>>2338541I don't blame you, or anyone, for being dubious about the whole thing. Thing is, my dad doesn't talk about Vietnam. When he meets other vets he doesn't tell them he was there. He wants nothing to do with it and never has. He's a serious PTSD case and ruined the lives of everyone around him for 25 years before he even started to get help. The last time he talked about his experience was when I was very young, because at that time he had only been out 15 years and still wore his standard issue army jacket everyday and was still working through it.
One night after a couple beers he told me and my brother about the rice paddy, that he was slithering through sewerage all night being hunted and he obviously completely knew he was going to die like everyone else, but said "yeah I'm dying, but I'm only dying if you're coming with me". Said he picked them off of the rice paddy in the dark one by one with his knife and was in tears when he said he was rescued by about 5 helicopters and troops at dawn.
Went right back on the line that day, he was 19.
