Dry Rain (A Brief History of Vietnam)

("It never rains in the" Army, 1971-1984)

"Papa," the boy of ten years, little old saying: "What was the war still hate all the people in America, the IM started to go to Vietnam in the '60s and '70s?"

The father did not answer immediately. He sat at the kitchen table, took his cup of coffee so that was not in the way, and his son was fully visible to him, put his clothes in the closet khaki forever.

"One day I was in San Francisco, works as a dressDesigners do well again in 1971, not yet a father, as you know, but a thought of the day, as some of my friends, all of us in our early twenties. Then three months later I was training to kill people over in Southeast Asia, with some courses of soldiers in active service, and I did not know what was, what if they had the project again in '69. She told us, always under arms, "the guide, it does not rain on the army if it feels wet, it is aIllusion ...!"

The child answered, not the father. The coffee cup was sitting quietly on the table and do not rattle as she moved her hands and forearms relaxed on the table, some looked. He pulled out his wallet, was a blurry photo in the old, now thirteen. The two cold faces in the photo are two fine, young soldiers and soaking rain. And he knew how he showed the photo to her boyfriend, the other side that he had not been for a long time no see,very long time, and would never see in person again, and just do not want to see in the picture, the face he saw every day in the war, face a bigger, as if it were, and neither his nor ' other soldiers face triumph as it should be looked at, had always paid in the face of the earth, one of the many destructions of war, human fear and bloodshed. "

The boy said: "You look tired of both!"

"What my son?" said the father. "What you? Say "

"Tired Dad, you're so tired ...!" Repeated the boy.

"When we got to the rice fields, we could not see very well against us, the rain was so heavy, coming down like cats and dogs, the whole area was soaked with rain below us, above us, around us , was a harsh roar, the rain washes still hard at all, kept us in the postponement, it was all shadow, we went on the run and the Viet Cong ran silently in the rain and inflexibilitySergeant in the picture fell backward and looked toward the sky, as would glass eyes. "

"I thought it was not the army move, Pa?" said the boy.

"That's what I said?" He answered.

No: 565 (11/01/2009) oo