other December 7ths

Pearl Harbor scratched his memory

                                       hed be horribly remiss if he didnt acknowledge other sneak attacks that also killed thousands of other GI Joes however  slowly   tortuously

those attacks didnt come at the hands of an unfriendly force or nation rather upsettingly so by the hands of our militarys big brainsknow-it-alls

our Vietnam GIs served the countryprotected it from a Cold War Communist threat  a bill-of-goods preposterous by any stretch of the imagination  it was called the Domino theory which in reality couldnt be conceived of anything other than greasing the wheels of military defense contractors  profiteering  and personal greed    

Agent Orange

our soldiers slowly slaughtered  many of their children mutants

                                                                    and any and every impediment our government could throw in their way to delay its obligation to treat and care for our veterans it did   and does

a vet he knew a friend he made said They’re playing me out until I die. Then they’ll be able to close the book on me; on me and every veteran who believed in the honor to serve in the military, serve our country. I was stupid to buy into it. The reality was there was no real threat. And tons of money were to be made off young men's lives and bodies.

AGENT ORANGE

his friend's son called him two weeks after his father died  I'm sorry to tell you that my father died. I found you in his cellphone. I knew it was important to call you. Not many people made my father's phonebook.

1658,  FrIday, Pearl Harbor Day,  7  12. 18

December 7, 1941

his uncle was aboard the Arizona when it was sunk at Pearl Harbor

he escaped with his life and to hear him tellhe never discussed it in detail perhaps with his other uncles most of who served in the European theatre but to hear him tell  all the lives lost  somehow  he was savedsaved for something very important

throughout his life that was his guiding light he was sure anything he did was right he had been anointed with blood and fire 

his uncle was a religious man his Catholicism edified and supported his faith in God in Gods plan he was chosen to serve

when he was a young man at a family picnic a Fourth of July affair which was always awash with a patriotic fervor yet also exalted their Polish heritage the family picnics swamped the entire park all three ballfields the basketball courts the playgrounds the swings slides and other apparatuses you couldnt throw a stone and not hit one of his relatives  during the family picnic at last he took his opportunity to interrupt his uncles recitation of how he was miraculously saved at Pearl Harbor how he had been saved for a greater purpose 

he often wondered as a boy why his other uncles who had been in combat didnt hold themselves up as this uncle did how come they didnt say they believed that they were preserved for something greater also

it wasnt often one of the young menone of the cousins interrupted an uncle but he wasnt a child any longer a child who is meant to be seen not heard a child who patently had to respect their elders in particular the familys male elders part of Americas Greatest Generation as it was beginning to be touted   

who was he

he already made it clear that he would not serve in Viet Nam

he already defied proper society by living with his girlfriend

who was he

             who was he to interrupt his uncles proselytising as he prepared to reveal again his firm belief as he had at picnics for years and years it had become staple he had been saved at Pearl 

his interruption rocked all his uncles at once whether they sat on their behinds on top the wood picnic tablesthe attached benches or in separate colourful webbed aluminum lawn chairs 

the cousins that were about froze stood with bated breath he wondered why none of his older cousins had done what he was doing now 

Uncle Is it possible your survival wasnt preordained

irritated Boy?

No Im Joe  Im not a boy  

Is it possible it wasnt preordained 

harsh Your point.

Is it possible it was luck his uncle glared at himhis other uncles glared  Just dumb luck

1053,  Friday, Pearl Harbor Day,  7  12. 18