a nearby hill. I saw one of our guys go down and I went in after him, along with my buddy Dan. When we got to him he'd been hit twice but was still conscious, so we dragged him back to where our medic could patch him up. Just as we got back to cover I felt an impact on my arm and knew I'd been hit. I fell over onto my side and looked down at my arm to see a gash across it. It didn't hurt much, which meant I hadn't been shot too close to the artery or one of the big veins. There wasn't really any blood anywhere except for on my arm, so that meant there wasn't any major damage either. I figured since I was still able to move the arm that it wasn't too bad, though it would probably leave a scar somewhere on the outside of the arm somewhere.

Dan helped me up and we continued back towards our platoon, who had moved up higher while we dragged their guy back. Most of them were already getting ready to move out again when we joined them and they told us to take cover because it looked like they were going to bring air support in again. Dan and I hid behind some rocks while they laid down suppressing fire just before the helicopters came overhead and started dropping bombs on the enemy positions below us. After that we rushed forward again, but found no more enemies around where the bombs had landed. We passed through two small villages without finding any resistance until dark fell and we stopped for the night.

The next day most of us were pretty beat up from all the fighting so far that week, or from injuries sustained in previous battles. Of course everyone wanted a break from being out in the field during such hot weather, but there was no time for rest when you're running an insurgency campaign against an enemy that had no problem living in tunnels where they could hide until you walked right by them before popping out and killing you with a knife or an AK-47. We regrouped with our supply trucks and picked up ammo for further operations before heading east towards some more villages that were known to be hotbeds for enemy activity. They were also widely known to be home to civilians as well, which meant taking them out would be kind of shitty unless we could do it without hurting anyone who didn't deserve it. Our orders were simple: if there are people there then bomb everything inside or just outside the village until nothing can live there anymore; if there aren't then just destroy anything inside or outside that might be useful for the enemy so that they don't want to use those places anymore. So basically burn them all down or blow them all up - whatever gets the job done faster is what we needed to do today.

We started off with one village that had been reported as being empty except for a few animals roaming around in there during recent patrols through the area. The air strike went down fine but when we got close enough to check things out we found bodies littered everywhere - women and children mostly - covered in bullet holes or killed by shrapnel wounds from all sorts of different kinds of weapons used by our troops over time during this whole war so far (one guy had apparently died from a bayonet wound). Faces were blue or purple, eyes open pointing skyward along with mouths frozen in silent screams of rage against us for doing this terrible thing to their homes and families members; minds forever trapped in an eternal moment where life ended for them as quickly as it began; lives snuffed out before any great life-changing experiences occurred; hopes crushed by sudden violence; futures destroyed forever by our blind lust for power over others; lives extinguished before they even really began... It's hard not to think about these things when you see stuff like this because you know this isn't how anyone wants their life brought to an end, no matter how evil someone else may seem... And yet here these people lay dead because someone thought blowing shit up here would help make everybody safer somehow...

Stop reading into things! Yes they died here but they had chosen their fate long ago by choosing who they supported politically decades ago! Their own leaders made sure no better options existed by making sure other candidates never made it past electioneering stage! Their own sons chose their fates long ago when they decided that joining terrorist organizations was more important than pursuing higher education! Their own fathers decided their fates long ago by refusing opportunities given then instead preferring poverty over prosperity! These people are dead because they made stupid decisions and now they have nobody but themselves and their own culture to blame for their situation!!!

It's been years since I've thought about Vietnam anymore... Not since Mandy entered my life did that sort of thing go away entirely, but it became less frequent over time... And yet today here I am suddenly thinking about something that happened a very long time ago thanks to seeing something just now that reminds me strongly of things I've seen before in another place... A place very different from here under most circumstances but similar enough today that seeing something similar causes me pain once again (though not nearly as severe as it used to be)... Funny how many things can change within your own lifetime sometimes if you're paying attention... Or funny if you're not paying attention... Either way some things will always remain constant while others will always change... Unfortunately most people aren't paying attention these days because most people choose not pay attention these days... They're too busy worrying about other stuff instead (like whether Kim Kardashian is engaged again) or too busy trying get rich quick via some crazy scheme they've heard of online (like emailing Nigerian princes because "it can't hurt"!) or too busy trying figure out why everybody else seems to be doing better than them despite no real evidence supporting such thoughts (most likely caused by watching reality TV shows about other people's lives). The point is most people just aren't paying attention enough these days, myself included at times unfortunately... And yet despite all this lack of focus on what truly matters sometimes certain events can grab your attention quickly enough make you pay attention again despite yourself... Such events are rare though so don't expect it too often if you decide not pay attention (but hopefully someday you will start paying attention)!