This Things to Ponder
Things to ponder this upcoming Memorial Day, May 28th.
The things they Carried....
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. 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!!!!
Author Unknown
Sent in By Tom Miller, 2nd Battalion 94th Artillery
Remember them this Memorial Day May 28th