Epiphany

 

What a beautiful Epiphany morning, crisp and clear with the sun rising over the common behind the Compound. I say "common" but I don't think any of us have grazing rights on this bit of vacant land owned by the Civic Power. Regardless, I wasn't there to recce out a site for a new parade square or even admire the scenery, no, I was there to work.

Don't laugh, I was, and spent the morning hanging drywall for a new Habitat For Humanity house.  What a good cause and led, in this instance, by a neat guy who got me into the swing of things. He's retired now and spends his time putting up these houses for the good of the community, but had been a soldier for 20 years.

A Mexican immigrant, he joined up in 1969 and fought in Vietnam where he was wounded, "What's that, 49 inches? Sometimes my memory's not so good, I stepped on a mine." Mines aside, D stayed in and retired in 1989 as, I think, a  Command Sergeant Major with III Corps. "Phantom Warriors," I offered, resisting the urge to ask how an armored corps could somehow classify as "phantom." He grinned, impact wrench in hand, "That's right, III Corps."

What a good guy and he liked the fact that my eldest, the erstwhile and maybe future cadet, was stationed at Fort Hood, "It'll always be Fort Hood, man. Have you been down Tank Destroyer Boulevard?" I replied that I had. "There's a lot of power there," he said in a quiet tone and I agreed that there was.

Ahem, Civic Power, Roads

Then we were finished for the day and I tell you, I really enjoyed the work, the company and the chance to put faith into practice. All you biblical scholars out there will recall Christ was rather insistent on people helping out those less fortunate than ourselves. That in mind, I'll be back on the project, big fun to boot.

An Epiphany? Yes indeed, on several levels. Not least, tear yourself away from the appalling news cycle and do something good and constructive. Exercise your faith, put "tract into act" and all of that, and who knows who you'll meet along the way. But I won't preach.

Cheers,

LSP

Cat From Hue #2

 

Again, many thanks to the kind reader who sent me The Cat From Hue, what an excellent book, read it. That in mind, one of its themes is the author's increasing and in the end utter distrust of the MACV establishment account of the war. 

John Laurence came to believe MACV was lying and he was in the right place to know, he covered the war at its sharp end for a solid five years (1965-70). You see, he was being told at press conferences that we were unequivocally winning and he knew we weren't, at least in terms of big picture. 

Plaudit aside, things have moved on and the likes of Laurence, Dana Stone, Tim Page, Michael Herr, Sean Flynn et al wouldn't be tolerated. In fairness, why should the US warfighting hegemon tolerate a potentially subversive element. Then again, the reverse side of the medal says that that same hegemon shouldn't lie at the expense of lives and the enrichment of its pocketbook.

So to what extent are we being lied to about the Ukraine conflict? I'll wager the monkey, and he's a vicious little beast, that we shouldn't believe half of what we're told, and that's a conservative wager. Bets on?

Play Deep,

LSP

Cat From Hue

 

A kind reader of this inconsequential mind blog sent me a book, The Cat From Hue. He was, forgive me if I'm wrong, trying to make sense of the Vietnam conflict as was the author himself, a CBS journalist who got right in the thick of things. Like no fooling.

And what things they were. The book starts off in 1965 and moves from there to Tet and I'm struck by the no-nonsense of the prose, the bravery of the reporters and the men they cover. Also, and this stands out, the number of WWII and Korean vets in the story.

There they were, on their third war, yes, people who'd seen action at Bastogne and Imjin equivalents. I don't dare comment except to say that this is an outstanding book written by a good man. Read it, you won't be disappointed, The Cat From Hue.

Semper,

LSP

Tim Page RIP

Thanks to Wild I know that legendary war photographer Tim Page has died in his late 70s, may he rest in peace. Page was remarkable for his photography of the SE Asian conflict and I wish I'd met him.

But it wasn't to be, he was doubtless more concerned with other things, like moving to Australia, curiously. Brisbane aside, Page certainly shot the war, respect.

I first heard about him from Michael Herr's psychedelic book Dispatches, which had a deleterious impact on several levels. Regardless, Page's photography was outstanding.

May he rest in peace. In related news, a Gathering of Eagles is scheduled in London Sept/Oct, depending on Whitehall. See you there, Mandarins nothwithstanding, on the steps of St. Paul's.

Lee Ho Fooks,

LSP

I Love This Song - Vietnam For Trump

 

Vietnamese love Trump.

Why? Because so awesome.

Your Pal,

LSP

A Curious Tale To Mark The Anniversary Of Woodstock

Here's a short and curious tale to mark the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the greatest hippy gathering the world has ever known.

It was a hot night in Dallas and the whisky flowed freely on my friend's back porch as we talked of guns, religion, Sergeant Majors, wars and hippies. 

Then the conversation turned personal. TH fixed me in the eye, he'd been a combat diver in Vietnam, a kind of proto SEAL.

"I'd just returned from a mission, it'd been," he paused, "difficult. And got orders to go on leave, so off I went without changing uniform. Out of the jungle and onto the plane.

"Landed in LA, and went outside to get a cab. It was right after Woodstock, and there was this hippy woman, staring, I must have looked a mess. She jabs her finger and calls me a 'baby killer.' What? I couldn't take that at all so I knocked her out, bang. 

"A cop comes over, he'd seen it, and asks, 'Do you want me to book her for assault?' I thought for a moment, no, let it be."

Here endeth the Lesson.

Rest in peace, TH.

LSP

Stop Whining And Complete The Mission

I was sitting in the front office porch of the Compound drinking coffee and feeling sorry for myself, all because an appellate court had ruled against our diocese and I was looking down the barrel of being down one house and two churches. Whine, whine, whine.

EMU

Then a churchperson showed up for a talk and unwound about some of the things he'd experienced in Vietnam as a Crew Chief. Horrific and Hell don't do it justice, no fooling. 

That put things into perspective and I didn't feel so miserable after the Chief's tale.

Motorcycle Hippy

In related news, the same man once chased a crew of motorcycle hippies out of his stock tank a while back. The thieving hippies were probably chancing it out of Austin and landed in the wrong territory.

Moral of the story? Stop whining, the mission continues.

LSP