Drive On -- Too slow

BUMBLEBEE on 29th Mar 2020, 7:32 PM

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The gunner's chomping at the bit, but LT won't let him pull the trigger...

lirvilas on 29th Mar 2020, 7:39 PM

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Uh, I'm guessing 50 cal will go through that conex box like a hot knife through butter... make some toast, LT!

BUMBLEBEE on 29th Mar 2020, 7:58 PM

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But you never know who might be hiding inside...

Why new LTs don't get respect

Gerald Ney on 31st Mar 2020, 9:22 PM

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This reminds me of every tale I heard in Nam and after of a gung-ho inexperienced newbie LT getting his people in trouble. When I was the new kid on the block, the teller made sure I got the point before any emergency. As luck would have it; I was never put to the test.

BUMBLEBEE on 3rd Apr 2020, 7:27 AM

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Gerald! Where you been man? I’ve been kinda worried about you. Hope all is well and you’re keeping your powder dry in this pandemic.

Gerald Ney on 4th Apr 2020, 12:03 AM

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I've been watching. Just didn't have anything to add for awhile. All extended family negative on coronavirus so far. Daughter has bronchitis which isn't fun, prone to reoccur once you've had it, but not a biggie. Here in Philly, my younger son's job w/PA Dept of Human Services has gone to 2 days on and 2 days off. Granddaughter's 1st Communion in Houston postponed. Grandson's Kalamazoo College graduation on indefinite hold.

BUMBLEBEE on 4th Apr 2020, 8:45 AM

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Glad to hear things are under control, relative to the circumstances. Same here, the center’s holding but the flanks are under pressure. I’m going to work every day but have the team working alternating days to keep the footprint small. Wierd times but you’ve seen wierder.

Gerald Ney on 4th Apr 2020, 9:26 PM

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Don't know yet if I've seen weirder, but in Nam, the words "the World" often in "back in the World" referred to the US; as if we were in some alien unreal place. In a late response, some Vietnamese-American authors often writing "Vietnam is a country not a war."

The following poem I wrote applies:

Dali Dayze in the Wilted Watch Zone 11/19/03

They weren’t up front
And close, hanging out
For all to see
On Mamasan’s clothesline
Or bedecking the trees
Like so many misplaced
Lianas and strewn among
The bamboo thickets
Beyond the dike
Bounding Papasan’s paddy;
~
But in the mind’s eye.
Beckoning beyond sight,
And you didn’t need
Mary Jane or Uncle’s
“ I’ve got this just for you”
Numbah one best
Poppy juice product
To tell you that
The World, as in REAL,
Is back that-away!
~
A freedom bird flight
Of nineteen hours
And a date change
Over miles upon miles
Endless blue above
And below. Are there
Really waves down there?
But this yearlong dream
Brings no waking,
Just rules of its own.
~
At twilight there’s
No need of Rod
To bark, “Don’t touch
That dial!” CICV’s
Got your horizontal,
And Charlie’s at
The vertical. And
Ev’rybody but you
Is messing with
The sound.
~
So you warily watch
The madness unfold;
As Charlie duels
With land mines and wits.
An ambush on One
And the tanks roll out,
Treadmarks twinned
Through the rice.
What now, Papsan?
Pissed mind and heart?
~
At district HQ,
The police chief’s
Only without
A fancy lettered sign:
“Damage claim assist,
And clearances sold
Fronting fee for sure
And certain my take
Off the top – maybe
Some left for you.”
~
So I needn’t watch
old ‘50s TV, or go
to MOMA or Louvre
To scarily soak
In the surreal.
Vietnam’s war gave
Serling and Sal a run
For the gold
But had considerably
Less fun appeal.

BUMBLEBEE on 5th Apr 2020, 2:03 PM

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There’s a lot to unpack there. Definitely evokes that sense of otherness.

Drive On

Too slow

29th Mar 2020, 7:32 PM

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Why new LTs don't get respect